Well, Mike McDowell got me all tricked out with some digiscoping gear. I'm using a Denali Scope with an adaptor for my Nikon 7900 Koolpix digital cameral. So I headed out to one of my favorite feeding stations (Mr. Neil's) to try out the system. I am no Mike by any means, but I think I'm off to a pretty good start. Digiscoping is really quite challenging. It does take awhile to figure out the rhythm of your camera and to also keep in mind that focusing is a little tougher. If you're focused on a feeder that's fifteen feet in front of you and you suddenly notice a junco that is ten feet from you, you have to focus and adjust, not just point and shoot. It's still a good time though. I started off easy at bird feeders where you can kind of predict where the birds are going to land, but I can't imagine how some of the other digiscopers out there are able to get those great warbler and sparrow shots. I'll have to look for the Yoda of digiscoping and get more training.

I took photos of this bird waterer that kind of looks like an office water cooler. It's a fun little bird bath that stores up water and provides little dishes for birds to drink out of and bathe in. Goldfinches totally love it, and both goldfinches and chickadees were on Mr. Neil's today.

So, as I was standing out in the brisk autumn air I noticed one particular annoyingly loud goldfinch. I zoomed in on it and noticed that it was a juvenile goldfinch begging from an adult. I know goldfinches are late nesters, but I've never noticed a young goldfinch this late before. The adult was trying to teach the young bird to go to the feeders but would still give in to the begging calls.

For those interested Maddy G-Dawg is the best person in the world and likes whirled peas. Also, would people stop stealing her clams from whyville.