Ami's LJ v2.0

After last visit to London Wetlands we agreed our next purchase must be a spotting scope and telephoto adapter with SLR mount. A spotting scope is a terrestrial telescope, one you can carry around with you. It's fantastic thing to have for a birdwatcher - much, much better than binoculars and you can use it for digiscoping. A "digiscoping" is something I have invented about 20 years ago while trying to shoot photos using binoculars to adjust range ;) All you need is a mount and (optionally) an adapter to connect telescope and camera (it can be any SLR or digital camera). Of course it is far away from lenses like Canon 400mm however basic digiscoping set is available for £300 (excluding tripod) and lenses starts from £900 ;) The tripod range is also fantastic - from "standard" tripods to special mounts you can use is hides or even in the car, but probably our old tripod will do the job. The wishlist for now : Optricon IS 70 WP 45º ; IS 70 20-60x WA eyepiece ; IS 70 40215 telephoto adapter ; Canon EOST mount and case.

You wouldn't guess how many people you can meet in birdwatcher's hides around the cold and windy marsh during the recent coldest weekend. And I found myself doing something I really wanted to do since I remember. Birdwatching in the proper place with the proper equipment - a good binoculars and SLR with 250mm lenses (flask with hot tea counts as well). Absolutely enchanting experience and it's nice to see how many people share this passion as well. RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) is after all exactly 100 years older than OTOP (Ogolnopolskie Towarzystwo Ochorny Ptakow) - birdwatching is a proper activity here. And again it confirmed that my target of interest are coastal and marsh birds...

We must sort out photos before we can upload them on Picasa, it may take a while but check it soon - The Wash is something really unique in Europe, even if you are not really into birds.

Because I am such an amateur of wildlife and general photography & birdwatching I really wasn't aware of what sort of equipment is now available for birdwatchers. Most of this stuff is very expensive (£250 is the starting price for the simplest scope without eyepiece) but there are some telescopes with SLR adapters I can afford in the future and I certainly will because it turns the whole activity into total new dimension.