Long story short I had open heart surgery to replace a valve and an aortic prothesis August 23rd. Now I don't know how many of you have had to have this done BUT it's, I'll say, something else. So I've had a lot of time off work, about 10 weeks more or less. My rehab was primarily walking and I've been doing a lot of it. Thankfully walking can take place with a binocular on you chest(or slightly below) so that has been my preferred method.
So, I've been able to do a lot of birding. Of course it started out with short trips that got progressively longer. I've been birding 43 days since my surgery. I've birded many days in a row. I had the best September and October I've ever had as far as number of species goes. I was able to see several life birds which is rare at this point. I've been able to use a lot of different binoculars and mostly in the 30mm to 32mm range. One thing I noticed was that a heavy binocular is not your friend post open heart surgery. Also, I had to wear binoculars a little lower on the chest than I typically like. This was no problem with the Rick Young UL harness.
I started out birding with a Zeiss Victory Pocket 8X25. It of course is lightweight and almost like carrying nothing, especially with the RYUL harness. I carried this binocular for my first trip post surgery and as good of a 25mm the VP is I quickly decided I was going to go the route of a larger objective binocular regardless of comfort. Migration was on and had a little trouble finding birds at times mostly due to eye placement and focusing issues.
The Nikon Monarch HG 8X30 came to my rescue and was the binocular I used the most during this time, especially early on. Small, lightweight, and a large FOV it was just what the doctor ordered so to speak. Just a very nice binocular. I'm not sure if I could find a 8X30 I would like better. Its only real competition is the CL 8X30 B. I actually like the CL 8X30 B more than I used to. Although optically excellent, I'm still not crazy about the focus adjustment.
As you can probably imagine I had plenty of time to shop for binoculars online. I did purchase two. One was a binocular I've always wanted to try, a GPO Passion ED 8X32. I used it for several days. I was very impressed with the Passion ED 8X42 but this time it just didn't work out. I felt like optically it just wasn't up to snuff. ALSO the focus adjustment developed slop/play after a few days. In no way did it compare to the other two. Time to move on to something different.
As healing progressed I decided to reach for a slightly larger/heavier 32mm, the SV 8X32mm. Even compared to the MHG and the CL B the SV 8X32 is easily the best. Best optics. Best handling. Best flat field. Fastest bird acquisition. To this day it still may very well be the best birding binocular I have. Swarovski dropped the ball when they quit making this one.
The second and last binocular I purchase was a Leica Ultravid HD Plus 8X32. Years ago I tried this binocular at Magee Marsh optics tent. Eye relief was just short of enough. New glasses or changing eyes seems to have given me a little ER so, I saw a great price with a great return policy and decided to just give it a go. What a fantastic binocular! Smoothest focus of any Ultravid I have. ER is literally perfect with the eyecups all the way in. Image quality is exactly what would be expected. Very easy to see what others see in this binocular. I'm gonna have to do some more in depth comparison.
Recovery? I went back to work full time Monday. Chest still a little sore otherwise doing okay. It's easy to see how someone that is retired or doesn't work can have incredible bird numbers. A total of five life birds for me in less than four weeks. I was especially excited about the MacGillivray's warbler, gray gull, and the vermillion flycatcher.
I'll be headed back out Saturday with the UVHD+ 8X32!
So, I've been able to do a lot of birding. Of course it started out with short trips that got progressively longer. I've been birding 43 days since my surgery. I've birded many days in a row. I had the best September and October I've ever had as far as number of species goes. I was able to see several life birds which is rare at this point. I've been able to use a lot of different binoculars and mostly in the 30mm to 32mm range. One thing I noticed was that a heavy binocular is not your friend post open heart surgery. Also, I had to wear binoculars a little lower on the chest than I typically like. This was no problem with the Rick Young UL harness.
I started out birding with a Zeiss Victory Pocket 8X25. It of course is lightweight and almost like carrying nothing, especially with the RYUL harness. I carried this binocular for my first trip post surgery and as good of a 25mm the VP is I quickly decided I was going to go the route of a larger objective binocular regardless of comfort. Migration was on and had a little trouble finding birds at times mostly due to eye placement and focusing issues.
The Nikon Monarch HG 8X30 came to my rescue and was the binocular I used the most during this time, especially early on. Small, lightweight, and a large FOV it was just what the doctor ordered so to speak. Just a very nice binocular. I'm not sure if I could find a 8X30 I would like better. Its only real competition is the CL 8X30 B. I actually like the CL 8X30 B more than I used to. Although optically excellent, I'm still not crazy about the focus adjustment.
As you can probably imagine I had plenty of time to shop for binoculars online. I did purchase two. One was a binocular I've always wanted to try, a GPO Passion ED 8X32. I used it for several days. I was very impressed with the Passion ED 8X42 but this time it just didn't work out. I felt like optically it just wasn't up to snuff. ALSO the focus adjustment developed slop/play after a few days. In no way did it compare to the other two. Time to move on to something different.
As healing progressed I decided to reach for a slightly larger/heavier 32mm, the SV 8X32mm. Even compared to the MHG and the CL B the SV 8X32 is easily the best. Best optics. Best handling. Best flat field. Fastest bird acquisition. To this day it still may very well be the best birding binocular I have. Swarovski dropped the ball when they quit making this one.
The second and last binocular I purchase was a Leica Ultravid HD Plus 8X32. Years ago I tried this binocular at Magee Marsh optics tent. Eye relief was just short of enough. New glasses or changing eyes seems to have given me a little ER so, I saw a great price with a great return policy and decided to just give it a go. What a fantastic binocular! Smoothest focus of any Ultravid I have. ER is literally perfect with the eyecups all the way in. Image quality is exactly what would be expected. Very easy to see what others see in this binocular. I'm gonna have to do some more in depth comparison.
Recovery? I went back to work full time Monday. Chest still a little sore otherwise doing okay. It's easy to see how someone that is retired or doesn't work can have incredible bird numbers. A total of five life birds for me in less than four weeks. I was especially excited about the MacGillivray's warbler, gray gull, and the vermillion flycatcher.
I'll be headed back out Saturday with the UVHD+ 8X32!
).
