Can you ? (1 Viewer)

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shuggiegreen

Member

• Oct 24, 2012

• #1

I am very new to bird watching and trying to learn as much as possible can somone explain why you would have a tripod and a scope as well as binoculors? I cannot understand why?

 

delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Oct 24, 2012

• #2

Hi Shuggie if your birdwatching is mainly in the garden, woodland, or on long hikes then a 'scope is perhaps not necessary. But go to an estuary, where everything is a long way off bins just won't get the birds... and sea watching you're perhaps looking a couple of miles out.

For any real distance you'd need really big bins and they're then too heavy to use for any length of time.

I've really only scratched the surface with this reply; I'm sure others will have more for you.

 

Brian2

Well-known member

• Oct 24, 2012

• #3

binoculars give you about 8 or ten times magnification, there are times when you need more and a scope gives that from 20 to 70 times magnification.
So you use the bins for birds within range and the scope for birds out of range for the bins or for a better view of the bird.

 

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richardblackburn

Active member

• Oct 24, 2012

• #4

Shuggie, try going to a local wildlife centre (e.g. Montrose Basin) where they have scopes set up for the visitors to use. It'll give you a feel for the difference.

 

JTweedie

Well-known member

• Oct 24, 2012

• #5

I don't have a scope but I've had the privilege of using some really good scopes and it's incredibly impressive just how much they can reveal.

I remember seeing a black-tailed godwit over the other side of a loch through the scope, but with the binoculars it was barely a reddish dot, and it was impossible to see with the naked eye.

 

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shuggiegreen

Member

• Oct 26, 2012

• #6

richard that a good idea thanks.