This Saturday, Len Blumin will be leading a bird walk during Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary's Waterbird Festival. We asked him a few questions about his love of birding and photography.

AC: What first got you into birds? 

LB: My wife has been a long-term docent at Audubon Canyon Ranch, and I was able to join her on field trips to the Sacramento Valley refuges every December for the awesome gathering of wintering birds. We still go there every year.

AC: Is there a specific species that you have an affinity for?

LB: No, but there are bird families that interest me, especially the Ducks (Anatidae) and the Shorebird families. I even wrote a little book on the Ducks and allies.

AC: What got you into photography?

LB: Photography has always been a hobby, and around 2000 I realized that I could hold a digital camera up to our spotting scope and take a picture through the scope, a technique known as "digiscoping."

AC: What equipment do you use to bird and photograph with?

LB: With rare exceptions, all of my photos are taken through a Swarovski Spotting scope. We currently use the Swarovski STX 85, which is awesome. The choice of camera in digiscoping is not critical. Most of my photos were with Nikon Coolpix series cameras, although for the past 2-3 years I have switched to the Nikon V1 with a fixed 18.5 mm lens. 

AC: Any favorites?

LB: Favorite camera? No. Favorite birds to photograph? Well, ducks and shorebirds mostly, but I also love taking shots of all the herons and egrets, and also the raptors and woodpeckers.

AC: What’s your favorite bird guide?

LB: The Sibley guides, of course, but I also like the National Geographic Field Guide to the birds of North America. 

AC: App or book?

LB: We have the iBird Pro guide on our smartphone, which my wife uses a fair amount. Friends use the Sibley Guide a lot on their portable devices. I don't like the distraction of using a guide while in the field, but it comes in handy at times. I mostly try to get a decent photo of any bird in question, and then check it out with my references when I get home. I have library of 100+ books at home. My favorite internet site is the Cornell Lab's Birds of North America Online.

AC: What’s your best birding “get” or favorite story finding a rare bird?

LB: My favorite "gets" were the hundreds of bird species that we saw on outings with the late Rich Stallcup. Every bird was special to him, and we learned that lesson well. At the end of each trip Rich would thank us all for being "good humans", which of course meant treasuring and protecting all wildlife. We don't "chase" rare birds any longer, but I do remember trudging through a farm field along Pierce Point Road and being rewarded with great views of the shy and cryptic Mountain Plover. It was also thrilling to see a Hudsonian Godwit a few years ago in Napa county. The most dramatic photo I've taken is probably that of a Peale's race of Peregrine Falcon (below).

Meet Len and all the other expert birders we are hosting, this Saturday, at the Richardson Bay Audubon Center & Sanctuary Waterbird Festival. Click here for more details and to RSVP.