I just returned from a trip overseas which took me to Dubai in the United Arab
Emirates, Malindi and Tsavo National Park in Kenya and a day in Singapore on
the way home. Although the trip wasn't strictly a birding holiday, I did
secure local field guides and identified as much as I could where ever I was.
One thing I learned quickly about birding in a strange country full of
unfamiliar birds or even familiar families of birds, only many more species,
was the usefulness of my digital camera. In many instances I would see a bird,
easily identify it as say a sunbird for instance, admire its general
colouration etc, then TAKE A QUICK PICTURE, even if it isn't a great shot. I
could then look through the field guide and get close to a positive
identification and so often the digital image on my camera was good enough to
distinguish certain features to enable a positive ID. After going through my
holiday photos a few days after returning home, I have added another dozen or so
species to my list, purely due to birds appearing in the foreground /
background of some shots and in one instance a picture of Supurb starlings
(Lamprotornis superbus) feeding on flying ants at a disturbed nest there was
also present Fischer's Starlings (Spreo fischeri). At the time I assumed the
drab gey and white birds to be females of the strikingly coloured supurbs, but
later after reading further in the book, and comparing with the photos, a new
species could be added.
There is no doubt that the digital technology helped me along in a foreign
land and can prove quite useful at home. I'd like to make a point that many of
my photos aren't great at all, and some of the very useful ones are quite
blurry, but if they show even just one distinguishing feature then it is an aid
to identification.
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