DIGISCOPING...UTTER NIGHTMARE!

As a 'golden handshake' type of gift to myself after leaving my last job, I decided to buy a decent scope. As I was moving back to Adelaide and 1700km's closer to the sea than I have been for the last few years, I thought it would add a new dimension to birding for me. The scope is great, no complaints...but I forked out another few hundred bucks to buy a camera adapter to allow for digiscoping.

Or 'digi-fumbling' as I call it.

"Where did the bird go?"

...seems I can't 'scope' a bird and then mount the camera without losing the thing! The birds almost invariably move a foot or two by the time i'm ready to focus + shoot. Getting smooth motion when trying to pick the birds up in the viewfinder again is the key...for someone with meaty lumps of fritz for hands, it's a delicate skill I'm currently working on.

Today I finally made some headway. I fired off a few passable shots of three common waders; Wood Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt and Black-fronted Dotterel. The results are below.....

So, I'm finally getting some value for the money I outlaid for the kit. As I see it, for a novice birdo (like me...) there are some not-so-obvious pitfalls and things to consider when buying a scope and the digiscoping gear, they are....

1. Weigh up the amount of time you will spend looking for the birds these things are designed for. They can also be useful for confirming i.d.'s + better views of small bush birds but only if you have enough room to swing a cat around you....in my experience, this is not often the case.

2. Also consider (re: waders) the amount of hours per season/year you'll get use of the scope and extra kit. Where do you do the bulk of your birding?

3. Weight and size of the bits and pieces. Can you really lug all of it (with bin's, water, sunscreen, field guides, notebook etc...) through weed, mud and sand? Do you want legs and arms like He-Man?

4. Digiscoping can be very, very frustrating and adds an element of misery to seeing birds that is hard to anticipate. I'm sure that decent wildlife photographers would say the same...you need a great deal of patience and in many ways it detracts from the experience of just being in the field observing birds.

5. You'll no doubt then start a new 'list' : SPECIES I HAVE PHOTOGRAPHED (seems like dangerous territory to me...ha!)

6. Try before you buy, find a friend who you can bug for advice, carry the gear (all of it!) and give it a go...it may not be for you (or me???)

7. With scopes, it seems you'll be forever wondering, "What if I bought the.....with higher magnification?...I would have had enorously better views of that Gabbagabba Bird!!!" There will forever be birds just out of reach...give it up!

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....okay, seems like I've exorcised some Digi-scoping demons now, hope it's of use to someone else, even after reading a myriad of reviews online of various brands/shapes of scopes I still have some niggling feelings of, "What if....??"  - so, do your homework!

Hopefully I'll have more images to post from future outings to share here.