Garden Birding

I've added a couple of new birds to the lockdown bird list in the last two days, namely Sparrowhawk, Coal Tit and Lesser Black-backed Gull. These are all birds I've seen in the garden before but they are by no means regular and more observation has shown them to be far more regular than I'd thought - I've seen the Sparrowhawk 3 times in the last two days.
This brings the list up to 24. It's slow progress but I'm hoping the effort will be rewarded with some fantastic new sightings like the Peregrine two days ago.
Taken with the Apexel Zoom Lens
As well as listing I've been trying out a new zoom lens that I've bought for my phone. I've never been a photographer and have never felt the urge to spend a large amount of money on a camera that I don't feel I'd get enough use out of. So I'm always looking for new ways to photograph birds I see without one.
Photos are so vital if you find a rare bird that I feel I need a way to get a decent record shot at long range if I find one. I am getting much better at taking hand-held digiscoped shots through my scope but without my scope I don't really have an option as it stands.
I decided to try out the Apexel zoom lens kit (here) that I can attach onto my phone.
I have been amazed at the quality of such a cheap piece of kit. It comes with a tripod, a remote shutter, a zoom lens, a macro lens and more. Even an eyepiece to turn the zoom lens into a monocular!
For my purposes, I have found the quality and range of its photos are really impressive. I can leave it on my phone while I'm out birding and, should I need it, have an 18x zoom camera at my disposal!
The photos below illustrate the photos it can get. The quality of the photos is predictably not great but for identification purposes totally acceptable.
The Woodpigeon and Blackbird were photographed from the same position as the photo of the garden for reference. It was in front of the flower bed at the back left and the Woodpigeon was in front of the house in the distance in the back right.
The photos aren't great but if I need a record shot of a rarity they'd certainly do the job!
It takes a while to get used to and I've certainly got some practice to do, but I've been enjoying getting record shots of some of the birds visiting the garden.





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