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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2011 - 08:24pm PT
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Slater is on the board!
Just got the Sibley guide and spotted a yellow rumped warbler sitting on a wire.
Damn this is cool...
Life List = 1
ps- my wife is laughing her ass off (probably to be expected?) when she saw me stalking around the backyard with field guide and binoculars.
She said..."What, did you just suddenly turn 80 years old?"
I feel sorry for the unenlighted ones
Thank you everyone!
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Delhi Dog
climber
Good Question...
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Oct 30, 2011 - 09:45pm PT
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Another one hooked!
Cool!
Just got back from Sri Lanka, and man oh man do the birds dig that place.
Saw my first Stork-billed Kingfisher. Not necessarily uncommon just haven't seen one yet.
Birding like climbing takes you to places you might not have otherwise gone.
cheers
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Oct 30, 2011 - 09:47pm PT
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Congratulations! Welcome to the club. Your wife will be with you taking your binos in no time. :)
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 30, 2011 - 09:49pm PT
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Is the "maximum number of species of bird seen" mainly a male thing?
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Oct 30, 2011 - 09:57pm PT
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Another thing to add to your old man arsenal :-) is the Peterson "Western Bird Songs" CD set. Many times you can PID from the songs before you see them, and the sound quality is really good.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Oct 30, 2011 - 09:58pm PT
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I don't think so. I used to keep a list, but just stopped for some reason. Now it's more fun for me to write the list for the outing. Someone gave be a beautiful life list book - but I can't write in it because then it'd be ruined.
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Oct 30, 2011 - 10:31pm PT
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You might want to pick up the book the movie was based on too--the
author is Mark Obmascik, former Denver Post reporter.
Good on him!
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Tony
Trad climber
Berkeley, CA
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Oct 30, 2011 - 10:38pm PT
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Mighty Hiker,
The answer is "No!" Phoebe Snetsinger had the biggest life list at the time of her unfortunate death in a auto accident on a birding trip in Madagascar. By the way, my wife was on a birding trip with her and her "tool" of choice for her list was a collection of index cards. There was a biography of her written a couple of years ago. She began birding after she was given 6 months to live due to metastatic malignant melanoma. When she died 18 years later, she had amassed a list of well over 8,000 species. I think she was the first to get over 8,000.
http://queensgirl30.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/life-list-a-review-with-thoughts-on-phoebe/
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2011 - 11:15pm PT
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All I know is I'm noticing birds more and actually looking at the details and markings. I used to say... there is a small gray bird in the bushes over there.
Now I'm whipping out my book and zooming in with binocs and they actually have NAMES!
I just identified a mourning dove because I could see a little cheek patch.
So about binocs... I have a 10x26 REI pair. What do you guys suggest?
I was roaming the neighborhood and had to get closer and closer to see details and they kept flying away on me. I imagine you could miss a lot if you didn't have a good pair. I wear glasses. Am blind without them.
Does anyone use a teleophoto lens in lieu of binocs? I'm a photographer and have a 70-200mm IS canon lens.
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 30, 2011 - 11:59pm PT
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one more question... how do you ID an owl at night?
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Oct 31, 2011 - 12:13am PT
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Some female bird watchers (twitchers) who I know are very keen, but with few exceptions, it seems that it's the male partner who's keeping the list, traveling obsessively to see some rare critter.
I like Tami's approach - limit it to some defined area. Most cities are on or near large bodies of water, and agricultural areas, so there's usually lots to see if you're patient.
Tami is right about the owls. I went birding with one of the Canning brothers once, at Alice Lake (just north of Squamish), and he had a tape recorder on which he played various owl calls. When he got the right reply, he'd identified his bird.
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2011 - 12:58pm PT
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Again... this is so cool!
I dressed as a Birder for Halloween I(but my students think I'm a stalker with the binocs around my neck... so maybe a bad choice for jr. hi????)
But I got a Brewer's Blackkbird and an American Crow on campus!
Birds are everywhere!
Good to know about owls.
I was gonna go use a big flashlight but didn't know if that was frowned upon. My 7 year old and wife saw one perched on the barn top down the street so now I'm jealous. They're one up on me ;) and they love it!
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 31, 2011 - 07:09pm PT
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What size binoculars?
My 10x26 don't seem to be cutting it
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Oct 31, 2011 - 07:59pm PT
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As far as binos... buy the best you can afford.
First, you must try them on. They feel different in the hand and our different shaped faces matter.
Second, look through lots of them. There are different styles and magnification. Bigger magnification isn't necessarily better. If you are a bit shaky, more magnification means more shake.
Personally, I think light-gathering ability is awesome. The ones I have now make deep in bushes seem brighter than I can see with my own eyes. Cool!
Find a place with tons of binos and go for it. Best bino selection I've ever seen was at the Cape May NJ Birding shop. That place is dreamy.
I currently use the awesome Swarovski (swooon), 10x42. Can't imagine ever needing anything better.
BE WARNED: do not look through the lens of something you cannot afford. That is just cruelness.
Post up a photo of our newest birder!
Oh, and I've always thought birds are like glittering jewels all around us. They've always been there, but once you notice, the world is a far more beautiful place.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Oct 31, 2011 - 08:57pm PT
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I second everything that Crimp just said. You'll want 8x or 10x, but realize that finding birds in 10x is harder b/c of reduced width of field, and following a moving target is tough. 8x is sorta industry standard for birding applications. If most of your birding is in open terrain and you have a steady hand, maybe consider 10x.
I've had a few interns buy these, and I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/673561-USA/Pentax_62555_DCF_CS_8x42_Binocular.html
Nice and bright, solid build, waterproof, crisp image. I definitely recommend these for a relatively inexpensive pair.
If you can go big, do so. Swarovskis and Leicas are the shizzzz. Never cared much for the Zeiss, but it's probably just that they don't fit my face/eyes. Try before you buy, and see it as an investment.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Oct 31, 2011 - 09:27pm PT
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I never thought I'd be able to handle 10x magnification because I'm pretty shaky. I was pleasantly surprised with the ones I have - I think the shape makes me steadier. I resisted even looking in the direction of these long-eyes for years. Finally relented and it cost me a bit. :) Worth every penny though.
My first pair were Nikon 8x32. Surprisingly excellent binos as well, and far cheaper than the Swarovskis. BrassNuts now uses the Nikons when he's not pointing his big Canon at the boids.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Oct 31, 2011 - 09:42pm PT
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speaking of Owls...just saw this Great horned owl at the Monte Vista NWA in southern Colorado.
Crimp...also spotted several townsend's solitaire at Penitente Canyon.
I just bought a new spotting scope...makes a world of difference for my old eyes.
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Willoughby
Social climber
Truckee, CA
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Oct 31, 2011 - 09:43pm PT
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I use 10 x 42 Leicas. They're SOLID (been dropped many, many times), proven waterproof and then some, bright and crisp and wonderful and I love everything about them except their close-focus, which is terrible. I look at a lot of bugs, and I'm always backing up. Waaaay up. It sucks. I covet those Swarovski 10 x 42s for precisely that reason. Killer close-focus - you can look at your feet!!! Way out of my price range though. Yowza.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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http://www.audubonmagazine.org/articles/living/audubon-guide-binoculars
This is an article you may enjoy regarding long-eyes.
I find Solitaires so elegant and magical. Cool you are seeing several. BrassNuts hiked Green Mtn the other day and saw some too. Still waiting for ours to return to our back porch bubbling & heated bird bath. She's beautiful!
I will be sending good vibes to your eventual acquiring of Swarovskis Willoughby. I waited 10+ years (though I think you've waiting a lot longer) and feel so fortunate to have them. I figured they are not as much as a bicycle here in Boulder so they are a real deal. :)
I have the worst most marginal spotting scope. It's also a Nikon. Think it was a dud off the assembly line.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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I tried the Canon with optical stabilisation and was quite impressed. Not
enough to buy them but they definitely work.
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