Monday, March 19, 2007

Choosing a Pair of Bird Watching Binoculars

It is possible to do bird watching without binoculars. When you first start, you will probably be looking for the more common local species of birds, and therefore you will be able to get away with not using a pair of binoculars. Your bird book will tell you the main attributes to look for, and you can recognize these from a short range. But once you have already spotted all of the most common birds, you may start to progress as a birdwatcher and look for either birds that are rarer, or more specific subcategories of the birds you have already spotted. If this is the case, you will want to invest in a good pair of bird watching binoculars. There are several things you should look for in a pair.

Firstly, you want bird watching binoculars that are able to survive outdoors with you. This means that they should be easily cleanable, and have lens that are resistant to scratches. It also helps to have some sort of case or cover that you can quickly slip the binoculars into when you are not using them. These should completely cover the lens. In the event that you drop them, you will be glad that you utilized this quicker method of storage. Usually you can purchase some sort of holder along with the binoculars that will attach to your belt, or around your waist.

You also want to look for binoculars with a high enough level of zoom on them for your own purposes. This will ultimately depend on how heavy into bird watching you truly are. If you want to be a hardcore bird watcher and find every species indigenous to your area, then you will want very high quality binoculars with a huge zooming range. But if you are just a casual fan of the pastime, then you may find that the high-end binoculars are a little bit too expensive for your taste. Just look at what is available to you, test out a few different brands and models, and decide on it after a while.

If you aren’t really sure that you will be deeply into the bird watching hobby, then you may not want to invest in very expensive binoculars. Since you will be outside in nature, the chances of ruining the binoculars are higher than normal. Therefore it may be slightly silly to invest a huge amount of money when you aren’t yet sure how dedicated you are. Just keep this in mind when you are buying bird watching binoculars, and you will surely be happy with the result.

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