Guys
A fellow birder mentioned some kind of device that you can attach to the hot shoe of the camera that can help............but he doesn't have a name.
Can anyone recommend what I can do or get to help me find these small birds??
The device is a Red Dot Sight.
I've picked a sight of the type that I use at random off Aliexpress:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Holo..._91_22_80,searchweb201644_5,searchweb201560_9
The price is $22.59 with free shipping to UK. I have bought two of a similar type at a similar price. Quality has proved excellent. I may have been lucky. But it means that you don't have to spend big money to get a good and reliable sight.
I am Red-Green colour blind. I find a green dot brighter than a red dot. This is important in all bar bad lighting.
Mounts are hard to find, and critical to get right. The best mount out of the two I own is the previous model of the Extend-a-sight:
http://www.photosolve.com/main/product/xtendasight/index.html
http://www.photosolve.com/shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?Search=Yes&sppp=5
http://www.photosolve.com/main/ordering/index.html
The price is $26.95. I can't help on shipping cost beyond what it says in the last URL above. My memory of what I paid a year or two ago was that the cost was reasonable (ie half the price of the mount at the most). The cost will of course show up on screen before you pay.
You will find recommendations of the current model of Xtend-a-Sight on DPP Forums.
Research mount before sight! If you can't find a suitable mount for your camera, it is pointless to buy a Red dot sight.
As for photographing small birds, I use a Canon SX50 (1200mm--35mm equivalent--maximum optical zoom bridge camera). For most of the time I use it at full zoom.
For small birds the range will be 10ft (Feather detail) to 20yd (Good quality i/d). Ie 3 to 20 metres. For i/d shots generally I might go out to 30/40yd (30-40m).
I call the Red dot sight an 'added resource'. I use it frequently to lay the camera on the bird, even at 10ft range. Little birds often pause only for a moment, and time to shot for a bridge camera is slow!
By way of example the other day I managed an in focus, full zoom shot using red dot sight of a foraging Wren at 10ft. It's not something that I bring off every day! But it shows what can be done.
Stephen