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OpticsBlog – Thoughts and reviews of binoculars, telescopes, scopes, sights, and much more - birdwatching, astronomy, target shooting - pretty much anything related to optics, nature, and life!Friday, October 29, 2010Spotting scopes for birdingWhen people think of optics for birding, the first thing they typically think about are birding binoculars and, rightfully, so. Binoculars should be used and carried by every birder. However, I really think more birders would benefit from the use of a spotting scope, even though you have to deal with the added weight of both a spotting scope and a tripod. The conventional thinking on a birding spotting scope has always been to carry both binoculars and spotting scope in open country, but only a binocular is needed in wooded and forested country. There is some truth to this – if you are birdwatching exclusively in heavy cover. However, even in forested country, there are opportunities to put a spotting scope to good use. For instance, I now live in a county that is heavily forested, but it also has over 1100 lakes and some of those are large lakes. About the only way to adequately check those lakes for all the many ducks, geese and wading birds they attract is with a spotting scope. Binoculars just don’t have the magnification to consistently identify birds far out in the middle of a large lake out or across the lake on a distant shore. Furthermore, access on most of these lakes is limited either by topography, vegetation and so on, which eliminates the option of a closer approach to use binoculars. Doesn’t matter where you live or do your birdwatching, a spotting scope will allow you to see more birds. Wednesday, October 27, 2010Swarovski Extendable spotting scopesExtendable spotting scopes have been a traditional favorite in Europe for many, many years, but they have never really caught on, here in the US, despite several marketing attempts by the first name in extendable spotting scopes, namely Swarovski. Back in the 90s, I was fortunate enough to actually use an old version of the Swarovski CT-75 extendable and can attest to the fact that it was one fine spotting scope, so why didn’t extendable spotting scopes make it, here in the states? Perhaps the extendable design spotting scope was just too different, but mostly, I suspect, the extendable spotting scope just failed to convince folks here in the U.S that it offered any significant advantage over conventional spotting scope designs. We Yanks are a practical lot, after all. Yes, the ability of an extendable to close to a compact length is nice, but extendable spotting scopes really don’t close that much shorter than many current, non-extendable spotting scopes with the same objective size. Even within Swarovski, the Swarovski CT-75 extendable closes down to 12.5”, while the non-extendable Swarovski STM-80 HD, with eyepiece, is only a couple inches longer, at most and it’s a larger scope to boot. More importantly, the STM-80 HD spotting scope is much shorter compared to a fully extended CT-75 and that makes it the easy winner, in the handling and balance department on a tripod. Still, there is just something about a Swarovski Extendable spotting scope that appeals to me. Maybe it’s the retro look and that distinctly European feel, but I suspect it’s just me falling in love, once again, with that great Swarovski quality. Open and close a Swarovski extendable spotting scope and you’ll know what I mean. Talk about smooth. Getting serious about flashlightsI’ve never been able to get too excited about flashlights; binoculars, telescopes, spotting scopes, digital cameras, yes, but flashlights ... well, no. I’ve always seen flashlights as more of a guy thing, since flashlights do have a weapon and/or tool-like appearance (some are even designed to do double duty as weapons) and the only folks I’ve ever seen drool over flashlights are men. All the gals I know, myself included, never think about flashlights until we need one. If the darn thing works, we’re happy; if the darn thing fails, it goes in the trash. Flashlights have always been just another kitchen appliance to me and, in fact, I actually store our flashlights in a kitchen drawer along with some other miscellaneous items. On the other hand, after spending the last twenty four hours and one long dark night without electricity, compliments of a nasty storm in our area, I may start rethinking my take on flashlights. When the lights go off, you grab a flashlight and then you take flashlights, very seriously, believe me. Experience is the best teacher, though sometimes a harsh teacher, even when it comes to something as simple as a flashlight. As for last night, there were some winners and some losers in the flashlight department. Let's start with the loser. Our old cheapie, department store flashlight was a big loser, but, then I already knew that. I should have tossed it, long ago. Last night, though, was the final straw, when the darn switch gave up the ghost for good after sometimes working and sometimes not. Nothing like trying to walk down the stairs in pitch black darkness and your flashlight goes of on its own. No more. We will not make the mistake of buying a cheap flashlight, again. On the other hand, we loved the small flashlights with the little thumb button on the back. Not sure where Bill got them, but they work great. Ours are similar to the Coast L4. They’re small enough to use with something else in your hand and they fit fine in a bathrobe pocket, but they give off more light than those little mini flashlights, such as the , which we also have. They were the flashlights of choice for taking the dogs out before bed or for trips to the bathroom in the dark. The big winner, though, was our rechargeable camping style lantern. When we set this up in the kitchen or dining room, last night, it gave out enough light to do all the work I needed to do and, besides, it reminded me of camping. In fact, we plan to get another rechargeable lantern, but this time, we are going to go for a Streamlight E Flood and, that, is a very serious flashlight, indeed. My only complaint is that it is too large to fit in the kitchen drawer, where, of course, flashlights belong. Tuesday, October 26, 2010Amateur astronomyI’d like to claim that I have arranged our recent bout of wet weather, up here in the north country, to coincide with the current full moon, all for the sake of my astronomy. After all, if you must have wet and cloudy skies, might as well have them during the part of the month when seeing conditions for astronomy are at their minimum (the light of the moon washes out many faint objects we wish to see). Of course, I can’t claim that and, as always, I have to take what Nature sends my way and that sometimes means long stretches where my astronomy binoculars and telescopes see little use. Yes, if there is a negative to being an amateur astronomer, it’s that dependency on a dark, clear night sky. Indeed, a night of truly excellent seeing, with good transparency, atmospheric stability and no moonlight as you look through your binoculars or a telescope eyepiece is something you can never, ever take for granted. It’s so special and precious that you must keep an open spot in your schedule when that night of excellent seeing occurs. Of course, we don’t sit around waiting for that rare night; we astronomers would go a bit crazy if we had to go for such long stretches without setting up a telescope. In truth, we actually do most of our observing under less favorable conditions. The good news, though, is that there is always something to see if you get a clear sky, even if the moon phase is not optimal or stability or transparency are not the best. In fact, clear sky or not, there is still always something to do in astronomy. So, what do we do when it rains or the clouds move in? We read astronomy books, watch astronomy videos or get together with other astronomers in a local astronomy club (see the Astronomical League for a club near you) and talk astronomy, of course or maybe do a little browsing for some telescope accessories. There is always something to do if you love astronomy. Monday, October 25, 2010Puppy in the house Bill and I have been thinking of getting another dog, for some time. We are both dog lovers, after all, and, although we already have one dog, Roscoe, we certainly have room for another. But a puppy? That’s one option that made us hesitate. We both know, from long experience, how much work it is to train a puppy and deal with puppy foolishness, not to mention buying a dog collar, another set of dog dishes, a training cage and, eventually, maybe adding a tracking collar or a training collar, trips to the vet, shots, implanting a chip and all the other items it takes, these days to raise a dog. Bringing a puppy into the house is a huge responsibility and not one to one be taken, lightly and, frankly, we were also worried about a puppy’s level of energy and enthusiasm. At our age, could we keep up? Sometimes, it’s just a matter of doing what is in your heart, rather than worry about all the negatives and deciding, up front, that, whatever the cost, you move forward and meet the challenge. That’s what we did. We bought a puppy. His name is Patch, for the single black patch on his shoulder. He is seven weeks, old, purebred English Setter from excellent hunting stock, but bred from a line to also be good a companion and family dog. I love gun dogs and grew up with gun dogs, hunting pheasants and quail in Nebraska and who knows, maybe we will have a dog to hunt, next fall, when grouse season opens, again. In the meantime, yes we have our hands full. Patch is an escape artist, extraordinaire – no clever arrangement of furniture or makeshift barrier can keep him corralled for long. Let this puppy outside and makes a beeline for the woods, but we love it. He hits the woods with all the enthusiasm of a hunting dog, already quartering, with his nose constantly at work, like the little bird dog he is. Might be time to start shopping for a light bird gun and a gun dog vest or two. Mostly, though, he is the sweetest, most affectionate puppy in the world and we love him, dearly. How could we have hesitated, now that we have Patch in the house? Friday, October 22, 2010Digiscoping cameras A fellow digiscoper I know once told someone to forget everything they know about photography when digiscoping. I won’t go that far, but there is a grain or two of truth in that advice. Digiscoping – placing a small digital camera behind the eyepiece of a spotting scope to take pictures of mostly birds at great distances – does have its quirks. As an avid photographer, myself, I was raised to believe that bigger camera formats, bigger lenses, bigger everything was better. Small cameras, were for casual work, SLRs for more serious work and medium and large format cameras were for professionals and anyone versed in camera technology could give you a whole list of optical reasons why. Lucky indeed was the photographer who could afford to buy large aperture lenses. For sure, I spent hours drooling in catalogs that listed specs on those jumbo telephoto lenses. Then along comes digiscoping and guess what? The big cameras, big lenses just don’t work as well and sometimes they don’t work at all, compared to small digital cameras. Why? Small camera lenses behind the eyepiece of a spotting scope produce much less vignetting and do a much better job of providing full frame pics than larger digital cameras, which sometimes produce only a small round porthole of a pic, instead of a rectangular frame. Furthermore, the optical quality of the digital camera lens is a distant second to the optical quality of the spotting scope lenses, both the objective and eyepiece lenses on you scope. In other words, you can spend more on that latest greatest digital point and shoot camera with all the latest features and upgrades, but it probably won’t take any better pics than the older model you already have. In digiscoping, it is the spotting scope and the spotting scope eyepiece that count. In fact, some of the best digiscoping pics I have taken were with old digital cameras that are laughable by today’s standards. Want to try digiscoping? Put your money into the spotting scope, first. About the pic: Taken with a measly 4MP with an old Pentax digital camera, but behind an excellent Kowa spotting scope Thursday, October 21, 2010Astronomy equipmentAstronomers tend to be equipment junkies of one sort or another if they stay with astronomy for many years. Some of us collect more telescopes than we can use, some of us collect more telescope eyepieces and other telescope accessories than we can use and then there are those who concentrate on quality rather than quantity. I’m in the quality category; I never seem to accumulate a lot of equipment, given my philosophy of use it or get rid of it, but what I have on hand is always first rate and, yes, expensive, right down to my astronomy binoculars. This does concern me a bit, though. I fear that many would be astronomers move on to other pursuits when they see how much it costs to buy a telescope or telescope accessories or quality astronomy binoculars. I would hate to think that astronomy is becoming a hobby only for the rich, and I would especially hate to think that anyone got such an idea from reading my blogs. Why? We need more astronomers, we need more people interested in the night sky, so that we can preserve and protect what we have left of our dark skies. Every year, light pollution from urban and suburban sprawl eats up just that much more of our dark skies. Furthermore, there are few pursuits more personally enriching than astronomy and, best of all, astronomy is a pursuit that lasts a lifetime. Lastly, I started in astronomy, over forty years, ago, with a cheap telescope and equally cheap binoculars. You do not have to be rich to enjoy astronomy, that I guarantee, no matter what you read. Wednesday, October 20, 2010Camera tripods for astronomyI have been using standard camera tripods with my small refractor telescope, simply because I haven’t had the time or money to get a dedicated telescope mount, such as a Vixen Porta Mount designed for astronomy. That is something I hope to correct, soon, though. Yes, photo tripods will work with small telescopes, but they are less than ideal for use as astronomy mounts. First, camera tripods lack the fine adjustments needed to move a telescope, precisely at high magnifications. Once you get to 100x and above, moving the telescope by hand becomes more and more of a challenge as magnification increases. You can add a slow motion control, such as a Vixen Piggyback, to solve this problem, as I have done, but that raises the telescope off the head of the tripod that much more with some loss in stability. A slow motion control, however, is an excellent telescope accessory to purchase if you plan on using a camera tripod with your small telescope. Second, camera tripods will not allow you to observe objects at the zenith (directly overhead) and, in most cases, you will lose about thirty degrees or so of the sky. This is a very serious problem, since the sky overhead is always the best section of sky in terms of seeing conditions. No solution, here, as far as a tripod accessory, so plan your observing when the objects you wish to see in the night sky are not directly overhead. Tuesday, October 19, 2010Telescope accessories, telescope eyepieces When it comes to telescope accessories, telescope eyepieces are at the top of the list. Yes, most beginner telescopes come with a set of eyepieces to get you started in astronomy – and you do need more than one eyepiece to cover all the bases in astronomy – but these are typically low-end telescope eyepieces, not the good stuff. Serious telescopes, though, come with, at most, one eyepiece. The manufacturer just assumes you will add the correct telescope eyepieces for the observing job at hand and manufacturers also know there is a great deal of personal preference when it comes to eyepiece brand and design, so they leave it to us to choose our own telescope eyepieces when it comes time to buy a telescope in the intermediate and advanced class. Make no mistake about it, once you have used premium telescope eyepieces, you are hooked. These expensive eyepieces allow not only more detailed observing, but also more pleasurable observing. Old timers, like me, tend to collect telescope eyepieces, then, though I am not in the same class as some astronomers I know in this regard. My colleague, Bob, at OpticsPlanet, for instance, has a collection of over sixty telescope eyepieces. Of course, I tend to use astronomy binoculars for much of my observing, so I don’t need as many eyepieces, but that shows how important telescope eyepieces are to most experienced astronomers. Indeed, there is some truth to the saying that your telescope is only as good as the eyepiece you are using, but you are unlikely to appreciate this old adage until you have used a premium telescope eyepiece, such as the Televue Nagler 22 mm in the pic. I promise this one will hook you. Monday, October 18, 2010House Finches, Purple Finches and digiscoping  One of the most interesting things about my bird feeders, up here in the north woods, is the absence of some of the more common back yard suburban birds, such as House Sparrows, Starlings, Grackles and so on. This tells me that I am, indeed, no longer in the city and that is just fine with me. It is a real treat to see only wild forest bird species every time I pick up my binoculars. It is a refreshing birdwatching change, after spending so many years in the big city and the suburbs. One of the suburban species that I have not seen, at all, for instance, is the common House Finch, the bird on the right pic, which I took last winter. I’d have to say that this is probably the only suburban bird I really miss and spring just won’t be the same without hearing this bird’s song. On the other hand, I have been getting the wilder cousin of this bird in the Purple Finch and that is going finch deluxe in my book. Yesterday, I happened to be at the spotting scope with one of my digital cameras, when the bird in the pic on the left made an appearance amid the swarms of Nuthatches and Chickadees. I’d like to think that Purple Finches will become regulars at my feeders, but only time will tell, of course. In the meantime, my birding binoculars are always at the ready, just waiting to help me see our next visitor to the bird feeders. Friday, October 15, 2010Back yard wildlife photography It’s hard to say who has adapted more to our new home here in the north country, Bill and I or the wildlife. We love our new home on the lake, of course, but I also think our wildlife has also welcomed us, in their own way. For sure, I have never seen birds and other wildlife so quickly tame to our presence and it is a mistake to get too far from either binoculars or digital cameras; there is always something to see. To be sure, we’ve bought their loyalty with an abundance of bird food and wildlife food, but it is nice to be able to work around the house and, at the same time, share the yard with wildlife. No, they are not pets and I hope they never become quite that tame, especially our doe and her two fawns. Deer season is just around the corner, after all. Yesterday, Bill was out on the patio, working on one his projects and traveling back and forth to across the yard to work on adding some gutters to the garage roof, as well. The birds at our feeders ignored him completely, as I have come to expect, since they park themselves within a few feet of my hand when it comes time to refill the feeders. The deer, though, have become ever more tame with each passing week. Yesterday, our resident doe and her two fawns walked right into our yard in the middle of the day to feed on some corn I left for them. When Bill walked out in the yard on his way to the garage, they moved back just a bit, but when it was apparent that Bill had other business, they stepped forward, again to resume feeding. I just happened to be in the living room near a window where I keep birding binoculars and our Panasonic digital camera and took this pic. Of course, I had to tease Bill for walking right by the deer without noticing them. Guess we have become tame to their presence, too. Thursday, October 14, 2010Spirit of digiscopingDigiscoping is a bit different than other types of bird photography in that there is a spirit of "try it and see what happens" thinking behind it and that sometimes makes you do things that make very little sense, photographically. That’s okay, because, because if the first digiscopers not been something of rebels, we might not be taking bird pics behind the eyepieces of our spotting scopes with our little digital cameras, today. Yesterday, I was in a "try it and see what happens" mode when I spotted some ducks, in the binoculars, out in the middle of our lake from our living room window. The 10x birding binoculars were not enough, at that distance, for a positive identification, so I grabbed the spotting scope and tried with my Televue Nagler 22 mm eyepiece at 22x. Still not enough, though I could see they were diving ducks, not puddle ducks. Interesting. I then grabbed the wrong telescope eyepiece from my eyepiece box by mistake, but tried, anyway. It was my Televue Radian 3 mm and it gave me a way over the top 160x in my scope. Ordinarily, atmospheric conditions would not allow me to use that much magnification, not even close, but, yesterday morning was an exception. At 160x, through the spotting scope. I could clearly see that I had a flock of Ring-necked Ducks on the lake. Okay, could I get a useable pic at 160x? That would be crazy, of course, but I tried, anyway. I grabbed my little Sony camera and placed it behind the eyepiece. As it turns out, the Televue 3mm Radian may be a great lunar and planetary telescope eyepiece, but it is not a good digiscoping eyepiece - I could not get a full frame pic, no matter how I tried and, believe me, I tried. The closest I did get to a good pic was still not enough to identify the birds as Ring-necked Ducks, but at least I tried and that is the spirit of digiscoping, after all. Wednesday, October 13, 2010An astronomy perspectiveAmateur astronomy may seem to be pure escapism to some folks. What does looking through astronomy binoculars or telescope eyepieces have to do with all the problems and issues we face on earth? Knowing the stars and all the treasures they contain for someone using binoculars or telescopes or just enjoying the night sky with their unaided eyes (as I have often done), won’t motivate someone to get active about issues, here on earth, will it? I’m sure some folks think just that. In my experience, though, these are people who haven’t tried astronomy, for one reason or another. It is quite likely they live in urban light-polluted areas where star filled skies are slowly disappearing or, perhaps, they simply don’t know anyone who is an astronomer or, perhaps, they simply have no interest in this part of the natural world. The fact is, however, that people who do astronomy on a regular basis may be the most keenly aware of how tiny, insignificant and therefore fragile this little chunk of rock we call earth really is. We who peer through astronomy binoculars and telescopes can see the remains of stars that have died and sometimes died in spectacular fashion, taking their planets with them in the process. We can see not only other stars, but many other galaxies with stars beyond our counting. We also know stars are separated by distances so vast as to make it impossible for us to travel to other star systems, all the great science fiction to the contrary, should we wish to abandon this planet. We know we have only one planet to call home and we’d best take care of it. We know this is a special place, this Earth, out of all the countless places we see with our binoculars and telescopes. We know there are no second chances. Astronomy has given us this great gift of perspective and that is anything but escapist. I firmly believe that everyone on this planet should have the opportunity to do some astronomy. Tuesday, October 12, 2010Bird photography, macro?  Anyone who reads my blogs knows I do a lot of digiscoping – taking bird pics through the eyepiece of a spotting scope with small digital cameras. Reading my blogs might also reveal that I once used convention film cameras behind a spotting scope, as well, not to mention using conventional telephoto lenses for bird photography. Lately, though, I have entered a new world of bird photography. I’m not sure what to call it. Perhaps macro bird photography? The last several times I have been at the feeders to refill them, I have had birds fly right up to the feeder, even with me present, to snatch some food, though they were sure to scold me for being there. On one occasion, a Chickadee even attempted to land on my shoulder. Now that is getting up close and personal, so, naturally, I decided to take my small digital Sony camera along the next time I filled up the feeders. It was a bit tricky to move the camera, even slightly, that close to the birds, without spooking them, but they kept right on feeding, all the same. I didn’t want to upset the birds, too much, so I only spent five minutes with the camera before leaving the birds in peace, but that was long enough for a few pics, as you can see with the Chickadee and the Red-breasted Nuthatch peeking over the feeder into my camera. Monday, October 11, 2010Dark skies for astronomy binoculars and telescopesThis last week and a half has been the best stretch of good astronomy weather and dark skies in a lifetime of using astronomy binoculars and telescopes. Never have I had a string of night after night of such ideal observing. Folks around here tell me this is unusual, but I already knew that, of course. Still, being able to just walk outside my door and do some astronomy every night has horribly spoiled me. I’m in for some serious astronomy withdrawal when the clouds move back in and the binoculars and telescopes remain in their cases. Unusual weather or not, I now feel justified investing more in binoculars or telescopes and telescope accessories. When I lived in Chicago, I did question myself when the urge to buy another telescope eyepiece or telescope accessory hit and I absolutely refused to buy another telescope until I knew where I would someday retire. After all, those were the worst skies for astronomy I have ever known and I can only wonder how I managed to keep observing under those conditions. Guess when you love something, the way I have always loved astronomy, you can put up with a lot. Friday, October 08, 2010Computerized telescope?I am still thinking of buying a telescope to expand what I can see in astronomy beyond my small APO refractor, though, in truth, I am still considering just adding a better telescope mount, such as a Televue Tele-Pod and a few more excellent Televue eyepieces to my little refractor and calling it good. That little scope, under my very dark skies does a terrific job. If I do add another telescope, I know one feature it will not have. Any new telescope I buy will not have a computer. Believe me, I have nothing against computers, either on or off a telescope and, in fact, I generally recommend a computerized telescope for a beginner that must observe under light polluted skies. I know, from experience, that finding objects the old fashioned way – by hopping from star to star – is simply not possible under a light polluted sky, simply because you can’t see the necessary stars and, even when you can, finding deep-sky objects without a computer is definitely not a skill learned overnight. A beginner in the city or the suburbs can, indeed, use the help of a computerized telescope. I am not a beginner, though and I have a very dark sky virtually free of light pollution. Then, too, I learned the basics of celestial navigation back in the days before there computers of any kind found in a home, let alone found on telescopes. The real reason, though, that I prefer to find objects using a star atlas and my own skills is that it is fun! For me, hunting down a deep-sky object in the night sky and then finding it exactly where the star atlas indicates it will be is a thrill and one of things I most enjoy about astronomy. Now, after forty years of finding objects on my own, I know the location of all the better known objects and the star map sees little use, unless I am after a tough object. The sky is truly my back yard. I have been blessed to live in a time when we did astronomy without computers and when dark skies were much more common. I sincerely wish that some up and coming astronomers will some day know the night sky this old-fashion way, without the need of computers, but I fear light pollution and the convenience of a computer on a telescope is making astronomers of my breed a vanishing species. I hope not. Locating objects, on your own, is anything but a chore. Thursday, October 07, 2010Small telescopes or large telescopes?I’ve been out with the astronomy binoculars and my small telescope almost, nightly, this last week, thanks, in part, to the beautiful Indian summer weather we have been enjoying, up here in northern Wisconsin. Last night, out of the blue, Bill told me he wanted to see Comet Hartley 2, so we stepped out on the deck for a quick look with my small refractor telescope at very low magnification. Amazingly, the weather was still shirt sleeve and very comfortable, so we chatted out on the deck as I took a few minutes to point the telescope at the comet. Once again, the portability and convenience of using binoculars or small telescopes made our impromptu session doable. Bill had work to do in his office and wasn’t up to spending a half hour setting up a large telescope. Still, I’ve been thinking of buying a telescope to supplement what the little refractor can do and, that, of course, means going to a larger telescope. Question is, will I spend the time it takes to move, adjust and setup a large telescope? Have I been spoiled by the ease of use and convenience of small telescopes and my astronomy binoculars? It’s not that I don’t know what is involved with a large telescope, either, since I have owned more than one ten inch plus telescope, over the years. Given that the best telescope is the telescope you use the most, I may already own the best telescope for my style of observing. We’ll see. Wednesday, October 06, 2010Winter look in the binoculars and telescopesWe are perhaps just a bit past the peak of fall color, up here in the north woods. The trees in my area, anyway, are losing their leaves, rapidly and it is now possible to see deeper into the forest cover, now, than only a week, ago. I’m not complaining, mind you. I managed to get a good number of fall color pics with both my digital cameras and my film cameras and as the trees lose their leaves, it does become easier to spot birds when out in the woods, birdwatching. That can’t be a bad thing. The rapidly emerging “winter look” of the local forests also reminds me it is time to be thinking of cross country skiing, snow shoeing and other winter sports, not to mention helping Bill get enough firewood stacked and ready to burn in our wood burning stove so we can keep toasty warm on those long, cold northern nights. Believe me, nothing is more soothing and comforting than stepping into our basement family room with our Jotul wood burning stove doing its thing after a workout with the astronomy binoculars or telescopes on a crisp night. Life is good, up here in the north woods. Tuesday, October 05, 2010Digiscoping squirrels  One of the animals that so reminds me of the north woods is the Red Squirrel. When I was young, we spent summers in northern Wisconsin or northern Minnesota and the sound of a Red Squirrel, chattering away, high up in a pine tree was a constant in those formative years. I know the Red Squirrel with its habit of breaking into attics can be a nuisance to cabin owners, but you have to admit, they are cute and rather handsome, as squirrels go. Now, almost fifty years, later, I am back home in the north woods with the Red Squirrels and all sorts of other wildlife and smile when I hear that familiar chatter. In fact, I do enjoy watching Red Squirrels and will take the time to spot one in the binoculars when I am in the woods and, now and then, as with the pic, I will take the time to photograph one with the digital cameras. This one was taken by digiscoping with the spotting scope as it was dining on some black oil sunflower seeds below my feeders. Speaking of squirrels, we also have a melanistic gray squirrel that visits, us daily and, I am pleased to say, he is also very cooperative when I am behind the spotting scope and digiscoping. Monday, October 04, 2010My neighborhood and digital cameras I’ve made it a habit, over the years, to always have binoculars handy, given my passion for birdwatching, but, lately, I’ve added digital cameras to my “don’t leave home without it” list, though, of course, the digital cameras I carry on a day-to-day basis are the tiny digital point and shoot cameras, similar in size to a Canon Powershot SD 1400 IS in size. Still amazes me just how good a pic these little cameras can take, given that they are about the same size as a current cell phone. With fall colors peaking in our northern Wisconsin area, I have been using the digital cameras even more than the birding binoculars. My neighborhood, of course, is more forest, lakes and streams than it is people, so even a trip into town for groceries becomes a photographic opportunity. In fact, even if I never left our yard, I would never lack for photographic subjects, what with my spotting scope and favorite digital camera ready for some digiscoping, though that can be quite a bit more intense than the casual photography that small digital cameras make so convenient. About the pic: Pine Creek, near our home Friday, October 01, 2010Lake Superior magic I love the ocean. First time I saw the Pacific, other than flying over it, was with a friend who took me to a secluded beach on the Oregon coast, about eight years, ago. It was, of course, beautiful beyond words, but there was something more than sheer beauty that that took my breath, away, and brought tears to my eyes. The ocean has a power and mystique that reaches right down to the depths of your soul and leaves you spellbound. It was an experience I will always treasure. Yesterday, I felt that same pull and magic, but, this time, I was thousands of miles away from the ocean. We were on a photographic expedition, armed with digital cameras and, in my case, also film cameras, to the southern shore of Lake Superior along the Wisconsin and Michigan border. Our target was primarily the many waterfalls on the rivers that drain into the big lake, but we did stop at Little Girl Point on the Lake Superior shore, near Ironwood, Michigan. I got busy, right away, with the camera gear, mounting some one of my film cameras on a tripod and glancing though the binoculars, now and then, at the Juncos and other birds. As I looked to the east along the shore, though, I suddenly forgot all the gear and all things, photographic, and, once again, felt mesmerized by the presence of such a vast body of water. I wandered over to a bench and just sat, in a state of peace and tranquility staring at the water. It wasn’t until my companions interrupted my reverie that I even thought to take a pic. I’m glad I did, though. Little Girl Point, Lake Superior, near Ironwood, Michigan. |
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