A novice's birding part two: Birding with a point and shoot digital camera

So far in my research about birding, I've picked up the distinction between bird watching in a garden environment and wild bird watching. Here at the resort I probably fall more into the second category and am finding it particularly tricky to successfully photograph the birds I'm seeing. Though a rambunctious 23 month old toddling behind me probably also adds to the wildness of the wild birds! Another interesting point about bird watching is that photographing the birds you spot is optional, but to me - the beginning birder, birding includes getting a picture. Funnily enough when reading a few birding blogs on the internet it seems this debate is just it. For the new generation of birders, photography is often the starting point and draw card to birding and then goes on to form an integral part of the hobby. Perhaps its the internet revolution and having something to share on facebook or your blog, which a tick on a list doesn't satisfy. A good link for more thoughts on that is: http://birdingblogs.com/2011/Gunnar/the-future-of-birding Further reading enlightened me to the notion that beginning birders are meant to start with binoculars, but with no particular guidance shaping my interest, I am just walking around and seeing what I see. Investing in binoculars doesn't appeal to me at this point as generally binoculars don't capture your bird sightings

At the moment I'm using a Cannon Powershot A610 to take a few snap shots and its high time for an upgrade. I'm hoping to get a bit more into my new hobby and so have been looking into cameras recommended for birding, as my husband and I are about to upgrade cameras anyway. I can suggest the following link http://birding.com.co/birding-with-a-point-shoot-camera/ for information on birding with a point and shoot (P&S) digital camera. This link shows some impressive photos with a P&S camera and gives me hope!

One of the main differences between a DSLR (Digital Single Lense Reflex, a camera body with interchangeable lenses) and a P&S, for the novice birder, is price. DSLR's offer better image quality making this one of the drawbacks of P&S cameras but, it seems that P&S's have come a long way in this area. Useful points I've come across to think about when buying a P&S to bird with, are: considering the length of zoom (this does not seem a problem for most good quality P&S's), fast-focus ability - as birds don't stick around for long and being able to take good photos in low light conditions. The convenience of a small sized P&S camera is a bonus. At this point in my research, Cannons often come out on top in various blogs and website discussions I've found, which sits well with my husband who is a Cannon fan! But that's as far as I've got with this, I will have to blog further when we have some Cannon candidates and prices.