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Bill Schmoker
Longmont, Colorado
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Simply awesome, such a cool way to wrap the day! Amazing talent to come up with such funny and clever songs in-between everything else you guys were doing at camp, BRAVO!!
Commented Aug 22, 2013 on Ladies and Gentlemen, LIVE from Camp Avocet...Pish & Twitch!!! at ABA Blog
Ladies and Gentlemen, LIVE from Camp Avocet...Pish & Twitch!!!
Pish & Twitch, Brendan Murtha (l) and Caleb Frome (r), rock the house ©George Armistead The ABA, with vital support from Leica Sport Optics and other generous donors, conducted two summer camps for young birders in the last month. I was truly fortunate to spend time with both groups and I w...
p.s. There's a nice article and video news story including an interview with Jeff Gordon about the camp here: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013308170046&nclick_check=1
Commented Aug 22, 2013 on 2013 ABA Camp Avocet at ABA Blog
2013 ABA Camp Avocet
I had the thorough pleasure of attending the ABA's Camp Avocet as a counselor last week. The camp, based at the beautiful and birdy Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, attracted 22 keen young birders and a slew of bird experts who joined the staff for birding jaunts in Delaware, Pennsylvan...
Thanks, Mary! I'm glad you liked my voice coming through the piece.
I don't ever mind editing help- if I'm writing something more formally (like the column I wrote for Winging It) it definitely gets edited, but in the blog it is just my tired eyes looking it over. So having someone give it a fresh read and finding a problem for me is a bonus, and lets me know someone is reading it!!
Anyway, I think I found a nice compromise in my revised caption.
Thanks again, & best- Bill
Commented Aug 9, 2013 on You Know You're a Birder When... at ABA Blog
You Know You're a Birder When...
For the latter half or so of July I was incredibly fortunate and privileged to sail from western Iceland to Greenland aboard the National Geographic Explorer as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. The trip was so full of highlights that I'm still wrapping my head around it; I'm working on photos and mo...
Ah, good catch. Thanks, Madeline!
Commented Aug 8, 2013 on You Know You're a Birder When... at ABA Blog
You Know You're a Birder When...
For the latter half or so of July I was incredibly fortunate and privileged to sail from western Iceland to Greenland aboard the National Geographic Explorer as a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. The trip was so full of highlights that I'm still wrapping my head around it; I'm working on photos and mo...
You Know You're a Birder When...
Posted Aug 8, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Bald Eagle Eats Whale!
Posted Jul 24, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Innovative Smart Phone Digiscoping Bracket
Hey ABA Blog readers- I recently saw this video showing the new PhoneSkope C4 universal phonescoping adapter and thought it was pretty intriguing. I haven't put my hands on one yet (I'm hoping to get one to review soon) but wondered if any of you have tried it? If so... Continue reading
Posted Jul 11, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Mako Sica- maybe not!
Posted Jun 27, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Great post, Ted, and props for the Bionic Woman reference.
Commented Jun 26, 2013 on The Bare-Naked Big Walk at ABA Blog
The Bare-Naked Big Walk
I can think of several essential ingredients for any successful birding “Big Day”—an effort to identify as many bird species as possible during a single midnight-to-midnight period. Here goes: 1. A good team. 2. A good route. 3. A good plan. And I can think of two other Big Day essentials we t...
Kayak Kam 2
Posted Jun 13, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Mr. Bubbles
Ruddy Duck is one of those species that I see fairly often in a typical year, but rarely see well. They usually come through my neck of the woods in their duller plumage, and usually like to congregate out in big reservoirs out of nice photo range. When I do... Continue reading
Posted May 30, 2013 at ABA Blog
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On the importance of a good perch for feeder photos...
Posted May 16, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Thanks, Ryan- I can see that for professional results an off-body mic is the way to go. Great examples, most inspirational! May I ask what shotgun mic you are using?
If the audio is crappy another way to go is to just scub it for silent footage, but with birds making so many neat sounds I'd rather have audio, even with a bit of ambient noise from wind, focus motors, etc.
Best- Bill
Commented May 2, 2013 on DSLR Bird Vids at ABA Blog
DSLR Bird Vids
I'm easing myself into a new realm of bird photography, dabbling with videos to supplement my core interest of shooting stills. Three primary factors influenced my decision to try this. First, I enviously watched my buddies Brian Sullivan and Chris Wood shooting video with their DSLR rigs and ...
Hi Gabriel- I haven't had any better submissions so you win!! (There was an audible Western Meadowlark, too, but everything you have is correct.)
Email me with your mailing address and I'll send you the book: (bill.schmoker at gmail.com)
Congrats, & thanks for playing!!
Commented May 2, 2013 on Avian Interlopers at ABA Blog
Avian Interlopers
I hope that you enjoyed Noah Strycker's latest ABA Blog entry about camera trapping as much as I did. Like Noah, I'm really enjoying the addition of motion-activated trail cameras to my bag of tricks. One of Forrest Gump's trademark quotes may well apply to camera trapping: "Life was like a box...
DSLR Bird Vids
Posted May 2, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Hi Gabriel- most excellent list, all there are correct but one species missing... give it one more look/listen!
Commented Apr 19, 2013 on Avian Interlopers at ABA Blog
Avian Interlopers
I hope that you enjoyed Noah Strycker's latest ABA Blog entry about camera trapping as much as I did. Like Noah, I'm really enjoying the addition of motion-activated trail cameras to my bag of tricks. One of Forrest Gump's trademark quotes may well apply to camera trapping: "Life was like a box...
Avian Interlopers
I hope that you enjoyed Noah Strycker's latest ABA Blog entry about camera trapping as much as I did. Like Noah, I'm really enjoying the addition of motion-activated trail cameras to my bag of tricks. One of Forrest Gump's trademark quotes may well apply to camera trapping: "Life was like... Continue reading
Posted Apr 18, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Night Moves
It is nice to see a pair of Barn Owls back for another season using a box I put up a few years ago in a friend's barn not too far from home. I featured these barn owls in an earlier post, with still Infrared (IR) photos taken with a... Continue reading
Posted Apr 4, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Thanks for the reviews, Hannah! I think I'll get a copy of Nighthawk! for Garrett to read. Like Corinna Wren, he's getting into chapter books and I'll bet he'd like this one based on your review.
See you out in the field soon, I hope!
Commented Apr 3, 2013 on Bird Books for Children at ABA Blog
Bird Books for Children
A review by Hannah Floyd Song for Papa Crow by Marit Menzin Schiffer Publishing, 2012 32 pages, $16.99–hardcover Nighthawk! by Jamie Bastedo Red Deer Press, 2013 245 pages, $12.95–softcover In Marit Menzin's Song for Papa Crow (2012), a young crow "learns to appreciate his voice." The auth...
Crossley does Raptors
Posted Mar 21, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Ha- got me on that one, Andy!! Thanks for the note- Bill
Commented Feb 22, 2013 on Albuquerque Rally Bits at ABA Blog
Albuquerque Rally Bits
I've had the honor and pleasure of leading at the recently concluded ABA Winter Birding Rally in Albuquerque this week, and thought I'd share a few personal photographic highlights. It is really nice to see the growing lineup of upcoming ABA offerings, and even more tantalizing events were anno...
Albuquerque Rally Bits
Posted Feb 21, 2013 at ABA Blog
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Touché!
Commented Feb 8, 2013 on Are your windows ready? at ABA Blog
Are your windows ready?
Today's installment is a quick check to see if your windows are ready for special visitors. In this case I'm not talking about the serious issue of bird strikes (but if you are having problems with this please review these excellent strike-prevention posts by Julie Zickefoose and David Sibley.)...
Excellent tips, Chuck, I'll certainly keep those in mind when I'm battling a strong temperature gradient!
Commented Feb 7, 2013 on Are your windows ready? at ABA Blog
Are your windows ready?
Today's installment is a quick check to see if your windows are ready for special visitors. In this case I'm not talking about the serious issue of bird strikes (but if you are having problems with this please review these excellent strike-prevention posts by Julie Zickefoose and David Sibley.)...
Thanks for the great update, Steve! And thanks for keeping our Android users in mind.
Commented Jan 25, 2013 on Count Circle at ABA Blog
Count Circle
Stevens Creek Software has just introduced Count Circle, a new birding app with a simple but interesting premise of showing the boundaries of established or potential Christmas Bird Count circles on an iOS (Apple mobile) device. If the device also has GPS (such as an iPhone), you can see where ...
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