Byline: Reported by Amy K. Hooper
On page 31 of the November/December 2009 issue, WildBird Advisory Board members Kenn Kaufman, Shawneen Finnegan and Peter Stangel reveal situations when a spotting scope provides an obviously better view than a binocular. Here, we continue the discussion with examples from other avid birders.
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Ears vs. Horns
The best bird I saw through a scope was an Eared Grebe, partly because of the great look and partly because of the surrounding circumstance. I was supposed to take a trip with Virginia Tech’s ornithology group to Kill Devil Hills, N.C., but it was cancelled. I was afraid to have missed my opportunity for a winter weekend birding retreat.
The following weekend, though, I traveled to my parents’ townhouse in Ocean City, Md., where I serendipitously met two great Maryland birders. We ran into each other out on the Ocean City jetty, a hotspot for scoter and anomalies in winter. They took pity on me because I didn’t have a spotting scope and invited me to join them in making their rounds of the city.
Our first stop was the 33rd Street bay view, where an Eared Grebe had, unbeknownst to me, resided all winter. This was a great East Coast rarity and a lifer for me. I saw it in close proximity to Horned Grebes, so the winter plumage differences were obvious. It was easy to contrast the size and clarity of the white cheek as well as the color of the throat.
The Horned Grebe was a bit far from where we stood, so without a scope, I would not have been able to pick it out so clearly. It dove often, as grebes do, but with patience, we got some great views.
After getting an eyeful, we went on to see the gamut of winter waterfowl at several “off-the-beaten-path” spots throughout the city. All of the day’s finds and sights made for an unforgettable day of birding -- and even more importantly, a great opportunity to make new birding friends.
Jessica Gorzo
West Friendship, Md.
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Not an Owl
I thought I saw and heard a Western Screech-Owl in the Texas Hill Country when we were looking for Red-cockaded Woodpecker. It wasn’t until I got my spotting scope on it that I realized it was a piece of bark on the side of a tree. I might’ve counted the owl if not for the scope. It might’ve been an echo or another bird that I heard, but it just wasn’t what I was looking at through the scope.
My favorite experience from a scope is to get it on a big stationary bird, like a Great Blue Heron and then let other people look through it, especially nonbirders. You can hand someone a binocular, and they may be able to see the bird and they may not. I don’t really know if they saw the bird, and people are polite and could just say, “Nice bird.”
If you put a scope on the bird, you can watch as they’re looking, and you know if they saw it or not. It’s especially effective with kids. There’s nothing like a Great Blue Heron in a scope view; it just fills the view with bird. Kids who previously expressed no interest in birds all of a sudden became interested. Novices spend part or all of the day fighting with their binoculars, but if the group leader has a scope, then you’re sure that people get a memorable view.
Stephen Ingraham
Carl Zeiss Sports Optics
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Snow in Your Eye
I recall a time I showed a birder her life bird Snowy Owl through a spotting scope. The owl had been reported hanging around a park near the shore of Lake Mills, Wis. Because it was winter, the white piers along the water had been taken out and stacked at the far end of the park.
We searched for the Snowy Owl for about 20 minutes without luck. We decided to scope the open water and find a few scoters just several dozen of yards from the beach.
While she was looking at them through the spotting scope, I finally spotted the Snowy Owl perched atop the white piers -- almost completely camouflaged! Nonchalantly and without fanfare, I asked for the scope for a second. I aimed it carefully on the perched owl and zoomed it all the way up to 60-power on its face so that it nearly filled the entire field of view.
I said, “OK, look through the spotting scope now!” Her response isn’t fit for publication.
Michael McDowell
Eagle Optics
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Backyard Details
One morning in early September, I was in my backyard and heard chips emanating from trees 70 yards away. I focused on the trees with my binocular and saw easily identifiable birds feeding on the berries but wanted to see more detail.
I set up my spotting scope and a lawn chair and then enjoyed 45 comfortable minutes studying these neotropical migrants. The black cap of the Wilson’s Warbler, the wing-bars of the Western Tanager and the darkish cap of the Warbling Vireo were obvious and made identification easy.
Binoculars are good for seeing wildlife while on the move, whether while walking, viewing from a boat or sitting in a car. Binoculars generally give an adequate view of enough details to identify birds, depending on lighting conditions, observation distance and viewing situation. To see minute details, such as subtle color differences or bars versus spots, a spotting scope is an essential.
The fixed magnification of a binocular generally is 7-power to 12-power, depending on the model.
A scope can provide a quality image from 20-power up to 60-power, and since it is stabilized on a tripod, the steadiness of the image usually is not as much of an issue.
Although group birding is popular, the challenge is everyone seeing each species. Spotting scopes ease that issue, because the scope is focused on the bird and each person takes a turn looking. With binoculars, some birders might miss the bird.
Jim Danzenbaker
Kowa Optimed
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Digiscoping Bonus
I don't think that there isn't any instance where a spotting scope isn't more advantageous. When you jump from an 8-power to a 20-power, then you can see feather details. It's a completely different world. It's unappreciated by a lot of birders.
I carry my scope everywhere, and I don't think there's any time, short of being on a boat, where more magnification isn't good. Especially with the advent of digiscoping, I don't want to be without my scope. It offers me that opportunity to capture bonus images that I might not have had otherwise.
Jeff Bouton
Leica Sport Optics
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Ivory Prize
A couple of years ago, I embarked on a trip to Pierre, S.D., to look for a young Ivory Gull that had been found a few days earlier. Well, this was in February, the temperature was bone-chilling, and the wind was howling at no less than 30 miles per hour. Wind chill must have been in the negative teens. Brrrr!
After our eight-hour journey, we arrived at the Oahe Dam to look for the gull. With thousands of gulls down there at a distance, my binocular just wasn't cutting it. I knew I had to get closer.
I pulled out my scope and began to scan. With no luck at the dam, we decided to head north on the lake, sallying up and down over hills for numerous miles.
After about one and a half hours, we locked in our scopes and found the gull of ivory color.
Without the magnification of the scope, we never would have located the gull. It allowed us to spend as minimal time out in the wretched weather as possible.
With a big smile on my windburnt face, we headed directly to the water hole where the bird was feeding instead of roaming all around the wintery tundra, aimlessly hoping for a miracle. Without a scope, this would not have been possible in the least.
Mike Freiberg
Nikon Sport Optics
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Hawk-eyed
Most birders observe birds first with their naked eyes, then through their binoculars and then in their spotting scopes. Unless a bird is within 50 feet from me and a binocular view will suffice, I usually make spotting scope viewing my second step.
When distances to the bird(s) exceed a few hundred feet, my spotting scope comes first, using it at its lowest power to scan habitat to locate and identify distant birds. If I cannot identify a bird, then I zoom up the eyepiece for a better look. I go back to the binocular only to take periodic wide-field sweeps of the area in case something interesting is flying through or has landed in a conspicuous spot.
In 2001, I participated in a birding contest in Texas with two excellent birders as teammates. We arrived at the Hazel Bazemore Park Hawk Lookout site, and they started looking for birds with binoculars while I used my scope.
I called out, “White-tailed Hawk.”
“Where?”
“Look out past the Nueces River, to the right of the power pole, on that tree with the dead snag.”
Later, via the Google Earth website, I determined that the hawk was a little less than 1.8 miles away, and there is almost no chance that they would have seen it by scanning with their binoculars. I immediately became the designated “scoper” of the team.
Many people object to the hassle and weight of a spotting scope in the field, but the high-quality scopes and the lightweight tripods now on the market have changed that ballgame. The entire package can weigh less than 8 pounds, and the viewing benefits are superior.
Clay Taylor
Swarovski Optik
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