The advantages of keeping it simple. (1 Viewer)

Mind you, I don't know about other countries but there were many, many ways in which this one had a darker, more ominous side in the sixties and seventies, which I won't elaborate on. Kids growing up nowadays are far, far better off, better nourished, more aware of their rights, less likely to accept authority unquestioningly, etc. It's just a pity so many of them are detached from Nature, Cycling, Swimming, etc., and attached to screens for much of the day. Although I'm writing this on a screen....B

You bet it was hard for many then. Women's and minority rights were just starting to be addressed. When I ran from home though the road was full of roaming hippies and I got some great rides and ended up in some great places and back then hitchhiking was very doable. I even hitched from Seattle to Grand Rapids Mich with no problems. I used to hitchhike to Yellowstone to fish with a buddy from Mich every year for many years. And hitching from Seattle to the Redwoods often only took one or two days. I loved being on the road more than anything but a lot of what was going on was not good for sure, as is true in every age. It all depends on your luck of the draw.

thanks black crow. i'm new here and new to watching birds but i am old at being a fool so i nearly left after a few weeks at seeing garden hose bill's ban. it just p's me off and i've had enough of this regimented evil world. i am a recluse and sometimes lonely and a misfit still at 67. watching backyard birds has been the best thing in a bad year and reminded me of some simple realities after a time. they get up early after a frosty night and carry on. they do their thing and dont have time to mess about and play the fool or otherwise, as happened a few days ago to my favourite blackbird, the sparrowhawk gets them and a few feathers blow on the wind.
your post put me back in balance, thank you.
when it comes to bins, im too poor. always wanted some. i have owned a $10 plastic pair once (why is one binocular called a pair?). they were amazing. i didnt care about distortion and one eye being a bit fuzzy, they meant i could see things at a distance i otherwise couldn't. amazing! more than that, because of remoteness i could observe creatures in nature that were not reacting to me. i saw them just living their lives, nothing special except very special in that as a hunter i learnt empathy. they were no longer prey, hunted, they were creatures just living. i gave up hunting despite the real love i had for that. and now as i am old and ill, those creatures, especially small, common garden birds give me daily pleasure and satisfaction more than in all my endeavours, most humans have. thank you for your simple philosophy, it reminded me to be patient. the best comes to you then.

Well, you have lived, and done well for yourself, in spite of your homelife, and I take my hat off to you for that. Wow, you spent a lot of dosh on your first binoculars-mine were only about $32 with tax, if I remember; a pair of Bushnell Sport View 8x30's with oblong black vinly case in the late 60's. They took me away from my always fighting parents, and kept me company in the woods a fields, thankfully within walking distance to my home. I bought them at a Herter's store close-by, and by advice I got in Outdoor Life, or Field & Stream about which power to buy. And someday I would be like Jack O'Connor hunting big game in the USA, with a .270 rifle, no doubt! That never happened, though I walked the fields looking for Pheasants for hours and hours! Which have been gone from here for many years now, along with the flocks of Pigeons too!

I did a lot of walking, and looking, and when I wasn't hunting, I was just walking around in those same fields and woods with my binoculars, just to be out of the house and I got used to being a loner, and I liked it. I remember seeing rabbits playing in the clover, with my bins one day, and it was great. I've been that way ever since (OK, I did get married, but all we had were cats), and still find the solace of nature the best way to spend any time in this world, without conflict and noise. I'm pretty touchy about noise and have been since my youth-no surprise there after all the yelling I heard.

But those first binoculars probably helped keep me engaged in nature, in a way not possible before, and that has stuck with me til now, and I am so grateful for being introduced to them, even if it was only from reading about them. Once you see for yourself how great they are, you're hooked! One of man's best inventions, to take you to a different plain of awareness for sure!

I may have been a very different person if my VW bus's engine had not blown up, in 1971 (just had it rebuilt-a 1963 bus), when I was planning a trip around the US after high school. But that floored the attempt to escape, and I had to go to work to make ends meet, (and worked ever since until no one wanted old guys anymore). Getting away never did happen, but I did marry a great girl, that I met in college, and we're still together...and living on this amazing earth with the permission of our cats, for sure.

Black Crow, it seems your drive to get out, and be in nature paid off for you, as your living in it is what many aspire to, though never find it in their own lives. Good for you, and your sentiments and actions to be a naturalist by heart and soul, should make you proud of your convictions and doing it for your preservation. The best medicine that you can get for any money, no doubt! You found a way to survive, and got something irreplacable in return.

I don't think you missed anything in a career, as sometimes that is very overrated, and people get lost in them. You're a survivor, and naturalist and to be congratulated on following your own path. Yes, keep it simple, and keep it yours.

Thanks for your kind words. I fully agree that finding and owning binoculars really added a dimension to my adventures in nature. What is so surprising to me is that of the many people I have known in a long life very feel get hooked on binoculars or even own a decent pair. That's a complete mystery to me. There is nothing like a close up of a beautiful bird in a tree with a blue sky in the background. It's like music. It's magical. It's like being in a technicolor dream.

bluespiderweb said:

Well, you have lived, and done well for yourself, in spite of your homelife, and I take my hat off to you for that[...]

Black Crow, it seems your drive to get out, and be in nature paid off for you, as your living in it is what many aspire to, though never find it in their own lives. Good for you, and your sentiments and actions to be a naturalist by heart and soul, should make you proud of your convictions and doing it for your preservation. The best medicine that you can get for any money, no doubt! You found a way to survive, and got something irreplacable in return.

I don't think you missed anything in a career, as sometimes that is very overrated, and people get lost in them. You're a survivor, and naturalist and to be congratulated on following your own path. Yes, keep it simple, and keep it yours.

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I echo that, and might have put those words down were I articulate enough!

black crow said:

[...]I fully agree that finding and owning binoculars really added a dimension to my adventures in nature. What is so surprising to me is that of the many people I have known in a long life[...] get hooked on binoculars[...]There is nothing like a close up of a beautiful bird in a tree with a blue sky in the background. It's like music. It's magical. It's like being in a technicolor dream.

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So well put.

The explanation in Barry's last paragraph applies to binoculars too. Indeed that is where this thread began! You might like to read my post linked here yesterday in another thread. The quote within it is from an earlier thread "Bird or Bino?"

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Black crow:

Your posts are really down to earth, and appreciated. Some of us of here know all about the outdoors,
and some don't have the chance.

I am a farmer, and live in a rural area. I live the outdoors every day, and so I am truly blessed.

I have posted about liking big binoculars. From my house, I can view well over a mile in 2 directions
without obstruction, and I really like that. In the prairie pothole region of ND, we have lots of waterfowl,
and all 4 seasons. I really like that, that is nature at its best.

Keep up the good work. Your experiences are extraordinary, and I enjoy your posts.

Jerry

That's very kind of you to say. I realize I don't have much expertise on optics but I certainly have the love of what they bring to the experience of living on a plant with so much moving shape and color.

Ahoc. Thank you for those links. I thoroughly enjoyed reading those. I really liked your post and totally related to it. I must admit I love hearing about the personal emotional experience of optics use as much or more than the technical use.

I am happy about JoeJ's response, but have just realized that responses here can "derail" this thread, so would request others who take this up to do so in some other way.

After much trying I just cannot find out how to directly write to the Moderators and shall appreciate it if someone tells me. Minutes ago I managed to get to the Policy & Rules section of the Forum and there I find: "Posting a thread or reply to question or criticize moderator or administrator action is not appropriate..." hence I cannot start a thread on this. Also found there is the Forum's definition of "spamming" and I see now that WJC/Bill may possibly have transgressed. I would still like to convey my request in an appropriate way.

I apologize to Black Crow and others for this diversion.

That's not a problem on my end and I wish I could help in some way to get this resolved. It's not a good situation. If you ever do find out how to contact the Mods would you kindly PM me and let me know.

NDhunter said:

Black crow:

Your posts are really down to earth, and appreciated. Some of us of here know all about the outdoors,
and some don't have the chance.

I am a farmer, and live in a rural area. I live the outdoors every day, and so I am truly blessed.

I have posted about liking big binoculars. From my house, I can view well over a mile in 2 directions
without obstruction, and I really like that. In the prairie pothole region of ND, we have lots of waterfowl,
and all 4 seasons. I really like that, that is nature at its best.

Keep up the good work. Your experiences are extraordinary, and I enjoy your posts.

Jerry

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:t::t::t::t:

Lee

black crow said:

That's not a problem on my end and I wish I could help in some way to get this resolved. It's not a good situation. If you ever do find out how to contact the Mods would you kindly PM me and let me know.

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[email protected] will reach me as will a private message.

Steve

I think a male Wood Duck in breeding plumage is a sight that comes to mind when I reflect on what I enjoy the most.

The "gawky grace" of a heron, or the bobbing up to the surface of a Hooded Merganser male, are among my favorites.

Watching a Belted Kingfisher beat a fish into submission before swallowing it is fascinating to me.

The list is endless, but these seem to float to the top.

And these are only the birds.

I agree about the Wood Duck. For me also the Western Tanager and the Chukur which fill many of Oregon's High Desert Canyons . They are really something to see. Also the first time you see a new and unusual bird. I remember being in the little town of Fields Oregon (some of the towns out there have under a dozen citizens) right at the base of the Steens Mountains in Eastern Or. I saw for the first time in a open field a yellow headed blackbird on a bright sunny morning. It blew me away.

Ah, thanks to Black Crow, and all who have contributed to this sort of a discourse. This morning I went to one of my regular spots to bird and noticed a red tail hawk swooping along the base of a hill across the road from the gravel parking lot. As it made its pass, a few birds flushed off the hill, flew a short distance and landed again, immediately disappearing from view with my naked eyes. Upon further investigation with binocs, it was a flock of Meadowlarks, determined, as I have seen before, to maintain their open position, even though a predator was circling above. Though I have seen Meadowlarks at other spots within a few miles, never here, yet the behavior of the flushed birds provoked me. Against a green hill in the morning light, they were like small bowling pins with yellow breasts, some lemony,, and some much richer in their yellow color. Too distant to see more detail, yet satisfying to simply know they are there, and probably have been long before I was ever aware, or capable of noticing them.

So much to learn from nature. Humbling and inspiring at the same time.

Maljunulo said:

Watching a Belted Kingfisher beat a fish into submission before swallowing it is fascinating to me.

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I have enjoyed this thread as well. Good reading!

The above reminded me of the moment I actually became a "birder." I was in Glacier National Park and towards evening one day I stopped to watch an American Dipper (aka Water-Ouzel) feeding its young. I had never seen the Dipper before and I was quite flabbergasted to watch it swimming underwater. Like the Kingfisher, it came up with a small fish and smacked it on a rock a few times to, ahem, dispatch it, and then it flew behind a small waterfall to feed its young. I knew diddly about birds then, but this event hooked me.

BTW, the bino was nothing much. In that moment it didn't seem to matter.

And since the subject of Muir came up earlier, he devoted a chapter from his book "The Mountains of California" to the Dipper. Called "The Water-Ouzel." Recommended reading, and probably available online.

Can you tell I like Muir? Lol.

Also, seeing the aforementioned Western Tanager for the first time was quite a moment. It was a foggy day on the Tahoe Rim Trail and suddenly this canary yellow apparition! I'll never forget that.

Mark

Mark

I was watching our Dippers while recently testing Opticrons for a review. Our Derbyshire River Wye (there is another in a different county) was in spate following winter rains and melting snow on the Pennine Hills, and this pair of Dippers just dived into the water without hesitation and bobbed up again to swim like little galleons on a choppy sea before submerging again. They were coming up with insect larvae they had collected off the stones on the river bed. They look such unlikely diving birds but were totally at home in the churning water.

Lee

Troubador said:

Mark

I was watching our Dippers while recently testing Opticrons for a review. Our Derbyshire River Wye (there is another in a different county) was in spate following winter rains and melting snow on the Pennine Hills, and this pair of Dippers just dived into the water without hesitation and bobbed up again to swim like little galleons on a choppy sea before submerging again. They were coming up with insect larvae they had collected off the stones on the river bed. They look such unlikely diving birds but were totally at home in the churning water.

Lee

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We have a related species (same genus) here, which we call the American Dipper, or the Water Ouzel. I have never seen one as they are 2000+ miles from where I live.

Troubador said:

Mark

I was watching our Dippers while recently testing Opticrons for a review. Our Derbyshire River Wye (there is another in a different county) was in spate following winter rains and melting snow on the Pennine Hills, and this pair of Dippers just dived into the water without hesitation and bobbed up again to swim like little galleons on a choppy sea before submerging again. They were coming up with insect larvae they had collected off the stones on the river bed. They look such unlikely diving birds but were totally at home in the churning water.

Lee

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I love your descriptions, Lee! Little galleons! ; ) They bring the scenes to life, thanks again for another enjoyable picture!

And the rest of you guys too-nice hearing about your memorable sightings all around the world.