I know this is going to make me sound like a complete idiot, but I have honestly tried to find the answer from various websites with no joy. So here goes:
I keep coming across advice to do with feeding garden birds which ends "...especially (or especially not) in the fledgling season." But nobody ever says WHAT the fledgling season is, or WHEN it is.
I'm guessing it's something to do with baby birds, and therefore probably around Spring-ish, but if anyone could be even a bit more precise, I would be very grateful. Then I shall pretend I knew all along, and we need never mention it again!
BB
Oh sorry to be a total numpty but whats digi-scoping.
There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.
Unknown said: Oh sorry to be a total numpty but whats digi-scoping.
Ah.. I can do that one. Digiscoping is taking a picture using a suitable digital camera coupled to a decently high definition telescope with an adaptor device of some kind.
Seeing as neither my scope or my digital camera are suitable for this purpose I'm hardly an expert.
JBNTS
Every day a little more irate about bird of prey persecution, and I have a cat - Got a problem with that?
Hi,
in a nutshell digi-scoping is attaching a digital camera onto your telescope and taking photos. It started out as a cheap photo alternative and now with a top end scopes and digital cameras improving - results get better each year :)
Only at the very top end is it as good as Digital photography with a telephoto lens.
For publishable quality bird photography you really need a good camera and a 400mm auto focus lens minimum.
There are plenty of websites and discussion groups on the net where you can find out the current best choices.
Lumix cameras are mid size and give good results for what they are- handy to carry with you if out birding etc. The Lumix DMC-FZ28S seems to be well thought of.
I suggest you make enquiries from a good camera outlet etc :)
S
For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
Thanks John B, so thats what its called, I've heard of people using this technique didn't know it was called digiscoping though.
Hi Seymour, thanks again, yes I realise I'll have to do a lot of research into this, I thought finding out what equipment people where using for the sort of results I want ( as in the pictures I'm impressed with ) would be a good starting point.
I have never seen any reference book refer to the "fledgling season". A fledgling is a young bird, just developing its ability to fly. The word "Fledgling" comes from the same root as "fletcher" which is someone who puts the feathers on arrows - and probably (without looking it up) from the same root as "flight".
Most bird books refer to the breeding season, because the adults are sometimes in different plumage, and behaved differently, during that time.
In many reference books there is a calendar strip with some months highlighted in a different colour to show the breeding season. The fledgling season would be a few days or weeks after this, but would vary from species to species.
Thanks Diogenes, ornithology and etymology all in one post! I shall henceforth refer to all young birds as Norman Stanley (as in Fletcher...).
I'm fairly new to all this bird stuff, so I'm not grown up enough to have bird books yet. I just fly into a blind panic every time I read some new advice on the internet, like have I inadvertently dropped a whole peanut and therefore choked a bird to death, have I fed them a dead mealworm by mistake, are my feeders clean enough or will I give all my birds tricho-whatever-it-is, etc etc etc.
Whoever said that communing with nature was relaxing?!!
Unknown said: BTW, Badgerbread?...............nothing to do with sandwiches is it?
BTW, Badgerbread?...............nothing to do with sandwiches is it?
In a roundabout way, yes - though you'll be pleased to know the badgers aren't in the sandwiches!
My badgers are quite partial to peanut butter on bread, and it's easier to spread peanut butter on slightly stale bread, so there are always two loaves on the go in my kitchen: human bread and badger bread.
When I was casting around for a username, my eye fell on the badgers' dinner sitting on the step outside my study door, and... well, the rest is history.
No badger butties in this house, I promise!