[Tweeters] Binos for Birders

[Kevin Lucas]

My Canon 10x42 L IS binoculars have been superb for me. They are entirely 
waterproof. Canon recommends cleaning them by running water from a spigot 
over them. They use Canon's best: L glass. When I first got them I was 
blown away being able to see whiskers and feather barbules. I still am. I 
use Eneloop rechargeable AA batteries in them, rechargong in my Maha 4 
AA/AAA 120v a/c / 12v DC charger. A pair of batteries lasts all day.
In cold weather I rubber band adhesive toe warmers to the underside of each 
eyepiece to reduce fogging.
My only issue with them is the eyecups. I bought add-on eye shields from 
Field Optics Research to fix that.
They would be flat out perfect if they could also capture images that I 
could share with eBird reviewers and WBRC members so they could see what 
I've seen. It would be nice to have some more species "confirmed" / on the 
eBird map, and accepted by WBRC members.

Good birding --
https://www.aba.org/aba-code-of-birding-ethics/
Kevin Lucas
Yakima County, WA

Sent with AquaMail for Android
http://www.aqua-mail.com


On December 1, 2022 1:19:36 PM Mark Borden <markbordenmd at gmail.com> wrote:


> About 50 years of avid bird observation has led me to agree with ZZ Top. 

> “They come in two classes…expensive shades and image stabilized glasses.”

>

> I often takes several falconers with me to observe falcon behavior at the 

> Eyrie. Three years ago I brought my (~500.00) Canon 10 power image 

> stabilized Binos.  I dropped them while rappelling and only one side 

> worked. Even so the Falconer’s that had their own Swarovski and Zeiss with 

> them all ended up closing one eye, and using my image stabilized cannons to 

> get the best views of the Falcons.

>

> Falconer’s are without a doubt the most avid of birders. Binoculars for a 

> falconer are a “high stakes item.” Keeping an eye on a falcon during a 

> flight can mean the difference between recovery and loss.

>

> The Cannon IS are hands-down superior aboard a boat. I personally prefer 

> them to my 10 power Swarovski’s any day. If it is a windy day on land, they 

> are also clearly superior.

>

> Their only downside is that they could be more waterproof.

>

> Mark Borden

> Coupeville WA.

>

> Sent from my iPhone

>

>> On Dec 1, 2022, at 12:09 PM, tweeters-request at mailman11.u.washington.edu wrote:

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>> Today's Topics:

>>

>>   1. THE GUARDIAN: CT scans of toothed bird fossil leads to

>>      jaw-dropping discovery (Dan Reiff)

>>   2. Best Binoculars? (jimbetz at jimbetz.com)

>>   3. THE INDEPENDENT: India shows off drone-busting birds in    joint

>>      drills with US near Chinese border (Dan Reiff)

>>   4. Storm Wigeon (Bill Hubbard)

>>   5. REMINDER - WOS Monthly Mtg, Dec. 5, 7:30 pm Kim Adelson to

>>      present "The Origins of Modern Bird Orders" (meetings at wos.org)

>>

>>

>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 1

>> Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2022 16:29:18 -0800

>> From: Dan Reiff <dan.owl.reiff at gmail.com>

>> To: Tweeters <tweeters at uw.edu>

>> Subject: [Tweeters] THE GUARDIAN: CT scans of toothed bird fossil

>>    leads to    jaw-dropping discovery

>> Message-ID: <24B66075-4E68-41CA-B6FA-5F2CBFFA5DB8 at gmail.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>>

>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...

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>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 2

>> Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2022 19:00:32 -0800

>> From: jimbetz at jimbetz.com

>> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu

>> Subject: [Tweeters] Best Binoculars?

>> Message-ID:

>>    <20221130190032.Horde.8kyaN4cTXM1Ml41pUlPcIlA at webmail.jimbetz.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed; DelSp=Yes

>>

>> Hi all,

>>

>>   I -think- I know the answer to this question - but an unasked

>> question is little more than a guess ... and at best an educated

>> guess.

>>

>>   We have 3 different binoculars.  All Nikon 8x50, 10x50, and 12x50.

>> Other than the magnification I can't tell the difference.  Usually I

>> grab/prefer the 12x50.  My wife uses the 10x50.  We are both in our

>> late 70's.

>>   We also have a spotting scope - that stays home.

>>   We are more than casual birders - but not "serious birders" (we

>> know several people who have been doing this much longer than we

>> have and are much better at finding and IDing birds.

>>   We are NOT life listers - we pay more attention to bird behavior

>> than to putting another new to us bird on our checklist.

>>   We do take birding vacations - such as our recent trip to Veracruz

>> with Raptours.  We are currently in Puerto Vallarta and will book at

>> least one guided day trip while we are here.  We are considering

>> going to Gibraltar for the move north in the Spring.

>>   We are more interested in the larger birds than smaller.

>>

>>   Conventional wisdom is that "the more you spend the better the

>> binoculars" ... which leads one to the Swarovski or Zeiss - without

>> much real difference between the two?

>>

>>   It's not about the money.  We can afford any set we choose.  But it

>> -IS- about whether we can tell the difference.

>>

>>   ===> So is there an 'upgrade' that will make a difference?

>>

>>                                             - Jim in Skagit County

>>

>>

>>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 3

>> Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2022 02:28:15 -0800

>> From: Dan Reiff <dan.owl.reiff at gmail.com>

>> To: Tweeters <tweeters at uw.edu>

>> Subject: [Tweeters] THE INDEPENDENT: India shows off drone-busting

>>    birds in    joint drills with US near Chinese border

>> Message-ID: <AF56267D-AA24-46E9-91A9-556F09921372 at gmail.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>>

>> An HTML attachment was scrubbed...

>> URL: 

>> <http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20221201/02d27bda/attachment-0001.html>

>>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Message: 4

>> Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2022 15:55:18 +0000

>> From: Bill Hubbard <Hubbard at live.com>

>> To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>

>> Subject: [Tweeters] Storm Wigeon

>> Message-ID:

>>    <MWHPR06MB33268D14935FD06D71ACEB77C9149 at MWHPR06MB3326.namprd06.prod.outlook.com>

>>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>>

>> There is a Storm Wigeon hanging out at Bellefield Office Park on the left 

>> side of the island.  Easy to photograph if approached slowly.  See this 

>> link to eBird photo, Media Search - Macaulay Library and 

>> eBird<https://media.ebird.org/catalog?regionCode=L1356667&sort=rating_rank_desc&daysSinceUp=30>.

>> Bill Hubbard

>>

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>> Message: 5

>> Date: Thu, 01 Dec 2022 10:08:15 -0600

>> From: <meetings at wos.org>

>> To: Tweeters <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>

>> Subject: [Tweeters] REMINDER - WOS Monthly Mtg, Dec. 5, 7:30 pm Kim

>>    Adelson to present "The Origins of Modern Bird Orders"

>> Message-ID: <20221201160815.35572.qmail at s401.sureserver.com>

>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

>>

>> The Washington Ornithological Society is delighted to invite you to a 

>> stimulating presentation by Kim Adelson, entitled ?The Origins of Modern 

>> Bird Orders.?

>>

>> True birds have existed for roughly 150 million years, since the middle of 

>> the Age of Dinosaurs. These birds, however, were very different from modern 

>> birds and most were not closely related to the birds that populate the 

>> world today. The question that this talk tries to answer is this: when did 

>> familiar, recognizably modern birds appear? Several modern bird orders 

>> co-existed with dinosaurs; some did not evolve until 25 or more million 

>> years after they perished (or about 40 million years ago). So, the question 

>> we will pose is not ?which came first, the chicken or the egg?? but ?which 

>> came first, the chicken or the songbird? or ?the penguin or the raptor??

>>

>> Kim has had a passionate interest in paleontology since childhood and holds 

>> a Master?s Degree in Evolutionary Biology.??She has given two previous 

>> presentations to WOS ? ?The Dinosaurs Amongst Us? and ?The Birds Who 

>> Lived??with (Other) Dinosaurs", available at WOS' YouTube 

>> Channel:??https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC657f_RhriAUIwS_P1m5_nQ.

>>

>> The meeting will be conducted via Zoom, not in-person.??Please go to 

>> http://wos.org/about-wos/monthly-meetings/ for instructions on 

>> participation and to get the Zoom link.??Sign-in will begin at 7:15 pm.

>>

>> This meeting is open to all as WOS invites everyone in the wider birding 

>> community to attend.??

>>

>> If you are not yet a member, I hope you will consider becoming one at 

>> http://wos.org/about-wos/membership/,

>>

>> Please join us!

>>

>> Vicki King

>> WOS Program Coordinator

>>

>>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> Subject: Digest Footer

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>> End of Tweeters Digest, Vol 220, Issue 1

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