Posted by Dan Arndt
This week’s trip was unfortunately cut short as my lined cargo pants and a pair of thick long johns still weren’t enough to keep the bitter cold bite of the wind away. I wasn’t the only one though, my camera quit after little more than an hour of walking in what felt like -36 degrees C. This is the first time my Pentax K-5 has actually powered down due to the cold, and I’ve birded in colder actual temperatures, but it must have been the wind chill that got to the battery as well, and no amount of battery switching in the field would keep it working. I really only managed to snap off a few photos of a Black-capped Chickadee and a mass of floating ice crystals above the creek itself. I realized my camera (and my legs) would have no more of it when I attempted to take a photo of a Red-breasted Nuthatch we saw a bit further along on our route and I watched the screen fade, and them simply turn off.
ice crystals over Fish Creek
Bebo Grove
Black-capped Chickadee
Bebo Grove
Have no fear. I’ll make it up to you, dear reader, tomorrow, with some photos I’m sure you’ll enjoy!
Good birding!
I’ve never seen a chickadee puffed up so much to keep warm. You may not have gotten the pic of the red breasted nuthatch today but I finished a wood carving of that same bird today. It just needs a little colour added. A good day.
Hi Dan, You may have to switch to Nikon 🙂 My D7000 worked fine yesterday when I was outdoors for three hours (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm).
Bernard.
A great cold weather pic of the chickadee –all fluffed up to keep in the warmth. Claudette