#I typically wait three days before buying something small and inexpensive after seeing it for the first time

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

Let’s play a game of “How many sensory items can I accumulate before people suspect there’s something odd going on with my brain”

#like ok I can buy a lot of stuff; but they are never on impulse #I typically wait three days before buying something small and inexpensive after seeing it for the first time #that number increases with the amount of money I have to spend #because I MUST determine if I will like and use it before I even think about buying it #to the point where I was actually mulling over which cheap bamboo flute to get at a garage sale one time (there were two; I couldn’t choose) #and my dad was like ‘just get both; they’re only 25 cents a piece’ and I went ‘Oh? I’m allowed to do that… I forgot’ #same with snacks and sweets #I cannot eat a large cookie twice in a day unless the second large cookie is a different flavor than the first #But I can eat as many small cookies as I want in a day; so long as they are in multiples of three #I can only eat one of each thing a day because it’s weird to eat the same ingredient for two meals in a day; unless it’s cooked differently #like scrambled eggs vs egg drop soup; but if I ate pancakes in the morning I won’t eat pancakes for dinner #unless they are leftovers from eating out #I can only comment once per meeting; otherwise it feels ick #anyway I bought a lot of sensory stuff in the past year lol #and I thought about each one before I bought it #I waited four whole months to buy chewelry when I knew I wanted some #but somehow that fail safe gets overridden if it’s a small business and they have something I’ve been looking for #because why wouldn’t I buy from a small business? we love our artisans in this household #especially if the business is owned by a minority group or nonprofit for a good cause

[lindoig6]

Useful equipment

Binoculars

Apart from clothing suitable to the conditions, including a hat, sunscreen, boots, raincoat, etc., a good pair of binoculars (often referred to as just ‘binos’) is also very handy.  Again, I have a few pairs, but my favourites are a small, light pair with a zoom feature from 8 to 24 times magnification.  At the lower end of their magnification, they are easy to use for hour after hour when I am out in the bush, but they have a narrow field of view, sometimes making it hard to locate my bird in a tree, and they have a very shallow depth of field at higher magnifications, sometimes making them hard to hold and focus once I have found my bird.  The great majority of serious birders use heavier 10 x 42 fixed focal length binoculars – and I often do too, but they become arm-achingly heavy after a few hours. They have a fixed 10-times magnification, but their 42 mm objective (front) lens lets in a lot more light, making it easier to find and study your bird, particularly if the light is low.

Learn how to use your binoculars!  Learn how to adjust each lens independently to suit your eyesight or spectacles and become familiar with how to hold and focus them quickly and easily without looking when you are out in the field.  A nice wide strap will also avoid heavy ‘binos’ cutting into your neck as the day goes on.

My favourite binos - typical 10x42s and smaller 8-24x25 zoom - and a few others lying around just in case!

Cameras

Another very useful item is a good camera.  This is not really the place to discuss cameras, lenses and accessories, but a few general comments are probably worthwhile.

I referred to a good camera – but ‘good’ can mean many things to many people and the cost of your equipment must still fit your personal budget no matter how much you might like to have something a little better.  For most of us, when we are birding, we take photos for one of two reasons.

Firstly, we may want to take some quick photos before the bird flies away and we are not looking for the perfect shot: just something good enough to help us identify the bird if we are unable to do that while it is still in front of us.  To achieve this, we need a camera and lens, preferably a zoom lens, that will allow us to separate the bird from the branches, that will produce an image with enough detail to assist our identification, and that will focus and take the shot fast enough to capture an image while the bird is still there.  In these circumstances, I usually set my camera on the fastest settings I can and follow the bird if it flies away (panning my camera) and hope that one of my 6 or 8 shots taken before the bird disappears entirely will be good enough to identify it.

The second reason we might wish to photograph a bird is to capture a brilliant definitive image of a lovely bird and the more money we spend on our equipment, the more likely we are to achieve our desired result – but that is not always the case.  Sometimes we are just lucky with a quick snap that says it all from an inexpensive camera – but at other times we might spend hours waiting for the bird to present itself exactly how we want it, only to see it fly away just before we hit the shutter release.

A tripod might be useful, even essential for those in the latter camp, but it may be a serious hindrance for the former group who could find lugging it around the bush and repositioning it numerous times before the bird settles within range of the lens more than onerous.  Similarly, carrying a state-of-the-art camera with a 600 mm lens and all the accessories it might need can be challenging – and it is often still almost unusable without a sturdy tripod that adds another kilo or three to our load.

An alternative to a tripod for the former group of enthusiasts may be a monopod. Monopods are usually much lighter, more compact and easier to carry and use, but still need to be held unless you are happy to lean it against a tree or lay it down on the ground.  Tripods have three legs to hold them steady, monopods require your two legs in addition to the single monopod ‘leg’.

If you search for binoculars, cameras or tripods on the internet, you will find a number of ‘comparison sites’ that might give you guidance – but beware!  None of them seem to compare all the gear that is readily available in Australia.

My main DSLR camera with my favourite 18-400 lens.  Next favourite (55-300) is on the right.  The one on the left (18-55) is for photographing birders rather thgan birds!

 A couple of tripods - a quick-release shoe is also helpful

Spotting Scopes

This section is really not for beginners, but as you become more excited about building your list, you will probably want to see and identify every bird you see.  If you are on one side of a lake, you may see a flock of ducks on the other side of the lake, much too far away for your 10-times binos to be good enough to identify them reliably.  Maybe you see a bird perched in a dead tree on the horizon or maybe just out of range on the other side of a river.  Your binoculars might not be powerful enough to identify the bird with confidence, but with a spotting scope, it may be easier.

Spotting scopes are essentially telescopes but not those used for astronomy.  They are not particularly easy to use and may be entirely useless unless mounted on a sturdy tripod.  They are usually very powerful and therefore have a very short depth of field, often making them difficult to aim and focus quickly if the need arises.

They are described in the format of 20-60x80.  The first part (the 20-60 part) indicates the power of the scope – it zooms from 20-times to 60-times magnification.  60-times is about as powerful as they come and at that magnification, they may be able to show you the colour of your bird’s eye at the other end of the paddock, but finding and focusing on the bird may present a significant challenge before you get that far.

The second part of the description (the x80 part) indicates the diameter of the objective lens and the bigger the better because it lets more light in and makes viewing a lot easier.

I don’t recommend that the novice birder should dash out and buy a spotting scope (they can be quite expensive), but it is something to think about if your birding hobby develops into a passion.  For many of us, birding can become an obsession that may not be adopted as eagerly by our friends and family so moderation might be called for until some ground rules are established or alternative conversation topics identified!

Spotting scope