Yellow-throated Warbler – iPhone digiscoping test

Since I was in the area, I decided to look for some early Yellow-throated Warblers at Safe Harbor and Conestoga Creek Parks near Conestoga, PA. To be fair, they had been reported a few days previously, so I was pretty sure I had a good chance of seeing them.

With the help of another birder, I was able to quickly find a single male that was singing relatively frequently. The Yellow-throated Warbler was flying back and forth between the conifers and sycamores near the creek.

I typically see these warblers at the very top of tall sycamores, so when this bird was foraging halfway down in closer view, I decided to try to take some photos and video. This ended up being a lot harder than I anticipated, as the bird would sit still until I found it in the scope, then take off when I put the phone up to the eyepiece. I managed to get a couple shots but none showed the bright yellow throat.

All images digiscoped with hand held iPhone 4S through Zeiss Diascope 85 T *FL with a 20-60x zoom.

Finally, after about 30 minutes of trying, the Yellow-throated Warbler perched low in a small tree and kept relatively still, allowing me time to focus and fire of about 20 shots. I use the Camera+ app because it allows me to set exposure and focus at different points, and is much faster at taking photos than the stock app.

Overall, I have been very happy with the results my phone gets through the scope. I am excited about some of the iPhone digiscoping adapters that are apparently being made which will be much easier than hand holding.

I had some trouble with focusing while shooting the video below but we generally happy with the results.