posted by Catherine on Nov 28
I can’t tell you how much it will improve your experience and enjoyment of your vacation!
I was always one to accept what I saw with the naked eye, and to enjoy just that. I could identify the basic species where I lived and would hazard a ‘best guess’ at the others. Until I borrowed my friends binoculars! They were only 8×25, and nothing too fancy or expensive – but what an amazing difference they made!
The ‘muntjac deer’ I saw at the woods edge was actually a hare! And another muntjac was actually a ginger dog! What have I been doing these past few years?
I mean, the habitat was right for the munjac as I had seen then hopping away – which a lost dog simply wouldn’t – but I had assumed what I saw was actually what I thought.
Now with the binoculars, I have become a new wildlife enthusiast. I want to see the different colour beaks of the 2 similar birds in the tree, I want to know if it is a house sparrow or tree sparrow by looking at the cheek patches – I want to know!
A Changed Person:
Also, as I see a closer image of the wildlife – I am learning the things to look out for when trying to tell similar species apart – for example the white wing colourings on the back of the great spotted woodpecker is a downward band, whereas on the lesser spotted woodpecker they are horizontal.
And you can tell the sexes apart too – for example the female common kingfisher has an orangey bottom mandible whereas the males is all black.
I always get well versed in a guidebook, so I can learn what key features to look out for when using the binoculars – there is nothing worse than getting a good look at a key feature of a creature – like a stripe on the face – and you get back to the guidebook and it says ‘did it have a dark or a light spot next to the stripe?’ Too late – it’s gone.
A Perfect Team:
Binoculars, guidebook and planning. The perfect team for increasing your wildlife enjoyment 100-fold!
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