Bohemian Waxwings |
The first rule is to always dress appropriately! Long sleeves and long pants, sturdy footwear, preferably hiking boots is what I typically wear. The long sleeves protect against both scratches from the branches of bushes as well as insect bites. Pant legs are usually slim for the same reason. I wear a hat to protect against the sun's glare, rain or any insects, such as ticks that can drop down on your head from above. I also wear a vest with pockets for my cell phone, lighter and other little tools that won't fit into my camera bag. Accidents do happen, so I like to bring some things to take care of myself in that event.
Bring homemade mosquito repellant! I don't know about you, but I prefer the home made over the chemical kind which are toxic, even though they are said to be safe. Sometimes Mosquito populations soar, especially after a lot of rain, and slapping at Mosquitoes and scratching their bites can ruin a bird watch experience like nothing else can. This is another reason why, I love Dragonflies and when the city can't spray for mosquitoes I am not concerned. If the city can't spray it means more Dragonflies will survive. The more I see the better, because they dine on Mosquitoes, which means their populations decline drastically once the Dragonflies emerge.
Dragonfly |
Gray Catbird |
Boat Tailed Grackle Female |
Bring extra SD cards and re-chargeable batteries! Nothing is more frustrating than seeing the card full, or battery low message on the screen of a digital camera. In my experience, one of these messages tends to come up either when you are in the middle taking photos of a new bird species, getting a close up or when you are not nearly ready to head home because there are many birds all around you.
Leave that camera on! When I first started out bird watching I had a habit of turning the camera off to conserve the battery when I didn't see any birds. This turned out to be a very big mistake, as I missed many opportunities for photos. Many times birds can surprise you by arriving very suddenly and they often don't stick around for very long. Even very large birds in an open sky. I now leave my camera on until I am very nearly home. It was the only solution.
Enjoy,
Susan
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