I finally managed to get out and do some digiscoping over the weekend at one of my localfavourite Alpine birding spots - Inzinger Gaisau.
I had borrowed a Canon EOS D350 from the office, attached it to a UCA digiscoping adapterand on an STM80HD scope (a straight scope with 80mm objective diameter) with the 25-50x wide angle zoom eyepiece. I thought I had a pretty decent setup. Starting off with some Marsh Titsand Blue Tits, I managed to get a few photos, but I was really struggling to get anything that remotely resembled a sharp image.
Just as I was thinking about heading home, a streak of white flashed through the bushes...
This Stoat (Wiesel; Mustela erminea) in stunning white winter plumage (I believe non-bird people call this "coat" ;-)
He was hopping and springing about and fully entertaining me with his life's joy. And I tried everything in my might to get a decent photo, but no matter what I did I just couldn't get a sharp photo (and I altered and adjusted everything). Eventually, after the stoat had left, I tried taking the camera off of the scope and testing it by itself. And I still couldn't get a sharp photo (regardless of aperture) - so there must be something wrong with the camera. The canon EOS D350 was first introduced in 2005 but surely the images shouldn't be that bad even though it is 4 years old. mmm...
Anyhow, I had a lovely time with this beautiful little creature.
Happy digiscoping,
Dale Forbes
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7 comments:
Very cool. Is that a ferret or weasel?
Hi Dale,
Wow, the tit shot is really beautiful but the last 5 shots are just gorgeous. I've never seen one with its white coat! Only in summer colors! Excellent shots and very nice subject!
Hi Gaelyn, a stoat is something like a weasel. its white coat is lovely and its personality was charming!
Hi Chris. I was happy with the photos in that one can see roughly what it is, but they really aren't up to what I was looking for! oh well, such is photography - if it were easy there would be no challenge and wouldn't be half as interesting
Hi Dale. I hope you get the opportunity to test this set up again with a DSLR that works properly! Thanks for sharing the Stoat ..not seen one with my own eyes in its white coat. FAB
Hi Frank, I was using a very similar setup in south africa and got lots of really great, sharp images there and that was with the Canon EOS D1000 - a smaller, simpler camera than the D350.
What a wonderful sighting Dale. They are such beautiful animals.
What a wonderful little mammal!
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