Bird Watching Supplies And Equipment
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Bird Watching Supplies And Equipment
Bird watching is a fascinating hobby to take up. It is one that can take you to many breathtaking natural sites in pursuit of the most beautiful of the Earth’s finest feathered creatures. But before you embark, be sure to prepare the bird watching supplies and equipment that you will need for your great birding adventure.
Binoculars
The most important of bird watching supplies enable you to actually watch birds. Binoculars allow you to observe birds in their habitat from a good distance without disturbing them.
There are 4 things to consider when choosing a good pair of binoculars for bird watching.
First is comfort. Your binoculars should be handy and light enough to carry around in the field. You should also be able to easily lift them up to your eyes.
This brings us to the second point, eye relief; they must not strain your eyes when you peer into the eyepieces, even when you’re wearing glasses.
Third, the focusing wheel must be easy to move, the better to focus on birds from far away.
And fourth, whether you carry your binoculars with a neck strap or a harness, make sure it is comfortable enough when hanging onto you, not too long but not too short, just enough so as not to be cumbersome.
Spotting Scope
Sometimes there are distances that even your binoculars might not be able to cover, in which case a spotting scope would be very helpful. Larger in size but light in weight, and with very high magnification, spotting scopes enable you to watch birds from afar and at much greater detail, allowing you to see distinguishing marks that the average binoculars would not have been able to make out.
There are 2 basic types of spotting scopes, the straight and angled models. When you are setting up a straight scope, make sure that the height of the tripod is in accordance with your own height. When you are using an angled scope, there is no need to lower the tripod since they can be rotated easily.
A spotting scope is also useful if you are taking long-range photographs with a digital camera. This technique is known as digiscoping. This brings us to the next item on our list of bird watching supplies and equipment.
Wildlife Camera
If you want to take vivid, high-quality bird photos, not just any camera would do. Wildlife cameras are specifically purposed to track the movement of creatures in the wild, which is essential if you want to capture the beauty and majesty of an exotic bird in flight. A DSLR camera, in particular, is very effective for this purpose.
There are several types of wildlife cameras. A Wildlife Digital Camera allows the images to be viewed as they are being taken. A Wildlife Video Camera captures high-definition videos and is recommended for beginners. A Live Wildlife Camera allows you to take streaming video for you to record and play back later on. A Motion Activated Wildlife Camera is equipped with motion detectors that cause it to record a video once a movement pattern is detected. A Trail Camera saves captured images onto storage devices like an SD card. A Wildlife Camera Wi-Fi detects Wi-Fi signals in the area to send captured images via email.
Field Recorder
If you want to go beyond capturing beautiful bird images and preserve their sounds as well, a field recorder allows you to do so. This way, you will take home the full-on birding experience. While a digital video camera can record sound, it can also pick up unwanted background noise. A field recorder allows you to focus on the particular sound that you want to catch, and provides great recording quality. They are typically small, usually wallet-sized, and easy to carry.
Bird Watching Supplies And Equipment – The Field Guide
And of course, when you’re out bird watching, you must have the means to identify the type of bird that you are observing. The field guide is your handy bird reference book, an essential to have among your bird watching supplies and equipment. It contains images and descriptions of different species of birds and where to find them. There are guides that feature photographs of the birds. However, many birdwatchers prefer guides with illustrations. That is because they clearly show the birds’ appearance in greater detail. On the other hand, photos may tend to obscure certain details due to lighting, shadows or camera angles. Also, be sure to bring along a small, handy, compact guide for easy carrying.
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