Spyonabird

In my backyard

These are such cute little birds

thanks, I didn't want to be wrong when I put them into ebird.

These are heavily cropped images. 2 Different birds. Winston Salem, NC - 8/22/21 1. First thought was Eastern Phoebe, but no tail pumping and the wing bars were throwing me. 2. Maybe Eastern Wood-Peewee? I think I see a bi-colored beak?

The wild ponies at Grayson Highlands State Park.

Today was a dragonfly day... Hope "youse guys" enjoy it.

dragonfly

Indigo Bunting

I use the viewfinder so I can steady the camera against my face. I use the screen (LiveView) if the camera is on a tripod.

I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark IV and the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS I USM upgrade - Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM. The VII is so much faster than my old VI lens. I'm glad I made the switch. I also have the 1.4X extender.

Ok, I guess I will chime in on this. First some background. For many years my husband and I ran a company called Spy On A Bird (hence the user name here). We repurposed security cams for inside birdhouses and feedercams. We also designed solar powered Eagle and Osprey cams for US Fish and Wildlife across the country. After awhile, it got too much for us. We were holding down full time jobs and trying to run a business at the same time. We closed the business a few years ago. A couple of points to consider 1. Waterproofing. Cameras need to be able to withstand the elements. The standard use to be IP66 2. Power. Some cameras claim to be wireless but everything needs power. Will you run a cable? Solar power? Battery Pack? 3. Signal transmission. How will you view the signal? Do you need an app? Will it connect to your house wifi? Stored on an SD card? Trail cams are nice but as you mentioned, many do not close focus. For inside a birdhouse, many people are used the Blink camera. They may also work well for a feeder. Denise

My new lens arrived today. My old one got soaked in a sudden downpour while on a hike. It was not recoverable but it gave me an excuse to upgrade to a new version. I'm a few thousand $$ poorer but happy with the upgrade so far. I am still playing with it and the conditions are not very good today but... Ruby-Throated Hummingbird telling me what she thinks about my new lens.

Of course, you have to take what I say with a grain of salt. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania in the shadow of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Transplanted to NC in 2004. Not sure where we will retire. so many options... so little money...

I live midway and the birding is subpar. (actually near the town of Midway) You have to travel 2-4 hours to see the good stuff. Migration time is better but not as good as being on the ends of the state.

Mourning Dove from several years ago.

Cala Lily from my backyard

One of my favorite birds...

While this is true - you can always add cheap extension tubes to reduce the minimum focus distance. This lets you do macro with a bigger zoom lens.

With the scarcity of bugs and other creepy crawlies in our area, we even have American Robins on our feeder eating the sunflower hearts.

This may be too late for you, but I have the Cotton Carrier for my camera. It attaches to the tripod ring on my lens. I also keep the camera strap loosely around my neck for backup. It is easy to slide it out of the holder for quick shots. It's a quick twist and lift. I bought the attachment for the binoculars but I haven't used it yet. My binoculars are Zeiss and they have a screw for a tripod mount. The only downside is that my husband laughs at me 'cause I look like a birding dork. 😕

Just my 2 cents but... I shoot a Canon 5D Mark IV and purchased the 100-400 IS USM V1 lens several years ago. It works very well for me. At one point, I purchased the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM prime lens thinking it would give me sharper pics. I found very little difference in quality so I returned it. Photographers are always looking for more "reach" I recently I added a 1.4X teleconverter knowing that I would lose a few stops of light. I can use this set-up in bright light, but forget about anything in low light. A teleconverter may not work with your current camera/lens system so that option may be off the table. I would echo lonestranger and buy a good quality lens. The 18-400 may not be very sharp at full zoom. Oh - and buy from a reliable company (not ebay). I like B&H but KEH and Adorama are also good. This is an American Coot with my teleconverter set-up. This was close to mid-day at f/8 and 560 mM

This is a Gray Catbird. Overall gray with dark cap and if you get a chance to see it again, look for the rusty color under the tail.

New video from our Coyote cam

For years we maintained a saltwater tank. Until..... the tank leaked at 3 AM and almost caused an electrical fire. We ended up giving everything away including our 10+ y/o Tomato Clownfish. 🙁

We have a bluebird sitting on 4 eggs. There were 5 until a pesky House Sparrow got to one. I have a camera in the box so I will show some videos when they hatch.