Birding without a mirror (we don't need no stinkin'...)

Yep - sometimes I like to lighten the load when I'm out birding and leave the DSLR home or in the car. ; Especially as it gets into summer heat down here, a 6-8 hour day of lugging around the DSLR and big lenses gets tiring when it's 95 degrees and 90% humidity. ; The NEX-5N with my 55-210mm lens and Sony DH1758 1.7x teleextender combo is the perfect cure when I need to travel light, and still get some reach for birding...and the results are still pretty decent! ; Here are some birds captured with this combo this past season:

Black-crowned night heron:


Ibis in flight:


Black-bellied whistling duck having a bath:


Great blue heron closeup:


Pied-billed grebe:


Mottled duck, coming right at ya:


Sandwich tern:


Sanderling:


Eastern phoebe:


Green heron:


Common loon - a rare visitor:


Ruddy turnstone, also a rare winter visitor:


Closeup with a pelican:


Red-bellied woodpecker:


Red-winged blackbird - female:

 

Great series Justin!

 

Thanks Roger. ; Thought it might be fun to post some mirrorless birding, alongside my DSLR birding. ; Especially with the Dear Leader having picked up a 55-210mm lens on the cheap and looking to add the teleextender to test it out.

 

nice shots! and nice to see the combo at work. I never liked the extender I had for my Nikon.

 

Incredible colors and details, my friend. ;

 

Thank you Mike and Craig. ; Craig - the Sony DH teleextender is one of the better ones from those superzoom cameras - I know it was fairly in demand even among shooters of Canon S3, Nikon, Panasonic FZ, and other superzoom models. ; And it works pretty well on the NEX lens too!


Tim - thank you - hopefully we can find you this one, or one comparable, to experiment with!

 

I've been looking forward to some of you Jersey guys showing some Forsythe shots again...I figured it should be time it reopened, and the birds should all be headed back that way soon, if not already. ; They've left south America and the Caribbean and are streaming through my area now - on their way up north.

 

Let me know if/ when you do.

 

Great shots!