How long do you observe? (1 Viewer)

I wonder if anyone would like to answer the following questions.

1). How long do you observe continually through your binocular at any one time?

2). What is the total observation time in any one day?

3). Does a change of focus help during the observation?

4). How long is it before your eyes get tired?

5). Are there any physical effects at the end of the day?

Perhaps I've missed some points.

All the best.

Good questions, Binastro, I'll be happy to answer.

I'm probably not a typical birder compared with most in other countries, but here there are many who do much the same type of viewing.

1). How long do you observe continually through your binocular at any one time?

- Anything from just a few seconds to maybe 10-15 minutes without a break. When I'm looking for raptors, I'll be in a bird tower or in a high place with wide vistas, have my scope ready at my side, pre-focused to about 3 km, and will be scanning the skies with the binoculars pretty much non-stop except when I or someone else spots something that needs to be identified with the scope. When scanning mudflats for shorebirds, much the same thing except binocular time is reduced and scope time increases. If the distance is 400 meters or greater, then I do much of the scanning with the scope.

Nearly all of my birding or astro binocular viewing is done with a finnstick.

2). What is the total observation time in any one day?

Depends on how much time I have available, but on days that I do go birding, a minimum of half-an-hour typically. Longest days can be close to a full day. During Spring migration, I may go to a good location around 6 am and leave around noon.

3). Does a change of focus help during the observation?

I'm pretty particular about focus as well as diopter setting. I follow what my eyes tell me, and if they are not happy, I'll try to tweak until they relax again.

4). How long is it before your eyes get tired?

My eyes don't really get tired from viewing with binoculars or a scope. In the past, I had problems going from prolonged scope viewing back to binoculars, but for several years now I've had an eye-patch type shade fastened onto my scope about an inch in front of my idle eye. That allows me to keep the idle eye open, whereby going back to the binoculars from the scope requires zero time to accommodate.

5). Are there any physical effects at the end of the day?

I have had problems with elbow pains from too many long days of holding binoculars during Spring migration. Pre-emptive use of anti-inflammatory muscle rub has taken care of that lately. It also helps to keep fit.

.Thank you very much Kimmo for your helpful answers.
I thought that some birdwatchers use binoculars for hours, but I'm not sure what is the average time.

When I was active with my astronomical viewing when younger, I used to be viewing through the telescope eyepiece for many hours sometimes, with short breaks.
The main problem with the 5 inch short focus refractor on a garden tripod was that I was viewing at high angles, and this would cause problems physically sometimes. But when I was young I was much more flexible.

With the larger telescopes, there were no real physical problems except moving them around. But my eyes did get tired sometimes. It definitely helped to change focus, but some of this may have been due to the expansion or contraction of the actual telescope, which would change its focal length. But I think that the eyes benefit from periodic slight changes of focus, at least when you have reasonable accommodation. I don't know if a birdwatching scope changes its focal length with temperature.

The easiest way to observe of course is with the unaided eyes. With meteor observations this can be for hours.
I suppose I have observed with binoculars for half an hour at a time. I even used to hand hold the 20×80 binocular for 20 minutes at a time. I've seen many binocular meteors and artificial satellites, and I suppose I've observed in total for maybe two hours a night through binoculars

Nowadays because of other physical problems, I only observe for minutes rather than hours.
I suppose that even birdwatchers might be able to identify a bird in seconds or at the least in less than a minute.

I know that in Finland some people watch for fires, observing from high towers, probably for hours. But I suppose most of this is with the unaided eyes.

Until my mid 40s I did not use or need glasses and I could basically observe for hours. But then I progressively had trouble even with driving, being uncomfortable with prolonged driving. But I often drove for four hours non-stop without ever taking my eyes off the road or scanning for any problems. Sometimes eight hours a day.
Now I can watch a film for about 90 minutes without a break, but my eyes do get tired.

It would be interesting to know if other birdwatchers view through binoculars for long periods. But I suppose younger observers can view longer than somewhat older observers.

Thanks again.

May be out a half a day, but it's short stretches of viewing. 2 or 3 minutes at a time on birds unless I'm really in to something, but rarely more than 10 minutes.

On long days birding my eyes don't get tired, but they do sometimes get dry/bothered, especially in windy and dusty conditions which can make it feel as if they are tired. It doesn't bother me often or enough for me to have tried using eyedrops (or artificial tears).

--AP

Time spent is really situation dependent. Looking at my feeders from my bay window (20 feet), after visual contact reveals something interesting, 10-20 seconds. Glassing from solid rest at distant objects such as sand hill cranes may involve several minutes or more. For really lengthy periods of use, I find that the collimation must be perfect. I have noticed that some glasses appear to be collimated, but after a period of use my eyes tire. It is really trial and error with these binoculars to discover that. My rule of thumb is this. After lengthy viewing, when I remove my binoculars and my eye do not refocus a great deal, then I know the adjustment is good for my eyes.

Some of my binoculars are simply more comfortable and restful to use. One of these is an old Bushnell 7x35 Rangemaster wide angle made by Fuji. Another is my Nikon 8x32 SE.

I do a lot of quick peeks at birds which take no more than 5 seconds. For this I find a 6 power adequate and will only switch when a higher power yielding greater definition is needed.