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Yay a birding thread! The Sibley's iPhone app is pretty great, that and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America app are what I use primarily when I'm out birding. For new birders, you'll quickly find that the hardest part isn't the identification, it's finding the drat things in the first place. Most birds are pretty small and like to stay in dense cover or way up in the trees. Listen for their calls, use your peripheral vision and look for motion. Find it with your eyes first, then use your binoculars. Just scanning around a tree with binos won't find you the bird. Also get into the habit of scanning the sky and looking on top of telephone poles while driving for hawks. When I was starting out, going on bird walks with my local Audubon chapter (just google CITY NAME Audubon) was a great way to learn about birds. Basically an experienced birder leads a small group around a park and points out birds to you for a couple of hours. Great way to learn the local birds and to find good birding spots. It's easy to get complacent when you're being spoon-fed ID's, so make sure to ask tons of questions about exactly what they're looking at to make that identification, and more importantly, how to tell it apart from similar birds. Re: Fake bird sightings - not really a problem since no one's birding for money or fame. Unless it's your idea of a practical joke to send a bunch of birders out into the middle of a swamp. In this day and age, a photo is pretty much expected if you report a rare sighting. Don't have your telephoto lens with you? Holding up your iPhone camera to your binoculars or spotting scope works just as well for a quick and dirty ID-quality photo. BTW, any goons in the Los Angeles area interested in birding? INTJ Mastermind fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Aug 21, 2013 |
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Aug 21, 2013 06:52
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 01:48 |
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 I'd also recommend the Bird Chick Podcast.
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Aug 21, 2013 22:36
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Specifically, you want something that is weather sealed for durability, and has FULLY multicoated lenses (not just plain multicoated) for the brightest image. If you're getting roof prisms (the "modern" design that looks like a "H"), you'll want phase coated prisms as well. Otherwise you should get Porro prisms (the "older" design that's a bit fatter) for the best image at budget prices.
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Apr 19, 2016 20:19
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The Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42 is $999.99! https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...=BI%3A514&smp=y I’ve had one for several years and it’s my primary binocular. The optics are fantastic. It’s been everywhere including open ocean whale watching trips and it’s held up great. Review here: https://www.birdwatching.com/optics/zeiss/conquest_8x42_review.html
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Nov 16, 2020 01:38
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