The Zen Birdfeeder

Wordless Wednesday

Aftermath (taken March 30th)

Search Function Added to The Zen Birdfeeder

A few weeks ago, I added a really useful widget to The Zen Birdfeeder.  Scroll down to just below the Photo Albums on the left and you'll find the blogbar search widget.

This widget lets you search the entire The Zen Birdfeeder blog.  Enter your search word, and a Google search comes up in a new window with links to all posts in my blog that contain that word.

It works great - give it a try!

Purple Finches in the Rain

We got some much-needed rain today, all day.  That plus the cooler temperatures seemed to help the bird activity, which had been SLLLLLOOOWWWW the last week or so. 

The Purple Finches are back in force.  Here's a couple images of them digiscoped through the window.

 

Showing off Spotting Scopes

Last weekend, we had a booth at the Adirondack Sports & Fitness Summer Expo.  We were there to introduce local outdoor enthusiasts to our Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop, especially our great optics selection.

We brought a great selection of binoculars by Eagle Optics, Vortex Optics, Stokes, and Leupold, and we introduced many show attendees to digiscoping, which is taking photos with a digital camera through a spotting scope.  The cardinal image below was digiscoped in my yard.

At the show, we highlighted two spotting scopes.  We showed the Vortex Skyline scope with the optional MK1 QR Digital Camera Adaptor. 

The scope has a fantastic 20x-60x magnification, and the 80mm objective lens ensures bright, sharp images.

The digital adaptor fits the Skyline scope (only) and provides a quick-release feature that allows you to switch from using the scope to digiscoping in seconds.  Watch this 5 minute video on YouTube showing the Skyline scope and digital adaptor in action.

The other scope we showed and are especially excited about is the Stokes Sandpiper scope. 


This scope was recently included in "Living Bird" magazine's Scope Quest 2008.  Here's a little of what they had to say:

"An even nicer surprise was the Vortex Stokes Sandpiper, which at $359 or less could be the best buy of any model we tested."

"With so many fine scopes on the market, choosing the right one should be easy and fun. Your selection should be based on budget— how much you can really afford—and the kind of birding you do most, or hope to do more of with a new scope. If you’re on a tight budget and want decent optics in the least expensive package, I’d try the Vortex Stokes Sandpiper."

Here's a link to the full Scope Quest 2008 article.  And read what Don & Lillian Stokes themselves have to say about the scope.

This is a great mid-priced scope that can help get you into the digiscoping hobby. Digiscoping with this scope is accomplished with the use of a Vortex Universal Digital Adaptor. 

The universal adaptor can work with just about any scope.  The adaptor seats the camera securely behind the scope eyepiece to provide the stability required to enhance your digiscoped images.

On Saturday, I conducted a seminar called "Capturing Images of Your Backyard Birds" to help attendees attract birds to their feeders and to take photographic or digiscoped images of the birds.

NOTE: If you know of a local group that would be interested in this presentation or other optics or bird-related presentations, please contact us at wbu@nycap.rr.com.

It was fun talking about binoculars, spotting scopes, and digiscoping to a whole new audience.  Stop by Wild Birds Unlimited - Saratoga Springs to check out our great optics selection.

Wordless Wednesday

A Golden Birthday for Jess.  23 years old on the 23rd.

 

I'll make sure she gets any birthday comments you leave!

Care for Birds - Care for the Environment: An Inconvenient Truth Slideshow in Saratoga Springs

The Climate Project will present a live, updated presentation of the "An Inconvenient Truth" slideshow next Monday in Saratoga Springs NY.

WHEN: Monday April 28th 2008, 7:00pm
WHERE: Community Room, Saratoga Springs Public Library
WHO: Steven A. Leibo, PhD; Professor of International History & Politics, The Sage Colleges

I'll be there - I hope you can attend to.  The message is still being spread; search The Climate Project for a presentation near you.

Spring Arrivals and Departures (2008 #3)

Here's my third report of arrivals and departures this spring.

STILL AROUND
Fox Sparrows
Song Sparrows

NEW SPRING ARRIVALS
Chipping Sparrow (4/15; 1 week earlier than 2007)

Pine Warbler (4/16; a new yard bird!)

Tree Swallow (4/17; 1 week earlier than 2007)

DEPARTURES
American Tree Sparrow (I continue to try hard to see the American Tree Sparrow and the Chipping Sparrow overlapping their presence at my feeders.  No luck this spring; next chance: fall migration!)

Common Redpolls (when the temperatures headed into the 70s this weekend, so went the redpolls.  Last seen 4/17)

OTHER VISITORS
Pileated Woodpecker

Purple Squill

1st Daffodil (versus May 2 last year!)

First blooms in my "Brigadoon" heath & heather garden

Male American Goldfinch molting

STILL TO COME
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 
Grey Catbird
Eastern wood Pewee
White crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
More warblers

Here's links to Spring 2008 Report 1 and Report 2.

Care for Birds - Care for the Environment: Shopping to Save our Birds

More and more migratory birds are in danger and our shopping choices could be part of the problem.

Maine Public Broadcasting's "Maine Watch" program features author and national bird conservation expert, Jeffrey Wells, as he talks about the everyday choices we make that can impact the birds we look forward to each spring.

Also included in the broadcast is an interview with Wing Goodale of the BioDiversity Research Institute and how he found over 100 contaminants in Maine birds.

Though produced in Maine, these are not only Maine issues.  The broadcast is informative and helps us with some changes we can make next time we grocery shop.  It is also entertaining, featuring some great photographs and videos.  View to the end to see some cool bird carvings.  About 27 minutes long.

Jeff Wells is Senior Scientist for the Boreal Songbird Initiative.  He maintains the Boreal Bird Blog.

An estimated 35% of the Northern Flicker's North American population breeds in the boreal forest.

A Day at the Tray Feeder with Wingscapes Birdcam

The tray feeder was busy today.  Here's the 9 species that visited:

American Goldfinch

Red-winged Blackbird

Female Purple Finch

Dark-eyed Junco

Blue Jay

Chipping Sparrow

Female Brown-headed Cowbird

Black capped Chickadee

Pine Warbler

Male Purple Finch

Busy juncos.

All images were taken with the Wingscapes Birdcam, available at Wild Birds Unlimited - Saratoga Springs.

Care for Birds - Care for the Environment: Save Our Boreal Birds

It's spring, and billions of birds are winging their way north to the Boreal Forest from southern Canada, the United States, and even Central and South America. Let's make sure they have a summer home to return to.

The Save Our Boreal Birds campaign is a joint effort by like-minded conservation groups to let Canada's government know that we must protect the Boreal Forest to keep the continent's bird populations healthy.