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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BruceH" data-source="post: 3235403" data-attributes="member: 106398">John ... I think the smart ones go to Montana where it is 65 F degrees! :t:Actually I suspect that is true for some such as the Sand Hill Cranes that winter north of Yuma.  Most of the water fowl leave in March and April but some of the Mallards stay all year.  One American Widgeon at a park pond near me stuck around all summer last year but he wised up this year and headed north with his friends.  There is a small contingent of Canada Geese that show up at that park off and on during the summer.  I guess they are to lazy to do the flight north.  Some of the usual cast of characters I see around the house all year are Mourning Doves, Gambel Quail, Mockingbirds, Cactus Wrens, Flickers, Gila Woodpeckers, Curve Billed Thrashers and  the Abert's Towee.  Then there are some that come here for the heat. The White Winged Dove is the best example I can think of.  They start arriving in March and are here in force before the end of April. They stay all summer and depart my area around the first part of September for Mexico when the night temps drop a little.  What a mixed up bird!  There are also the early migrators that show up around the end of August and September when it is still hot.The summer residents appear to deal with the heat by being active in the early morning.  You do not see much activity after mid morning because they are roosting inside the shady areas of the trees or the quail are under the shade of bushes.  If at the parks, the ducks are usually out of the water and resting in shady areas along with the pigeons.  Sometimes you will see them with their wings stretched out I assume to dissipate body heat.  I wonder how the birds out of the metro area in the deserts deal with the scarcity of water before the summer rains.  This is especially true for the quail which have a small range.  I read some birds get their liquid from their food sources.  I guess the heat takes a toll on the weak but I do not see a mass die off after a summer heat wave.  It is a good thing some of the birds stick around because it gives me something to look at and allows me the opportunity to use my binoculars in the heat.  I have never had any binocular troubles due to the heat although it does make for some interesting ground heat waves to look through.  If the binoculars are stored in my car parked in the sun, then I put them in the trunk.  Per my test above, that cuts the temp about 20 degrees.  There have been times when they were in the passenger compartment for shorter periods stopping for lunch, etc, and there has never been a problem.  I have walked around with them on many occasions with the temp above 100 and they work just fine.  I think Zeiss is showing an operating limit of 140 F, and at one time they listed storage limits that were higher than that.  I think using some common sense, such as not leaving them on the dash behind the windshield, and a good brand will be ok.</blockquote>

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