Sometimes I feel like I'm the only
birder in my neck of the woods, since I seldom see other birders in my area. That's not entirely an illusion, but there are one or two. Janet lives near one of our suburban lakes and is a top-notch birder and we always talk birds when we encounter each other on the trail. We are a study in contrasts, to some extent. Like most birders, she just walks the trails and carries a full size
birding binocular in the superb
Swarovski 10x42 EL. She uses an 8x during warbler migration, but I almost always see her with that beloved Swarovski binocular around her neck. As for me, I am the bike lady (people actually call me that in the neighborhood), and it is rare to find me on foot, even when birding. To keep the size and weight down when riding, nearly all my birding is done with one of my premium compact
birding binoculars. Last time I met Janet, I was using wearing
Leica Ultravid 10x25BL. Different styles and different preferences in binoculars, to be sure, but we both see plenty of birds.