The Gear

Birding by ear is fun, but I’ll admit I get the greatest joy from seeing them. It helps to have a good pair of binoculars. A camera is also handy to capture images for identification purposes. Plus, it proves what you saw. Pics or it didn’t happen!

My current camera is a Cannon PowerShot SX 100 IS and my binoculars are Bushnell H20 8×42 and they are both OK.

I can certainly get by with this gear and have done so just fine for about 7 years. But the camera is showing age, and it’s a struggle to capture clear images while zooming in on spazzy birds or sometimes even perched birds. The binoculars are a bit awkward, and the focus mechanism can be stubborn. I’ll say it: I’m displeased with my current birding gear.

For the purpose of this year (and beyond) I’d like to give myself a greater advantage while in the field. Instead of, “What’s that fuzzy grey blob?!” I’ll say, “My, oh my, that is the black-throated gray warbler! Just look at those dark cheeks, those white “eyebrows,” that black throat, and those streaked flanks!” Yep, that’s how it’ll be. I can hope anyways. The experience often relies on clear focus, crisp imagery, and distinguishing subtle differences in bird features.

I’ve done some research and taken recommendations and have come up with the following wish list:

Without spending thousands of dollars on a DSLR and with the intent of using it for the 50x optical zoom, this camera should fit the bill nicely for a novice birder. I recently discovered brilliant bird photos on John Rakestraw’s Birding in Oregon and Beyond Blog and found that he uses the SX50. A couple of Audbubon birders have also had good things to say about the camera and it has decent reviews.

Multiple Audubon birders use these binoculars and I was able to test them out during the Christmas count. They are sleek, the images seem bright, and they adapt to eye glasses. They are waterproof, fogproof, and the Vortex company includes an unlimited lifetime warranty.

Hopefully I’ll have a happy update in the near future!

Update: I got the binoculars! I also got the fashionable “binocu-bra”! – How do I look?

Update 2.0: Woohoo! Level camera-upgrade achieved. Thanks to my sweet boyfriend, Tomas’s generosity.

Tweets and chirps,

Audrey