Bill SchmokerBlogger: BILL SCHMOKER
Location: Longmont, Colorado

Website: brdpics.blogspot.com
Bill is known in the birding community as a leading digital photographer of birds. Since 2001 he has built a collection of digital bird photos documenting over 600 species of North American birds. His photography has appeared in international nature publications, books, newspapers, interpretive signs, web pages, advertisements, corporate logos, and as references for art works. Also a published writer, Bill wrote a chapter for Good Birders Don't Wear White, is a Colorado/Wyoming regional editor for North American Birds and writes the Geared for Birding column in Winging It (the American Birding Association's newsletter.) Bill is especially fond of his involvement with the ABA's Institute for Field Ornithology and Young Birder Programs. Bill is a popular birding guide, speaker, and workshop instructor and is proud to be a Nikon Birding Prostaffer. Other experiences of Bill's include conducting fieldwork for Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory and serving as president of Colorado Field Ornithologists. Bill teaches middle school science in Boulder, Colorado when he isn’t birding and he enjoys family time with his wife and son.

POSTS TO THE ABA BLOG

01/02/2013 - #ABArare - Hoary Redpoll - Colorado :: Comments (5)
Colorado (along with much of the northern US, to judge by eBird maps) is experiencing a massive irruption of redpolls this season, with flocks of dozens or even exceeding 100 being found in a state where usually just finding any is noteworthy. On 29 December, I was chuffed to see... READ MORE »
12/27/2012 - Season's Greetings! :: Comments (0)
Wishing you faithful readers all the best as 2012 wraps up. I hope the remaining days of the year treat you well and maybe deliver a nice encore bird or two, and that 2013 holds many more great birding moments for us all!! Catch you next year- Bill READ MORE »
12/13/2012 - PhoneSkope Mods :: Comments (6)
I'm pleased that several manufacturers are producing phone scoping adapters, giving folks a stable option for recording distant birds with their smart phone through their scope. Meopta and Kowa have nice models that work well, and I'll have a detailed review of these coming up in the Feb. issue of... READ MORE »
11/29/2012 - Who Else Likes My Brush Pile? :: Comments (3)
A couple of weeks ago, I extolled the virtues of my back yard brush pile. I find myself surveilling the structure nearly every day breakfast, and last week was tickled to see a Red Fox effortlessly hop my 5-foot fence as I enjoyed toast and coffee. It was clearly well-practiced... READ MORE »
11/20/2012 - #ABArare - Brambling - Colorado :: Comments (1)
A 1st-winter male Brambling was found by Mike Henwood yesterday (19 Nov) at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado. Word got out late last night, and scores of chasers observed the bird coming to scattered seed today, associating with a loose flock of mostly American Tree Sparrows and House... READ MORE »
11/15/2012 - Brushing Up :: Comments (5)
Earlier this fall, I had an ash tree that needed some pruning back. One cut led to another, and soon I had a daunting pile of limbs, branches, and twigs to deal with. I lopped the bigger stuff into campfire wood (local use only, wouldn't want to inadvertently spread Emerald... READ MORE »
10/18/2012 - Phoggy Photo Phixes :: Comments (3)
I thought I'd continue on my theme of rescuing less-than ideal bird images through simple digital post-processing (in the last episode I talked about dealing with high-noise images.) Today I'll address a few ideas for dealing with foggy images. The issue came home for me a couple of weeks ago... READ MORE »
10/04/2012 - Negate the Noise :: Comments (3)
In my last installment I talked about potentially Red-lining your ISO by setting a desired shutter speed and letting your camera's auto-ISO feature keep up by adjusting the sensitivity. As advertisers are fond of saying, results may vary- make sure to play around with ISO on your camera to see... READ MORE »
09/20/2012 - Red-lining the ISO :: Comments (2)
Earlier this summer, I got a paradigm-altering email from my techno-savvy birding buddy Tom Wilberding. (I know- what a cool name for a birder!) Here's what he had to say: Hi Willy, I enjoyed your post on feeding buzzards. Glad you wear rubber gloves for that! Re camera tips and... READ MORE »
09/06/2012 - Been Banding Lately? :: Comments (1)
Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting an educational bird banding station run by the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory at Barr Lake State Park, just northeast of Denver. Meredith McBurney and her team of volunteers do a fantastic job of engaging school groups, bird club trips, individual birders, and... READ MORE »
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