Birding on a Cold Wet Day














I had planned to arrive at Lake Guntersville by at least 6:00, Eagle Awareness Weekends are all this month, however at 6:00 I was awakened by a big boom and the sound of rain, I rolled over thinking that since I didn't make it there by sunrise maybe I would make it before sunset,when the Eagles come in to roost. And so, we did. My family's not as into birdwatching as I, but they go along, humoring me.

We only saw three Eagles and this left me with the realization that I seriously need to upgrade my optics. I have four pairs of binoculars, I have 1-8x40, 1-10x42's with roof prisms and 1-10-30x50 zoom that was a gift from my mother -in -law, bless herheart. I also have an OLD pair of JC Penny 8x30's that I bought at a rummage sale years ago, and actually they are pretty good. Now I am ready for some more expensive better quality ones. I spent two days this holiday weekend searching, with no luck. Seems every pair I like are sold out except for the display and that comes with no warrenty, paperwork, case or lens covers! and no discount! Now I'm thinking maybe I just need to invest in a spotting scope for my eagle viewing.




























Fellow Eagle watchers





Small black dot is an Eagle. Ha Ha

Comments

F Cameron said…
Machelle,

I love to go bird watching on nearby Jordan Lake in the summer. My husband and I go out in our tandem kayak on still mornings so we can paddle back into the creeks off the lake to find the eagles.

We don't always see the eagles, but the herons and ospreys always show off a bit with their fishing skills.

Nice post!
Cameron
Anonymous said…
Machelle, please educate me! I'd like to hear more about what the powers mean on your binoculars - we do "watching" from our yard and on our walks, and we have Nikon 7 x 35. I don't think they are very high power . . . .
Machelle said…
Kim,
Hi and thanks for stopping by. I am certainly not an expert in optics, but I will try my best to explain. The first number on the binoculars is the is the number of times magnification, you will see it ( in your case of 7x) 7 times larger, and the second is the diameter of the objective lens(35)is yours. So there you have 7x35.
A larger objective lens makes sense during low light conditions, since it can capture more of the light. I think a good bird watching binocular would be 8 or 10 x no larger than 42, like 8x42,10x42. I have some 10x42s that I really like. Then you have porro prism or roof prism. Roof prism bins are usually lighter and are straight, where porro prisms are heavier and have a shoulder.I like roof prisms better, but it's just an individual choice. I don't know if I helped you or confused you.

copy and paste this link, it may help.
Happy Birding!!
http://www.opticsplanet.net/how-to-buy-binoculars.html#ch04
Hi Machelle, when I lived on Lake Guntersville there were no eagles. Of course that's been many years ago. I saw lots of ospreys and other hawks. It's wonderful to learn the eagles have made a comeback in that area.

I loved the leaves framed in twigs on your previous post. That would be a great project to do with my niece. She could learn the names of the trees while creating art.
Marnie

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