BinocularsBlog – Advice on Digital, Waterproof, & Compact Binoculars for Bird Watching, Sports, Astronomy, Night Vision, & more!

Binoculars for watching TV? Sounds crazy, but, for some folks, this is a legit use of a binocular. I have actually had a number of customers over the years that need the help of a binocular to watch TV, due to poor vision as the result of some impairment or advanced age. If you know someone in the same position, two things to keep in mind. First, the actual distance to the TV must be carefully considered. Binoculars will only focus so close, so check the specs on the binocular listed variously as "close focus", "near focus", "minimum focus", then choose a binocular that has a close focus distance that is less than the distance to the TV. Next step is to keep the magnification down. 8 (the first bino number) is really maximum and 7 or 6 is even better. Too much magnification makes the binocular hard to steady and also reduces the field of view. My recoomendation for a TV binocular? Try the Pentax Papilio 6.5x

The warbler migration for spring 2009 is all but over and, for me, a good spring, though far from my best. Still, I would not have missed it for the world and what I didn't see I will catch on the return warbler flight in the fall! So what does a birder do in the summer? More birding or, should I say, bird watching. Until shorebirds start showing up in July, I switch form birder mode - wanting to add more birds to my list - to birdwatcher mode - just enjoying the birds I see with my birding binoculars and taking things a bit slower. I thoroughly enjoy watching birds as they raise families and get young ones up and going. This last Sunday was a great example and it nearly made me late for church. I was biking along the trail and happened to notice a Rose-breasted Grosbeak male in the brush next to the creek. Back a little deeper in the brush, I spotted the female. Was their nest, nearby? I'll stop, again, next week, birding binocular at the ready, to see what I can.

This has been an exceptional year for me when it comes to sightings of Indigo Buntings, but, then, surprises are the nature of birding. I've seen more Indigo Buntings this spring than I have in all the five years prior to this, back to 2003 when I first moved, here. Why? Really no way to answer that with any objective data, but I suspect it is just a year when either Indigo Bunting populations are on the upswing or the weather patterns during migration have brought more of these beautiful birds than usual. I would love to think it was the former, but I'll take more Indigo Buntings in my birding binocular, either way. One of the "bunting tips" I would like to pass along is not to concentrate on seeing the deep blue color of these birds, since they often appear as just another dark bird under some lighting conditions. If habitat and shape suggest an Indigo Bunting - a bird most often found where the trees and meadows meet - get that birding binocular up and take a look. That's the way I have found most of mine.

If you do enough birding, you know to always expect the unexpected, but a recent experience for this old birder over the weekend even took me by surprise. I spent most of Saturday out on the trail in one of our local Forest preserves and was enjoying a fine day of birding with the Leica 10x25. Of course, I eventually needed to find a restroom, so I headed for a nearby Port Potty at the edge of a parking lot. I leaned my bike next to the outhouse, then entered and went about my business. Soon done, I was cinching up my biking coat, when I heard an audible "Plop!" behind me. I looked down into the bowels of the hole beneath me and was shocked to see my old trusted Sibley Bird Guide to Eastern North America floating in the … well, you know what. I had been carrying it in the pouch in the back of my bike jacket and had neglected to zip the pouch shut.

Now what? Decision time, but, darn, I couldn't bear to leave the Sibley to such an ignominious fate. I very gingerly reached in and pulled it to safety by the very tips of my fingers. It was dripping with … well, let's jusy say it was beyond salvaging. The least I could do, though, was give it a better burial. Then, as I stood in that outhouse with my Sibley's held out at arm's length, the absurdity of the situation hit me. I broke out into uncontrollable laughter, even though logic told me I had just seen twenty plus dollars and an old friend go down the … Could it get any crazier?

Sure. I opened the outhouse door, field guide in the tips of my finger, still laughing, only to see two very perplexed guys staring at me as they waited to use the outhouse. I just walked by, dropped the Sibley in a recycling container, then hopped on the bike and headed to the nearest gas station to wash my hands and I do mean wash my hands (I stopped counting at ten). Next stop, the book store to replace my Sibley field guide.

Note to David Allen Sibley: My deepest apologies. This was an accident and should not be taken personally in any way. I'm glad you didn't autograph this copy, at least.

The online Cornell birding site, All About Birds, has a new look and I like it. If you haven't used this Cornell Lab of Ornithology online bird guide, I highly recommend it. All About Birds is loaded with information, it's easy to use and it's free! A bird watcher can spend hours, here. Thank-you, Cornell. Good example of how handy this site can be happened to me, just this morning. One of our employees was very excited about a new bird she saw over the weekend and she described it to me. I knew, immediately, that it was a Green Heron, so we pulled up the Cornell All About Birds website, typed in Green Heron, up came the pic and description, complete with sound and she said, "That's it!" I then used this same great birding resource to show her pics of some of the prettier birds I saw over the weekend, including a Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting and Eastern Bluebird.

It's been a solidly good, though not great, spring for my birding, but a dismal and disappointing spring for my astronomy. Good weather and a moonless sky have been avoiding each other, these last few months. Ouch! Of course, I can't expect Earth Mother to tailor the weather to my needs, so I remain ever patient and hopeful. As summer approaches, I know it is just a matter of time before I once again explore the summer triangle with my astronomy binoculars and dip down into Ophiuchus to spot some globular star clusters. Later in the summer, I know it will be time to explore the star clouds and nebulae in Sagittarius. My summer astronomy project, this year, though, will focus on finding a better observing site, rather than a specific group of objects. No, I don't mean traveling to some distant and remote location. I will be trying to find something close at hand by grabbing the astronomy binocular and going for a walk. Sometimes even the smallest shift in your observing site can make all the difference, so this summer, "have binocular, will walk" is the theme, though I will have to remember not to walk around at night in my bathrobe. Don't want to scare my neighbors.

One of the tools I have been using to scout for an area to retire (yes, I am that old) is an area's bird list. If you know birds and birding, then you also know something about habitat and ecology in general, so reading a bird list for a specific location can reveal quite a bit. It can be a great birding tool, right along with your birding binocular and field guide. A bird list will tell you more than just what birds you can expect to see, it will also tell you what habitat you can expect to see and even reveal clues as to climate and geography. For instance, when I see Cinnamon Teal listed, I know how far west I have come; when I see Great Gray Owl I know I'm not in Kansas, anymore. When I see Lapland Longspur listed as common, I know I am in the great wide open. When I see a list with a lot of warblers, I know I am not. As a birder, I make it a point to collect area bird lists wherever I go, but reading them online is also informative and, for me at least, just plain fun. Okay, you have to be a birder to understand, but it is fun.

Funny how little things work out, sometime. Just before I hopped on the bike, this morning, I had been wondering if it would be worth it to uncase the Leica 10x25 and wear it around my neck. Glad I did. Near the end of my commute, I was rewarded with a close encounter with a coyote. Okay, maybe not real close, maybe fifty yards, but close enough to bring a smile to my face when I checked him out with my binocular. The coyote didn't seem overly concerned as I pedaled toward him - he just sort of trotted of into the underbrush, sat and watched me pass. As I pedaled on to work, couldn't help but think of the irony of it all. I came from Nebraska, where one expects to see coyotes and yet I see coyotes more frequently, here, in the Chicago suburbs, where a person does not expect to see them.

My warbler list for 09 keeps growing, but the birding on this bird group has been sporadic for me. Not much on Friday, despite the gorgeous weather, hardly a thing on Saturday, till evening, when the gale force winds subsided. Sunday was better. The weekend added a Magnolia, a Chestnut-sided and a Blackpoll, which puts me into the respectable category for my neck of the warbler woods, so to speak. Also saw, rather than just heard, a Pewee and a Warbling Vireo. All in all, had to work for my birds, but it paid off with a great weekend of birding. Once again, my Leica 10x25BL has done all I can ask for any birding binocular, full-size binocular or compact binocular. Quality does pay when you need that optical muscle.

Birded on the way home last night over 5 miles of Forest preserve trails with the mountain bike and gave it my best. This is the time of year for warblers, after all, but as much as I hate to say it, this was my first trip ever through my warbler hotspot without a single warbler of any kind seen in the binocular. I suspect the nearly perfect weather for me was also the nearly perfect weather for warblers to move and migrate on by my location. It happens. Spring warbler birding is so often a boom or bust and timing is everything. Is this birder going to give up and leave the birding binocular at home? Ha! Not a chance. With some rain moving into the area, things can change in just a matter of hours. I will be ready.

Still can't believe I don't run into more birders in my area, as much time as I spend birding, here. Okay, Wheeling, Il, is not known as a birding destination or an IBA (important birding area), but when people see me with a birding binocular in this area, they assume I am watching sports, looking for golf balls, watching aircraft, spying on neighbors, whatever, more often than watching birds. Ouch! Really is unfortunate, because the birding, here, in my neighborhood is actually quite good and, in fact, probably better than most suburban locations. So, where are the birders? I suspect it is a matter of backgrounds and lifestyle - I come from a rural background, heavy on the outdoor end of things. I am here for my great job, not because it is my first choice, or even second or even third, in terms of the outdoors. Still, it would be great to find a close neighbor who would like to do some birding. Bird watching, for me, is more fun when shared. Anyone looking for a birding buddy?

Under the weather over the weekend with a nasty head cold, but no way was I going to sit in the apartment while the birds were moving. Took one of my birding binoculars and headed for all my favorite birding spots via my bicycle. Glad I did. Added a Nashville Warbler, a Black-and-White Warbler, Orange-crowned and a Yellowthroat to my '09 spring warbler list, not to mention seeing flock after flock of Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers. The warblers are definitely on the move and this next week should be the big push, so I will mostly likely take a few days off and head back to the woods with my Leica 10x25. Also happy to report that the Baltimore Orioles are back. Love their song about as much as I love seeing them. Spring is here, at last.