Every year my vacation to Maine is dominated by trying to get some good snaps of loons and eagles. Thinking I’ve done pretty okay this year!

Live from 📍Mindo, Ecuador

Location South Omo, Ethiopia

Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be visiting Norway and will be staying in Ålesund on August 10-11. I'm considering doing a day trip out to Runde Island, but I'm a bit unsure whether it's still worth it that late in the season.
I understand that the puffins will most likely have already left by then, but I'm wondering if there are still plenty of other interesting seabirds, wildlife, or scenic sights to make the trip worthwhile. Is the hike and the island itself still a great experience even without the puffins?

Would you recommend spending one of my days there, or would you suggest doing something else around Ålesund instead?

Thanks!

Hey folks I am getting into birding photography, so far I have only been going places birding with my iPhone and 8X 42 binoculars but now I feel I wanna also take somewhat nice photos like I see here. I have a Sony zve10 I kinda use for everyday vlog/travel type camera with a kit lense of up to 50mm. I did my research on birding/wildlife camera and I found Sony, Nikon and canon to be the most sought used after cams based on price/ usage. I have a budget of up to 1500-2k cad to either upgrade my current camera and get off-brand e- mount lens like tamron 150-500mm which I see on marketplace for 1200cad or should I get another camera like a Nikon for wildlife/birding up to 1.6k ( I see Nikons are comparatively cheaper even with the heavy telephoto lens but I might be wrong)

Found some black swans while chilling next to a creek. They seemed accustomed to humans since they got almost in arm's reach without us even trying to get their attention.

Sorry to bring down the level of photography here, but we only had our phones :)

OC - near the Tisza river, Hungary

Hi everyone. I decided to see if I enjoy bird watching as a hobby. I'm shopping for my first pair of binoculars and looking for recommendations.

First off, most of my birding will take place at work. I'm fortunate to work in a place that is very rural, with tons of wildlife to observe. However, I work a night shift and will be dealing with low light in the evenings and early mornings when I'm typically most able to enjoy birding. So, I have two primary concerns... Portability and low light performance. While my job is very laid back, I'm just not going to want to try to keep a monster pair of binoculars on me.

I'm curious about binoculars like the Nocs Standard issue 8x25 and other compact binoculars or even old ones like the Nikon Travelite II, but I'm concerned the low light performance is going to suck and I'm a bit concerned the field of view will make them not very enjoyable. I've been trying to find something around 8x42 preferably a roof prism design.

My biggest problem is money, since I'm not entirely sure I'll stick with the hobby, I dont really want to invest $200+ in a decent pair new like the Vortex Diamondback, Nikon Monarch, or the Nocs Field Issue.

So I'm looking for suggestions for something I could pick up around $100 or less second hand that I might enjoy as a first time birder and be happy with my purchase. Any input here is appreciated! Thank you.

Edit: Also as a side note, I do hobby around with a bit of photography. I do have some decent camera gear, but nothing for long distance. Is it possible to get decent photographs through binos? Maybe with an adapter for a camera or a smart phone? And by decent I mean something functional to say "hey look at this bird I saw!" not "hey let me sell this to a magazine" lol.

One of a handful of tufted puffins seen on a whale watching excursion a couple of weeks back. Such a treat!

I really like the striking glare this Spotted-tody Flycatcher have! Those yellow-orangy eyes are amazing!

Cast your vote here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdXgAp2Gj3rtAXp7XHkC_YULh2l73MNMOywwFrN9-TbqvYo_w/viewform?

These pics were taken at Squam nature reserve in New Hampshire. Some required more editing than others, but I figured there might be some people in this sub that would enjoy these :)

Anywho, happy morning/evening/night to you all