the Way of the Turtle

9.4 Mile Ride at the Corning Preserve
Thursday, March 12, 2009

A cold evening for a ride, but I suppose it could have been worse. I headed down to the Corning Preserve again because (1) it's close, (2) I know the path is essentially clear, and (3) there was a good chance I'd see some wildlife and get a chance to test the capabilities of my new camera.

The ride was easy and uneventful, other than my stops to check out birds and deer. Initially I thought tonight might be a bust - too early for deer, and there were no birds in sight on the river besides the usual ring-billed gulls - but in the end I saw deer, gulls, hawks, red-winged blackbirds, robins, a titmouse, a kingfisher, and both a common and a pair of hooded mergansers. In the end I may have spent almost as much time trying out the camera as I did riding!

I love the better zoom on the camera... I was able to get some great shots that I never would have pulled off with my older one. But I do miss the viewfinder... it can be tough to find what I'm trying to shoot when the zoom is up around 20x or 30x.

All in all, a good trip along the Hudson (if a bit short.) I definitely looking forward to using this camera a lot more!

JMH