My Birding Story
“Hope is the thing with feathers.” - Emily Dickinson
FSHD is a slowly progressive form of muscular dystrophy which results in the weakening and atrophy of muscles. Having been diagnosed at age sixteen, I grew up with a “can do” attitude. My symptoms only significantly materialized about ten years ago, and before that I was very physically active. Now at at fifty nine I am so thankful that I pushed the limits throughout my life. I retired five years ago from a long wonderful carrier in transportation planning and traffic engineering.
Birding came into my life shortly after I retired. I attended an eight week birding seminar and field trip class and was hooked. Having spent much of my life outdoors birding was a perfect fit for my passions. However, I soon realized that my physical limitations were going to make birding difficult. The inability to raise the binoculars to my eyes was the first clue. So I purchased a camera monopod with a pan/tilt head, and binocular tripod mount, to attach my binoculars to the monopod. The pan/tilt head movement combined with the monopod height adjustment allows me to position my optics to my eyes regardless of the viewing angle.
For several years the binocular/monopod setup along with the walker was doing the job. But the art/sport/science of birding is one of quick movements and long walks over uneven surfaces. Especially if photography is part of the practice. My joy of watching birds was being quickly overshadowed by the work of pushing the walker getting the monopod/binocular setup to see the birds. So I decided to up my game and build a powered wheelchair. The reason for me actually building, rather than purchasing, a chair is long and rather circular in reasoning, so I’ll leave it for another post.
Once I had my powered wheelchair completed, my birding adventures took on new life. Rather than spending my time pushing the walker and deploying the monopod system, I could leisurely glide silently along and focus on the birds. It was here where my desire to be completely immersed into watching the birds, led me to build my adaptive birding equipment. The difficulty of raising my arm to focus either the binoculars or scope left me very sore the the next day. In my case, necessity truly was the mother of invention. I searched for power focus binoculars or spotting scopes and only found a power focus device built for telescopes. Purchasing the telescope power focus I designed a support system and modified the focus knob attachment. These units allow me to quickly focus either my binoculars or spotting scope without having to raise my hands.
My latest addition has been a swing arm support for my camera. Unlike my binoculars or spotting scope, my camera which has a fold out tilting LCD screen, does not need to be raise or lowered for access to my eyes. When not using the camera, it stays on the support while I use my binoculars or scope.
I have setup this website to share my story and equipment ideas with others. Please feel free to email me at paul@fshdbirder.org. I would love to read about your story, ideas or inventions, and lend as much support if needed.
- Paul