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By Bill Schmoker, on January 14, 2015 I get a kick out of hybrid birds- like Easter Eggs hidden in video games, they offer a treat that may be hiding in plain view but undetected without some scrutiny and/or detective work. I’ve previously posted on a couple of hybrid gulls that were fun to suss out (Herring x Glaucous and Herring x [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on September 24, 2014 The folks at PhoneSkope continue to innovate, adding a Bluetooth shutter release to their line-up. Having a shutter release (mechanical or electronic) has always been a powerful tool in any digiscoper’s bag of tricks, and this is an elegant way to fire off pics without introducing vibrations by tapping your phone’s screen. Adding to the [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on August 7, 2014
When I spent some time with Jeff & Liz Gordon at the recently concluded Camp Colorado I asked how the new ABA Duck Stamp sales program was going. They said they were selling droves of ’em (maybe we’ll get an update on how many once the dust settles from the big move to Delaware) which [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on July 3, 2014
I spent about three weeks this June at our family’s lake place in northwest Wisconsin. I credit much of my interest in birds and nature with long summer stints there growing up, and it is wonderful to continue spending meaningful time in the woods and on the water every year with my family & the [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on May 29, 2014 A couple of years ago I wrote a column in Winging It about some of my favorite non-birding books for birders. Commentators in a followup blog post generated many more great book titles that appeal to travel and unfeathered natural science topics of interest to those who pursue wild birds.
Just in [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on May 1, 2014 I had the awesome pleasure of guiding trips at the recently completed ABA Convention in Corpus Christi, Texas. As with all of the other ABA conventions, conferences, and rallies I’ve been a part of, the event had a superb mix of great birds and great birders. I enjoyed the camaraderie of amazing co-leaders and fantastic [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on April 17, 2014 I’m sure I speak for birders everywhere when I say that for the most part strong wind blows. (See what I did there?) Nothing puts wee birds into heavy cover, shakes your scope, and wicks the heat out of your extremities like a strong wind. Long-anticipated pelagic plans can be dashed when the wind gets [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on March 20, 2014 I recently ponied up $3.99 for the Dark Sky weather app on my iPhone after hearing rave reviews from birding buddies David La Puma and Jessie Barry. It looks brilliant, boasting a super clean and elegant interface with the most important weather data easily accessed and beautifully summarized. The animated precipitation maps are pure eye [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on March 6, 2014 A nice trend developed in my yard this winter when a flock of Bushtits began regularly blitzing my suet. They especially seemed to like snowy mornings which gave me a great excuse to linger over coffee on weekends at the breakfast table awaiting their arrival. Until this season, I had only seen Bushtits in my [read more…]
By Bill Schmoker, on February 6, 2014 Tamron, makers of aftermarket lenses, has announced a new lens that may be of interest to bird photographers on a budget. The SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD packs a lot of power for the price (around US $1000) , approaching a buck per mm equivalent if you shoot on a crop-frame body. I know [read more…]
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