[Oehoe]

What time of day do you usually get more hits than misses, and what locations? What type of habitat? I ask because I have gotten more misses than hits this summer, probably because I wake up too late to bird in the morning, and I don't have a vehicle to drive out to more prolific locations. Thanks in advance.

[birdeyes]

I should probably be the last one to give any information as I am a new birder.

Nonetheless, for shorebirds, I go with the tide. They say it is best when there is about 1.5hour before the tide reach its peak.

If you are going for places like Burnaby Lake, piper spit, I find the evenings, in the middle of tide changes either way is great because of lighting.

If you are going for the land birds, because I don't necessarily know where to look, I tend to go in the afternoons like 3-5 ish, may not be the most productive but at least there is enough light to see through the bushes.

For bald eagles, late afternoons towards dusk is the best around North 40 dog park area as they are going back to the nests.

As you see, each type of bird is different and sometimes the season makes a difference too. I find early August being the most quiet period but late august around now, there are quite a variety of shorebirds and geese starting to migrate.

Anyways, I am just trying to help start the conversation and by no means an expert - in fact far from it.

[Oehoe]

Awesome reply, Mario. You are right about each bird being different. I wasn't too specific with my query.

[Isaac]

Early morning is usually the best time for songbirds/passerines, but of course everything depends on where you are, the season, and what birds you are looking for. There can be great birding at other times of day as well, if you are in the right place.

Decent binoculars and a good field guide book or app (like "Sibley's" or "Stoke's") are essential, and if you don't already have them, you can get decent binoculars for as cheap as $200 (approx.). Since you have a good camera and lens (great photos by the way!), that can work well for viewing birds too.

Hope this helps!

Isaac