I’ve been a cyclist for three decades, and a photographer for two, but I’m a fairly recent birder. Usually, my bird photography would start with a drive to a sanctuary and then a quick hike through the woods, but my wife and I recently built a cabin on a remote mountain in Washington State, and that’s where I’ve been doing a lot of my photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But both my cycling and bird photography have been limited by the remoteness of the cabin and the incredibly steep mountain trails. It’s hard to lug camera gear while trying to push your way up a hill on a heavy bike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’ve worked with the bike company Tern for a long time. They’ve sponsored bike events I’ve run, and I’ve reviewed the Tern Orox e-bike<\/a> for my bike lifestyle site, bikehugger.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At some point, I realized I could combine the motor power of an e-bike to get me and my camera gear deeper into the woods without spooking the wildlife too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to photographing birds and other wildlife, there’s no such thing as being too quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normally, if I go birding while hiking, I bring my Sony a7R V and the Sony 400-800 f\/6.3-f\/8 G OSS lens, and also a large water bottle, binoculars, and a backpack with things like a first aid kit and a guidebook to birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n