Friday, November 21, 2008

Birding Sites and Bins

I was recently sent an email asking me to check out a website in which a new feature is being added.

The site is The Binocular Site and the new feature is a directory of some of the best birdwatching spots in North America. It's a work in progress so stop by and add either your review of a birding location or a recommendation of a great birding spot they should include.

The main focus of The Binocular Site is on, you guessed it, binoculars. But it is much more than that. You can read reviews and get information on nearly every type and brand of binoculars you could think of from opera glasses to night vision binoculars, compact to giant, and optics for numerous uses from birding to astronomy and everything in between. It really is quite the comprehensive site. After looking over the site myself, and following a few links, I was able to FINALLY decide on a new pair of binoculars. Phew.

Not that I'm in the market for new bins just yet, after all, I just bought a pair less than a year ago. But there are things about my current pair I just don't like. I should have followed my gut in the first place and gone with another pair.

Me and Flat Stanley, doing a little birding together

My work pair is good, they're Nikons, and basically just about anything from Nikon is good. But I don't have a brand or pair yet that I would absolutely buy again and again. For those of you who bird, do you have a brand you swear by?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the picture of you and Flat Stanley. The first time I met F.S. was in Basel Switzerland. I see he can really get around. I do not have a pair of bins that I swear by. Unlike most birders I consider them nothing more than piece of equipment, a means to an end and one is as good as another. Maybe that is sour grapes, because I cannot afford to plunk down 2 grand for them. I have met plenty of binocular snobs though.

Deejbrown said...

I also love that you included Flat Stanley--he fits wherever you need him, including the birding world!
Binoculars are a very individual thing, almost as serious as buying a car. They have to suit your hands, your eyesight (at whatever stage you are at in life) and your dreams. I don't have a pair I swear by but since I forgo the usual vanities of manicures, pedicures, massages, expensive clothes, etc., I splurge on the thing I love and consider it will probably outlive me. As birding itself should