BirdingGirl

I've been so busy taking pictures that I haven't paused to recognize my cousin Sue (of Nature of Framingham ), who was so thoughtful in selling me her Sony telephoto lens (actually she refused to accept my $$ so I'll need to find a way to get her back- I'm thinking of getting her a nice birding gift). I had blogged about wanting to buy a telephoto lens for my Canon PowerShot S2 IS and got a tip from Spencer at Beginning Birding that he uses a Sony VCL-DH1758 for his S2 IS. I then tweeted about it to see what people had to say about that lens. I'm very happy with the lens so far, although I'm really just happy to have a tele lens. Here are some recent pictures taken with it:

This morning I got up early and went to Pilates, then planned on going for a run afterward. I called my boyfriend before leaving the gym and since he was up for a run too I decided to forgo the warmth of the gym and head home to go for a jog along the river with him. As I left the lot I saw groups of seagulls, geese and (what appeared to be) buffleheads gathered along the edge of the ice covering in the bay (of the Charles River). My long jogging route involves going from my apartment to that very spot so I certainly had motivation to make it back there today. I made sure to pack my PowerShot inside my camelback and wear my fingerless mittens for quick access to the camera (they've been indispensable this winter!). It worked out well to bird while jogging today since the route is 6 miles and in this cold weather it was a difficult task to do non-stop. Mallard Ducks: It was their rows orange legs that caught my eye as I was running past. I had to stop and snap them since it was a v...

I've been so busy getting ready for Hawaii I haven't had any time to get out in the field and take pictures of birds. Luckily I'll have plenty of time on the plane to study up on using my camera . I knew I really was going to need a water-resistant camera bag so I did some research online and then ended up getting the Lowepro Rezo TLZ10 Camera Bag at Staples. I didn't have my camera with me but I have a pretty good idea of what size it is and all I really cared about was the water resistance since we'll be in a pretty wet climate. I already read in my manual that it's smart to protect it from condensation and moisture by keeping it in a Ziploc bag, which is what I did while birding in the winter. I'll be sure to report how the bag and the Ziploc baggie method worked out. I hope I have some stellar pictures to post!!!

I can hardly believe it's been a month since my last post. Actually I can believe it- December was a ridiculously busy month for me with work and Christmas parties on weekends etc. This was the year of birding/Hawaii presents. My boyfriend gave me everything I need to get started in amateur birding and I was completely surprised when I started opening my gifts. My parents gave us a really nice two-person tent to use during our trip to Hawaii in March. I started looking into it and learned that there are plenty of state forests and other types of parks to camp on the Big Island so I'm really excited about that. Now to the important part- my birding presents from my boyfriend :) Present #1: Canon PowerShot S2 IS I couldn't believe he got me a camera! I had an HP digital camera that he accidentally broke and he felt guilty about it ever since. That happened in July and I finally got another digital camera in October for our trip to Pennsylvania. It was another HP and I picked ...