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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 3323204" data-attributes="member: 665">It's not that I don't believe in Santa Claus....er. I mean... twilight factor, it's that at this point my acuity falls off rapidly in low light, so it doesn't help enough to matter, besides which, I'm a fair weather birder. If it's lousy outside, I'll find something else to do indoors like read Birdforum. For diehard birders with younger eyes and hunters who pursue prey in the din of winter, I can imagine (but not see) how it might make a difference. Being that I came to birding via stargazing, aperture was more important to me then, but as a bird/nature watcher, weight and size assumed greater importance since I could handle a fairly heavy bin for stargazing since I was seated in one spot and the weight was shifted back on my face, but for birding, I was walking in the woods, carrying bins around my neck, so my priorities changed. Now that I'm getting older and crickety, I've come full circle, preferring to find an open spot where I can set up a lawn chair and watch birds from a distance with the bins mounted on a monopod to keep my arms from getting fatigued. In the future, I would like to buy a higher power bin and use it on a tripod. I still like lower power and wide fields for my backyard, but if I'm going out, why walk in the woods where I'm likely to see mostly the same species I can see in my backyard or in the nearby woods and risk getting bitten by a rattler? I'm no panzy, I once free climbed the Hudson River Palisades cliffs straight up. For the last six feet, I had to grab tree roots to pull myself up to the top of the cliff. If the roots had given way, I'd be six-foot under now. Eat your heart out, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/may/04/best-friend-died-ski-jumping-jt-holmes" target="_blank">JT Holmes!</a>:smoke:In the open I can see birds I don't see in the woods such as bluebirds, BOP, turkeys, and the occasional heron or crane. I can also spot deer, porcupines, and once a black bear. When it starts getting dark, I pack it up because I can't see crap in dim light (and I don't like to step in it).<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />Brock</blockquote>

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