Robert Schaefer

Mt. Airy, Maryland, USA

Robert Schaefer has been a birder since he was a teenager (half a century ago), but took up bird videography only a few years ago. He uses a Sony HDR-HC9 camcorder with a 2x teleconverter lens, on a tripod. No matter what the optics, he has found that the best way to get good videos is to find ways to get really close to the birds, and this has added a whole new dimension to his enjoyment of birds. He has mostly recorded videos close to home but has also recorded some in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Canada, and Australia. One shortcoming of videography as opposed to still photography is the difficulty of sharing one's results with others, but the Internet Bird Collection now makes this possible.
IBC Personal statistics:

• First material posted on 19 December 2006
• Number of videos posted: 574 covering 337 species (3.38%)
• Number of photos posted: 0 covering 0 species (0%)
• Number of sounds posted: 9 covering 8 species (0.08%)