Looking ahead: what Kowa ambassadors
aim to discover in 2026
As a new year begins, we asked our Kowa ambassadors to share their personal birding and nature goals for 2026. From dream species and conservation projects to mastering new digiscoping techniques, each ambassador brings their own passion, perspective, and wild ambitions. Read on and get inspired...
David Lindo
One of my big ambitions for the coming New Year is to become a better birder. I want to polish up my field skills especially when it comes to call, songs and other sounds, which by far is my weakest card when it comes to birding. I plan to visit some fabulous places next year including Canada, Mexico, Panama, Serbia and Spain and I hope that some of you reading this will join me. But wherever I find myself in 2026, using my brilliant TSN-99 PROMINAR scope I want to find an amazingly special bird somewhere!
Happy New Year Urban Birders!
Martin Tomas
Owls have dominated my wildlife watching for years, and the next season won't be any different. It's the most in-demand nature trip my clients book with me as their guide. Last season alone, I went out looking for owls on more than two hundred days. And the sightings were plentiful: over five thousand individuals and ten species, just within the Czech Republic. A lot of my phonescoping shots ended up in my new book "Tonight You'll Meet an Owl", which became a bestseller here at the end of the year. People in Central Europe simply love owls! Next year the book will be published in German too, so owl lovers in Germany and Austria can look forward to it. And since I'm already working on the follow-up, I'll need plenty more great sightings and photos, most of them once again done through phonescoping on the full range of Kowa PROMINAR scopes. But I won't be sticking only to owls. I'll definitely head to the Balkans a few times to watch vultures, eagles, and various carnivores. Every year I take clients to Spain to see the Iberian lynx, and if everything lines up, I'd like to make another quick trip to my beloved Himalayas to look for snow leopards, Pallas's cats, and other high-altitude wildlife. I already have some amazing photos and videos from there - we even put together a film for Czech TV - but I've got new ideas for new shots again. I just genuinely love being out in nature as much as possible and capturing its beauty for people who don't have the time to be out there as often.
Diána Tislér
I am a conservation biologist in Hungary, I love exploring nature and sharing it with the public, especially through active tourism, where Kowa binoculars and scopes help me reveal birds and the fine details of the natural world. From 2026 onward, I will lead guided tours as a designated ranger in the park of the Esterházy Castle in Fertőd and the adjacent forest, where visitors can observe 7 of Hungary's 9 breeding woodpecker species. My favourite birds include the spoonbill, the sabre-winged stilt, and the bee-eater. Among our winter visitors, the red-necked goose, white-fronted goose, and cranes are especially memorable. I also support community projects such as the Csip-Csup Csodakert, a bird-friendly model garden that will host new awareness programs from 2026. Since 2023, I have led the Mariska Néni House - Tourist Information Point in Hegykő, helping make the values of the Fertő region widely accessible, and I am part of several cross-border projects, including BaNEX, Pannon Nature Network / PaNaNet+, and Biosphere Reserve workshops with the Fertő-Hanság National Park. My motto, "Nature knows no boundaries," guides all my work across these national parks and UNESCO-protected areas. In 2026, the "One Drop Fertő-Táj - 12 Months, 12 Experiences" series will launch, offering small-group activities focused on nature, culture, history, and culinary traditions: on foot, with Nordic walking, e-bikes, and carriage rides. I conduct tours in Hungarian, German, and English, and plan to learn Czech and sign language.
Adriaan Sleeuwenhoek
Next year, I want to deepen the connection between birdwatching, nature, and wellbeing: what I call Vitamin V. My goal is to capture more moments that show how time outdoors with birds restores focus and energy. I plan to continue documenting these experiences through digiscoping with my Kowa TSN-99 PROMINAR, especially focusing on species that inspire resilience and freedom, from the White-tailed Eagle to the Common Crane. A personal milestone for 2026 is to complete my book "Bevlogen met Vitamine V" (only in Dutch, but it might also be published in English) and integrate digiscoped images into my lectures and workshops on birdwatching, nature and mental vitality. I also aim to refine my digiscoping techniques in varying light conditions and to film a short series about how watching birds can help people slow down and reconnect with nature. Ultimately, I hope to inspire more people to discover the power of Vitamin N (Nature) and Vitamin V (Birds); and to see through their Kowa optics not just sharper, but also with a clearer mind.
Ben Armstrong
In 2026, I want to improve my bird identification skills through call, and I think the best way to do that is simply by spending more time outside and paying closer attention. With my Kowa TSN55A PROMINAR spotting scope, I'd also like to record more videos and capture interesting bird behaviour through digiscoping. Luckily, at the start of the year I will be based in the northwest of England, where thousands of barnacles and pink-footed geese winter on the rich salt marshes. Within these large flocks, I'll be keeping a close eye out for rarities such as white-fronted and red-breasted geese. My dream birds to see in 2026 are the dotterel and ptarmigan, which means I'll have to hike plenty of Munros to have a chance of finding them!
Paul Hackett
One of my goals for next year is to go back to the Buseu Project in the Spanish Pyrenees and digiscope the mighty Lammergeiers in their environment. This is a large vulture with a distinctive face and plumage, and it only eats bones - not flesh - and it will be there along with Griffon, Black and Egyptian vultures. It's one of the best places in Europe to see all species of vulture, I can't decide yet to do winter or late spring? The challenge will be trying to to get birds in flight with the Kowa 55S PROMINAR scope with my iPhone! There is also an opportunity to film golden eagles too, as well as a reflection hide for passerines, all at the top of a mountain! Hopefully things will come together and fingers crossed it will happen🤞
Simon Brumby
Every year brings change, like nature you need to remain flexible and adapt to whatever lands on your path and in our case enjoy the experience.
Early in 2026 we are hoping to catch up with some big birds in Spain. For a number of years now, we have been putting off trips to go see the cranes gathering on their journey to and from breeding grounds up north. The marvel of migration never ceases to humble me. Later in the year, well let's just say I will remain flexible and see what comes on our path. Whatever it may be, undoubtedly my scope and bins will be in tow!
Away from birding I will continue working with and learning about bats, as well as improving my knowledge of moths. Good luck to everyone out there. I hope you find your fascination through your KOWA lenses this coming year.
Cheers!
Paul Wheatley
2025 was a really busy year for our Bradford Peregrine Trail project, in which we have been erecting nestboxes and livestream cameras on some of the amazing heritage buildings across the Bradford area where Peregrine Falcons have made their home. Our gravel lined nestboxes give them a much better chance of breeding success and our project is working right at a time when Peregrines appear to be suffering badly from bird flu. We're really hoping urban Peregrines can help sustain the population through difficult times. Engagement is also a big part of our work. Our three resident pairs nest in the 3 most deprived boroughs of the City. Our work aims to give local residents better access to the nature on their doorstep with all the benefits for mental health and wellbeing that it brings. My Kowa kit is great for phonescoping the Peregrines and helping others see them up close. Although we didn't need a Kowa scope for photographing the Peregrine in the photograph who had crash landed and was injured when he fledged the nest. Our raptor rehabber, Jean Thorpe, did an amazing job to nurse him back to health and he flew well when we released him. We're adding much more to the project in 2026 and I'll be spending lots of time monitoring our Falcons with my Kowa kit. The hope is to have a smooth breeding season with lots of juveniles flying strongly when they fledge. But as always there will be some more crash landings and Peregrine rescues to come when those novice flyers first take to the skies in June.
Justin Carr
2026 will be my first full year as a Kowa Ambassador. When I first started digiscoping with a TSN-88S PROMINAR, I soon realised it would be a game changer for my film making, the clarity and pin sharp footage blew me away, and the colours are so vibrant. The fluorite crystal lens really makes a difference.
I have two aims for 2026, first is to create a short film for each season, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn, highlighting the fantastic nature of my home county of Yorkshire where I will interview local conservationists working at reserves and protecting species combined with my digiscoping footage to make a series of films.
My second aim is to record on film (digiscoped of course) as many bird species in the UK in 2026, my target will be 200.
I hope along the way to inspire others to take up this amazing hobby that is digiscoping.
Our ambassadors' favorite gear:
