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Furthest distance birds that can be identified? (1 Viewer)

Years ago I was on the Island of Lundy looking for the Ancient Murrelet, I saw a small dot shimmering in the heat haze between two larger dots which were possibly razorbills. It was probably the bird due to it's size. A well known birder was just behind me and he was describing the bird in detail, the black and white head etc. I remember thinking at the time, what the hell is he looking through?, do optics vary that much?
 
Years ago I was on the Island of Lundy looking for the Ancient Murrelet, I saw a small dot shimmering in the heat haze between two larger dots which were possibly razorbills. It was probably the bird due to it's size. A well known birder was just behind me and he was describing the bird in detail, the black and white head etc. I remember thinking at the time, what the hell is he looking through?, do optics vary that much?

Was he reading from his Collins? ;)
 
A number of years ago...I was using a colleague's scope (30x at least) standing at the top of the Canary Wharf tower (c800'high), we could see Southend, Essex some 35 miles due East, with the ''odd'' container ship...another 20 miles distant on the North sea horizon...a conservative 55miles? However I felt the bounds of credulity were stretched somewhat, when the cry of Med Gull...off the pier went up! ;)
 
I have come to the conclusion that, as a general rule of thumb, if I can recognise the subject as a bird with the naked eye, then I can (given average conditions) expect to ID it with my bins (Swar 10 x 42 or Nikon 10x 42). Furthermore, if I can recognise the subject as a bird with my bins, then I can (etc) expect to ID it with my scope (Swar HD80 30-60 zoom).

It must be admitted that I have undergone cataract surgery on both eyes (with limited success), and my lens prescription for eyeglasses is quite complicated.

However, provided that I stick to these principles I am generally able avoid the mental conflict that so often goes with the "Did I, or didn't I?" and "Was it, or wasn't it?" scenario. But .....
 
I have come to the conclusion that, as a general rule of thumb, if I can recognise the subject as a bird with the naked eye, then I can (given average conditions) expect to ID it with my bins (Swar 10 x 42 or Nikon 10x 42). Furthermore, if I can recognise the subject as a bird with my bins, then I can (etc) expect to ID it with my scope (Swar HD80 30-60 zoom).

It must be admitted that I have undergone cataract surgery on both eyes (with limited success), and my lens prescription for eyeglasses is quite complicated.

However, provided that I stick to these principles I am generally able avoid the mental conflict that so often goes with the "Did I, or didn't I?" and "Was it, or wasn't it?" scenario. But .....

Leaving aside extremely similar birds (e.g.Booted/Sykes Warbler), this sounds a good rule of thumb to me.

Assuming the range is accurately estimated, in my view identifying a petrel as a Wilson's with any degree of confidence at c1 mile is not do-able on plumage grounds. With experience it might be possible to suspect Wilson's on the basis of flight style/behaviour, but I'd be surprised if you could definitively exclude other species 100%. Whether you'd be willing to tick/list the species on such naff views is another thing entirely!
 
A number of large migrant species (such as geese, storks and cranes), when tracked by radar, can be identified by the cadence of the wingbeats, probably up to 50km away...
MJB
 
There's one around here I regularly do at 3km, naked eye in a moving car. With bins from a hill early in the morning (before it get's hazy) I think I must have seen them at well over 10kms. With a scope?! But then ostrich is rather distinctive... I also do flocks of flamingos (you can separate lesser and greater) at about 30kms, as suggested above!
 
From where I 'seawatch' (really riverwatch) on my local patch to the nearest point of the Welsh coast (Goldcliff) is 10.2km. You can see Mute Swans landing the other side of the sea wall on the Welsh side and gulls/egrets etc flying along the coastline but anything else is pretty much impossible to identify with my optics. (Several years ago I could see a crowd watching a Hudsonian Whimbrel but not the bird in question.)

All the best
 
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