Nine-Mile Run and My Yard. Sunday, March 1, 2009

One of the benefits of working at the Sportsman’s Warehouse is being able to borrow different equipment for field testing. I have been wondering how much of a difference ED or Extra Low Dispersion glass in a spotting scope would make in my pictures. It just so happens that we had a Nikon ED50 spotting scope in stock so I borrowed it for a few days.



I decided to make a trip to Nine-Mile Run on the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh. I knew that I could find something there even if it is just a few mallards. When I arrived shortly after sunrise, I was surprised to find a Great Blue Heron, two Double Crested Cormorants and some Ring-Billed Gulls in addition to the usual mallards. I quickly set-up the equipment and got to shooting. I didn’t have much time to play around however because, as usual, I had things to take care of at home.



After about 90 minutes of taking pictures and testing my original fieldscope in comparison to the ED50 fieldscope I had to pack up and leave. When I got home, I downloaded the pictures to my computer and went on with my chores. It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that I was able to check out the pictures from the morning. Wow!!! What a difference!!! The colors are much more true to life, the image has more crispness and chromatic aberration has just about been eliminated!!! I was truly surprised, especially since the ED50 scope is physically smaller and doesn’t pass as much light as my 60mm fieldscope. I decided immediately to throw on a coat, set up the camera equipment and sit in the yard for a while to see what else I could get shots of that day.



I guess you could say that I got lucky in my yard this afternoon. I was able to get pictures of Tufted Titmice, Robins, Black-Capped Chickadees, House Sparrows, Dark-Eyed Juncos, Mourning Doves, White-Breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. I’ve already gotten pictures of most of these species with my regular scope so I was able to compare the results of both fieldscopes. Let’s just say that I have got to get me one of these.

My Yard, February 15, 2009

I was off from both jobs today. I had a lot of chores to do so I didn’t really plan on doing much digiscoping. However, I found out that today was one of the days for The Great Backyard Bird Count which is run every year by the Cornell Lab of Orinthology and the National Audobon Society. The Great Backyard Bird Count is used as a study of bird populations thoughout North America. You could also submit your pictures for a chance to win a few prizes. I figured why not, so I set aside an hour to sit in the yard near my feeders to see what I could come up with.



Even though I didn’t get pictures of everything, I enjoyed the afternoon. The full list of what I saw is:
Red-Tailed Hawk – 1
Red-Bellied Woodpecker – 2
Downy Woodpecker – 3
Blue Jay – 2
American Crow – 117
Black-Capped Chickadee – 4
Tufted Titmouse – 12
American Tree Sparrow – 8
Song Sparrow – 3
Northern Cardinal – 3
House Sparrow – 12



For more information on the Great Backyard Bird Count, go to http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/ .