My New Toy - a Viewing Scope



At Gilbert Water Ranch trying out my new custom built viewing scope from Photon Instrument.

 I'm finally back to blogging after a nearly 2 month absence.  Where have I been??  Out exploring my favorite birding areas, agog over what I can now see!  Its a whole new bird world out there now that I can see soooo far, and in so much detail!  I never was able to master using binoculars so I have been birding just by naked eye, and using a 12x optical zoom digital camera to get close-up views.  But I often couldn't ID the birds I was seeing while in the field with certainty - I had to download my images to my laptop to get a decent look at key field markings.  So in November my friend Josh, at Wild Birds Unlimited, referred me to Warren Kutok at Photon Instrument in Mesa, Arizona.  What a lucky day that was for me, to discover such a great hidden treasure here in Mesa.  Warren Kutok has helped build and repair observatory telescopes all over the world, and now he's putting together a custom built viewing scope that mounts to my wheelchair!  I went into his shop and met with him on a Thursday, and by Saturday my scope was ready.  Amazing!  I've been off wandering around with my scope ever since.  I really need to stop by Photon Instrument and thank Warren for opening up a whole new world for me.  I'm one happy birder!