One of the advantages of my Point and Shoot for Wildlife method, which involves two digital point and shoots and a spotting scope, is that almost any bird is fair game. This Reddish Egret at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge started out far enough out so that I was using my digiscoping rig…the Canon SD100HS behind the 30x eyepiece of my ZEISS DiaScope spotting scope…but in the course of its hectic feeding, it worked its way in close enough so that I switched to the long (840mm equivalent) end of the zoom on my Canon SX40HS, which is always hanging over my shoulder when I am digiscoping. While I might have gotten this shot with the digiscoping rig at the lowest zoom setting on the camera, with hyperactive birds like feeding Reddish Egrets, it is much easier to follow the action with a hand-held camera.

The second shot, on the other hand is definitely digiscoping territory. Unless working from a blind, this kind of intimate close up of wild birds is very difficult to achieve with conventional equipment.

Not that it is easy with a camera behind the eyepiece of a scope. I took a lot of shots at longer equivalent focal lengths (2900mm) to get this one, and even here there is just a bit of motion blur.

Finally we have a matched pair…the one on the left, or first one,  is digiscoped at about 1200mm equivalent field of view, and the one right, or second one, is taken at 840mm equivalent on the Canon SX40HS from a slightly closer range.

All shots in Program with iContrast and –1/3EV exposure compensation. 1) f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 100. 2) 1/320th @ ISO 400, f7.8 effective, 3) 1/320th @ ISO 100, f5.6 effective, 4) f5.8 @ 1/200th @ ISO 100.

Processed in Lightroom for intensity, clarity, and sharpness.