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Lost your binoculars (1 Viewer)

borealowl47

Darrell Neufeld
Close call recently dropped my binocs to net a new butterfly.Very small so had to capture it with my butterfly net to id.So excited with seeing a lifer butterfly that I forgot about my binocs.Had to go back in a big field and a Swainson's Hawk saying get out to find them.And the first time left them on top of my car and drove off ,never found them.Morale of the story you can retrace your steps when you walk but not when you drive.
 
Been there

Close call recently dropped my binocs to net a new butterfly.Very small so had to capture it with my butterfly net to id.So excited with seeing a lifer butterfly that I forgot about my binocs.Had to go back in a big field and a Swainson's Hawk saying get out to find them.And the first time left them on top of my car and drove off ,never found them.Morale of the story you can retrace your steps when you walk but not when you drive.

That's so unlucky. But I have to admit I did something similar back in the early 70's. I finished work went back to my car on an free open car park, put my document case on the car roof and drove offf forgetting all about it.

Minutes later I was being chased by what I thought was a lunatic driver trying to overtake me by flashing his lights for me to move over. I ignored him. Eventually I had to stop at some traffic lights. I saw him jump out and run to my car and I thought 'eh,up' trouble coming. But it was a kind person who'd noticed I'd driven away with the case on my roof which had fallen off. He'd retrieved it and had followed me to give it back.
 
I've managed to nearly loose my scope before:

Watching Grebes from a beach at Torbay I was using my rucksack to carry my scope and tripod between locations along a couple of miles of beachfront. On getting ready to move on from one beach I put the tripod away and had the scope body next to me atop the seawall whilst I repacked the bag. Tired at the end of a long day in the wind and rain I thought I had put the scope away too and picking up my bag walked off, went a fair way down the beach then went back again past where I had been and up the coast path back towards Torquay - at no time did I think to check whether I had my scope.

I finally realised my mistake probably about an hour after leaving the scope. I knew exactly where I had left it and ironically thanks to the route of the cliff path looking back at the beach through binoculars I could even see that the scope was still there. Unfortunately it was half a mile away by the path back down a very muddy cliff path with me dressed in winter gear of full waterproofs and thermals with a big ruck-sack on and walking boots. Despite the kit I ended upo running back, slipping several times on the mud and ending up caked in red mud but I got my scope back - luckily the weather was so unpleasant few people were around to pick it up.

I'm now really paranoid about checking where my scope is after every stop if I'm carrying it in my rucksack :) !
 
I'm now really paranoid about checking where my scope is after every stop if I'm carrying it in my rucksack :) !

I tend to do that with all my gear, I'll head off from somewhere and suddenly think "I did pack up all my gear didn't I...?" and have to stop to check everything. Tend to do that quite a bit when I go out so fortunately the only thing I've ever lost when birding has been a glove... and another birder found it after I dropped it and called after me so have been pretty lucky really!
 
Last year I was watching eagles and vultures, standing with my scope and tripod next to my parked car, at the end of a quiet road leading to a dam. I drove the half hour back home quite quickly, I was late for lunch, and on opening the boot to get out my gear the penny dropped - I'd left my scope standing by the side of the road!
I ignored the fatalistic voice inside my head that said "there's no point...." and drove back along back roads because I wasn't going to stick to the speed limit!
I got to the point about an hour after leaving the scope and to my delight it was still there! But only just - a rural warden was standing next to it and told me that he had been calling out for its owner for ten minutes and was about to walk off with it. I thnked him for "guarding" it and tried to learn the lesson.

Steve
 
Last year I did the classic leave them on the roof and drove off, unfortunately by the time I realised my mistake and returned to where I had left them someone had driven over them:C on the plus side my new bins are a lot better:t:
 
I keep them around my neck, so they never wander. Once I put my wallet on top of the car and drove off. 10 miles later I realized what I had done and drove back--it was still there in the road. Sometimes luck shines on someone.
 
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