Do no harm

Many birders now carry cameras on field trips in addition to — or sometimes instead of — binoculars and spotting scopes. As bird photography increases in popularity, it’s more important than ever for photographers to consider our collective impact on the welfare of birds and to minimize disruption while pursuing our craft.

Capturing a close-up view of a wild bird going about its life certainly is a thrill, but achieving that with a wary, skittish subject involves more than using a long telephoto lens. Photographic lenses don’t provide the extreme magnification of spotting scopes, and so photographers need to get physically