How I became a birder.

Having developed a liking to Thailand for many years, I made many visits to this wonderful land and before long I established myself in a rural part of Korat. Being surrounded by farmland and the wilderness, I rediscovered nature which brought back many childhood memories and reignited my fondness for our feathered friends.
As a kid I used to hunt birds with a catapult and I am ashamed for what I've done but now, I shoot them with cameras only and try to do the right thing by them. I abide by the ethics of birding and I take care not to unnecessarily stress my subjects in any manner.


Being in rural Korat, I started to notice the abundant bird life there and I noticed many species which I've never seen before and thought it would be a great idea to record what I find and pose myself the challenge of recording as many South East Asian species as I possibly can.

I turned to the web for information about birds and the equipment for the job.
One method I found was digiscoping which I thought suited me because of cost considerations. Very quickly, I placed orders on the net and took delivery of a Celestron ED80 spotting scope and other accessories. To these, I coupled a battered old point and shoot Canon A75 camera and I was in heaven. I started shooting everything in sight but before long I realized the quality of my images were no where near the ones I see being posted by fellow birders on the net.  Granted, digiscoping got me the reach but I felt the gear wasn't working the way I wanted it to. It was all too fiddly and setting up was a real pain. I've the greatest admiration for folks who primarily digiscope and turn out fabulous images. Unfortunately for me, I just can't nor have the patience to continue with digiscoping.

Not long after and having missed many shooting opportunities and out of frustration, I returned to the web and found the answer in the DSLR and long lenses. The digiscope set was reluctantly retired and now sits in my store-room gathering dust. I began my search once again for gear that wouldn't break my bank but would allow me quick response when an opportunity presents itself.
I bit the bullet and went out and bought my first Canon dslr EOS550D and the renowned 400/5.6 prime lens. Once again I was happy and I started to get images which pleased me somewhat although they were still substandard to what I see posted on the net.
It's been a long and steep curve learning this skill and I am still light years away from what I aspire to be. But I am happy for now.

To date, I have acquired more gear and I've added the Canon 300/2.8 and 500/4 to my arsenal. This passion has burnt a huge hole in my pocket and I do not intend to purchase anymore stuff. I believe with what I have, it is now down to honing skills and I've no more excuses for poor quality images. This is not to say all my shots are now superb, far from it, I reckon I'd be happy if I have 25-30% keepers for every session.