I was disappointed in the performance of the plastic clip on the tree strap that came with the Bushnell® HD Trophy Cam. Disappointed in the way it broke in the cold. My solution was to use an old kayak tie-down (left). OK, confession, it wasn’t old, but it was available and I could replace it by the time it was warm enough to kayak in Vermont.

It is generally a good idea to question your own cleverness. The new strap was great and it did a phenomenal job. I wondered why Bushnell® was so “thrifty” as to not include such a fantastic strap initially. Unfortunately, man-genius here never got past what a great solution I’d come up with to consider other issues, such as why Bushnell® include a strap that was a little less visible.

After I reattached the camera to a tree, I left to run some errands. When I was driving up the driveway on my way home I spied a bright yellow ribbon around a tree. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we weren’t praying for the return of a loved one, or Tony Orlando. I guess you can attach your game camera to a tree using a bright yellow strap if you’d like for the game cam to be stolen. I’m sure the raccoons had a great laugh that night.

I took the camera down and ordered a dark strap from Amazon. Now it is securely attached, easy to adjust, and won’t be broken by the Vermont weather.

I chalk it up as an ultimate win, but I had to laugh at myself for overlooking the obvious. Of course, once the obvious was mounted on a tree, it was easier to see.

I was also educated a couple weekends ago. Every Sunday at 8 AM a group meets down at a park in Virginia to bird. I decided to go to the same spot on Saturday to try out a “new” spotting scope I was renting for a couple days. I was slow getting out, but 8 AM seemed too early on the weekend anyway. I decided to hit Huntley Meadows Park first. It was pretty much a bust as far as seeing a variety of birds, but there were a lot of Mallards and Canada Geese. What I learned was how difficult it is to identify ducks when they are all resting with heads tucked under wings. I also learned that, at the right angle, a Mallard drake’s head looks purple – not green. I confirmed this observation at the National Zoo the other day on a noon-time walk.

My final observation and lesson learned is that it is really quite difficult to take an iPhone photo through a spotting scope (right). It is hard to line up that small lens with the small scope eyepiece. At least you can see the ducks with their heads hidden. There must be an easier way to line up the iPhone camera and the scope…perhaps a bright yellow strap would work. I have one that I’m not using and is now far too short to tie down a kayak.