Are BF (optics) Posters Representative of Birders Generally? (1 Viewer)

Troubador said:

Hi Josh

I have to agree with you on this, but with one observation. There are different kinds of birding. One is the kind to which you refer and which revolves around identification of species. It used to be called bird spotting over here. Often it also involves lists of species seen, by year, location, life etc.

Another kind of birding that used to be called bird watching requires the identification of birds using bins only, probably stalking to get close, and then the observation of patterns of behaviour over a period of time. Birds too far away to be identified are just that: too far away. The goal of this type of birding is an understanding of behaviour rather than the accumulation of lists of species seen.

These two types of birding are, of course, not necessarily mutually exclusive, nor is one any 'better' than the other, but serve to show that birding (and other kinds of nature observation) doesn't have to revolve around bins/scope and tripod.

Lee

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coaltit said:

Birds that come to mind where you mention (stalking to get Close) Here in the uk where I,m based it could be warblers, flocks of Redpoll, The list can go on a bit but generally to find these birds on ones doorstep is Not always possible, if ever I see something which I have,nt Before that will take my Interest and to see such things habitat will usually Always play apart in it if not thats a bonus its those bonus moments that I have really enjoyed in the past adds a little thrill to your day If you like, Like A pair of goldcrests out in the open with woodland nearby but decideing to Mate on the grassy verge below a farm hedge only for a minute at least but You know in your own mind how a different event can give you a lift when Seeing such things. I never travelled much to do my bird watching/birding a Mixture of the both I think as I also recorded for my local bird society as Well,(still do) but yes in doing so the scope came out along with the tripod (and still Does without the tripod) to use over the local reservoir which sadly I don,t Go to now but the bird species went up here compared to what they would Have done away from the reservoir, I,ve taken a back seat so to speak this Last 3/4 years thou I wish I was amongst more birds at times, thou generally Speaking I feel more relaxed away from the crowd but keeping in touch With The crowd I still do to see what is about, for me it does not all have to be About birds either If there are other things around that take my Interest, so yes I have found that doing it my way I enjoy better with a Relaxed approach I was getting to tense before and realised this, Lifestyle Changes and others as well I did,nt relish at the time but now realise how These changes were for the better long term and have not felt as good for a longtime in myself I think I,ve found myself at last (not through binoculars May I say)..

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David in NC said:

I'm not sure if I understand the exact question, but I don't see BF posters in this section as being an exact (but smaller) cross section of birders generally.

I say this simply because our extra interest in optics brings us here. While BF is the largest bird watching site, most birders never even visit ANY "forum" on the Internet...they just bird (I would guess, anyway.)

THEN...of the ones who do end up on BF, many never post in the Binoculars subsection.

Like SO many of my pursuits, I see many participants who aren't gear nuts and just immerse themselves in the hobby. ME, I'm an INCURABLE "gear nut" for some reason.

I think back to some old women I've met and several men who knew INFINITELY more about birds and birding than I know that had old porros (probably with "cloudy" views by our standards!). Also, a while back, I had the pleasure of talking with a man who was a walking warbler encyclopedia and had a pair of old (probably a $200 pair) of Nikon roofs. While I had just gotten my new Ultravid HDs and was feeling pretty good, his Nikons had years of use and had been all over the world birding.

So while I admit to being a gear nut, I also am cognizant that it's not only about the gear (or not at ALL about the gear to some.)

IF this was the nature of the OPs question... :gh:

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IAN JAMES THOMPSON said:

I'm getting a brand new pair of binoculars costing £1,399.00, after just getting my last pair 4 years ago. But I'm a very keen birdwatcher and go out on all the monthly birdwatching field trips by coach every month with my Local RSPB Group and I have been discussing the binoculars I was looking for on another thread.
Ian.

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Maljunulo said:

Link to your thread?

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pesto said:

Hi Subzero,
...most birders whom I met have a minor, if any, interest in bins: many have old worn out bins and have no interest in considering new ones.

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HighNorth said:

So true!

I recently had an old friend contact me about a Yukon draw-tube scope he was considering purchasing. So far, he had only been using his grandfather's 10x50 for birdwatching, but he thought the 30x scope (which costs around 60 euros) would aid him in watching kestrels at longer distances.

I went ahead with a rather lengthy exposition about the relative merits of straight versus angled spotting scopes, the benefits of fully multi-coated optics, and explained how he would get much better quality (and more satisfying) glass by upping his budget to perhaps 2-300 euros. I even advised him on getting a decent tripod.

Needless to say, I haven't heard from him since! :-O

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perterra said:

I was looking at getting an inexpensive telescope for astronomy, said maybe $300 or so to find out if I even wanted to get deeper in to it. I was advised I would be better served to just save a little more until I got to around $1,500 then buy. :-O Which is pretty close to what what was suggested I do on bicycles, target rifles and fly rods. I dont think the obsessed truly understand they are obsessed.

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HighNorth said:

I would not say 1500 bucks, but maybe 500? And make it a Newtonian on a Dobson mount: they are the best for the money! :t:

HN

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HighNorth said:

On a more serious note, I don't think many ordinary birdwatchers realise that they will get much better optics (and more satisfying birding) by investing a bit more in their gear. The mid-priced bins and scopes today can be as good as yesterday's alphas.

HN

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perterra said:

Looking for something I could stick in the camper. I ended up with an inexpensive Celestron Astromaster 114EQ and 2 new eye pieces. Is it perfect, heck no. But I learned enough playing with it to know the direction I want to go in the future. Probably a short tube refractor. I like the dobs, but since the city I live in has gone nuts with street lights I cant see much at home and they just take up too much room and weigh too much for travel.

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perterra said:

I dont think they care, the ones I know are raising kids in team sports and paying ridiculous house payments. A Nikon Monarch 3 or 5 is perfectly usable for most people.

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