05 Using Binoculars
About this episode
Binoculars feel awkward until someone shows you the simple tricks. Anthony Overs shares how to choose and use binoculars so you can get a better look at the birds around you.
Episode illustration: White-throated Treecreeper
Anthony Overs’ childhood love of wildlife led to an Environmental Management degree. In his spare time, he is an active member of the Canberra Ornithologists Group. Anthony has been running their 'Birdwatching for Beginners' trips since 2006 and gets enormous satisfaction from teaching others. So he is the right person for the job to teach us how to choose and use binoculars (one of birdwatching's greatest tools).
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Kirsty: This podcast was recorded on Bunurong Boonwurrung Country. I pay my respect to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been stewards of the land, sea and sky for over 60,000 years. I would like to thank them for their continued contribution to science, conservation and education.
Kirsty: Welcome to Weekend Birder. I'm your host, Kirsty Costa, and I'm a teacher, science communicator and conservationist today. Fellow birders, we are going to hear Anthony Overs share his stories and expertise. Anthony and I are sitting in the stunning surrounds of the Australian National Botanic Gardens on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra. Around us we can hear wattlebirds, currawongs, robins and treecreepers and all the other noises that you hear when you're in a public space. Anthony has always been curious about nature. In fact, as a little kid, he had a fascination for all living things.
Anthony: I couldn't get enough of it. And I used to watch the shows on TV, like Harry Butler's 'In the Wild'. You know, we're talking in the late '70s here. And members of my family used to call me the next Harry Butler because I'd tell them all about this thing or that thing. And then birds came along and they were fascinating, you know, being able to sit in the front garden and watch Superb Fairywrens breeding in the raspberry bush or the goshawk turned up in the yard and it was a white morph Grey Goshawk. And I didn't know what it was at the time, but I knew it was a hawk and it was pure white and had a yellow bit on it, on its on its beak. And I know what it is now, but I was fascinated at the time and I learned a lot about wildlife when I was a kid and I took took to that through school and university. I studied wildlife at university, environmental management, wildlife management and became quite proficient at identifying things in the wild.
Kirsty: Anthony is a member of the Canberra Ornithologist Group and one of his talents is to help people begin their birdwatching journey.
Anthony: I really get a lot out of the natural environment. It's almost like a religion - it's wholesome, it's good for you, it's good for your wellbeing. And I like to share that with others. And I've been doing that. I've been doing that for the last few years with the Canberra Ornithologists Group here teaching people about birds. There are certain ways that you can do it. You can belt them over the head with facts and overwhelm them with bird calls and all that sort of stuff. But doing it by little bits and pieces and engaging them in subtle ways that almost don't know that they're learning, but they actually are. I've been travelling with people who weren't into birds and they ended up becoming interested in what I was seeing. I said, "Look, I've got a morning off here. I'm going birdwatching with a local guide". And I got back and I said, "What did you see? Tell us all about it". So they're actually quite interested, but they don't know enough about it. I've been doing this for 30-35 years and I still know a very small percentage or fraction of what I should know. So... incremental little bits and pieces and and don't overwhelm people. People get frightened off if you want to tell them the whole history of the evolution of Australian fauna.
Kirsty: One of the trickiest things to navigate as a beginner birder is choosing and then using binoculars. They are such an awesome tool and give your eyes long distance superpowers. But what do all the numbers mean? What are the best brands? And how much money should I spend? And how the heck do I use them quickly when I see a bird? Thankfully, Anthony is here to answer all of these questions.
Anthony: People come to the beginners walks here with me and they bring all sorts of different binoculars that they've inherited or or found or stolen or acquired somehow. And they ask, “What should I buy in order to be able to do this birdwatching thing?”. [Wow! That is treecreeper calling in the background!]. Years ago you had to spend a fair bit of money to get something of reasonable quality. But nowadays you don't have to do that. You don't have to spend $3,000 on a set of binoculars. You can spend $300 on a perfectly serviceable pair, but you do get what you pay for. So if you can afford to spend more, do it. If you can afford to spend $700, you get a much better pair. The lens coatings will degrade on the cheap ones. Prisms will go out of alignment with the expensive ones. They're under warranty so if you buy the $3000 Swarovski binoculars, they'll send them back to the factory, have them realigned and give you a loan pair and all that at no cost. But $3,000 is a lot of money.
Anthony: So when I have beginners here at the gardens on a walk and they're asking you about binoculars, they want to know about the numbers on the binoculars and what they should acquire. So we'll quickly cover the tech talk. Binoculars are identified by their magnification and the diameter of the objective lens. The first number is the magnification that's anywhere between 7-10. And the objective lens diameter is the second number. So for binoculars that are 10x42, it's 10x the magnification and 42mm diameter of the objective lens. The higher the magnification, the closer you get to your bird target. The smaller the objective lens, the smaller the field of view. If you look at the details on a website, it'll say 100m at 1000m - so at 1000m distance, the field of view you're looking at is 100m wide. We want a big field of view because a bigger lens means more light gathering capacity. So if you've got a 10x magnification and a 25mm objective lens, you're getting very close, but you've got a very narrow field of view and poor light gathering capability.
Kirsty: 8x42 (8 times 42) or 10x42. Lock that into your birdwatching memory when choosing a pair of binoculars. Binoculars that are lightweight might be convenient to shove in your pocket but most won't give you the best view of birds. In fact, when your binoculars aren't strong enough, you have to move too close to the bird and you'll scare it away. I've heard people giving up on birdwatching just because of their binoculars. It's not worth the hassle. So jump on your favourite secondhand website or save up some cash to buy yourself a decent pair. Binoculars with a greater magnification can be larger and heavier. But there is a way to protect your neck.
Anthony: My 10x42 binoculars are 860g. Now, that's a lot of weight hanging around your neck for even half an hour. If you wear them all day, you'll end up with a sore neck. But they are the best binoculars that you can buy. So we use a harness, a very straightforward elastic harness with clips at the front. You clip your binoculars on and it disperses the weight of the binoculars across your shoulders rather than around your neck. And there are about $50 to buy on multiple suppliers on eBay. And that's the way to go. And you barely notice it. They're there. And I've connected my camera to the same strap as well as the binoculars, and it's so comfortable you barely notice it that you've got it on.
Kirsty: I've got a dodgy neck, so I wear a backpack with a chest strap and a waist strap. When I'm not using my binoculars, I actually tuck them into my waist strap and then I tighten it. So they're not swinging around while I walk and my hips are actually taking the weight. It's been a total neck-saver and is another option if you don't want to use a harness.
Anthony: How to use binoculars - believe it or not, there is a way of using them and a way of not using them. I've watched people look at a bird in the bush, in a tree 20m away, put the binoculars to their face and then start scanning the tree because they can't find the bird. And the key point here is you must maintain the line of sight. So you see the bird with your eye, you're looking at it, you put the binoculars in that line of sight. You do not adjust your head to fit the binoculars. As they come up to your face, you simply put the binoculars in that line of sight, and you will see that bird every time. And one of the field guides suggests having a practice and I recommend is to put an object down the back of the back of the yard and have a go at looking at it first time when we're talking about a 7 gram thornbill that's 10 centimetres long and flitting through a tree or a shrub, your chances are seeing it after you've broken that line of sight are very slim. The seek and find method of trying to find that bird is not going to work.
Kirsty: Ah, gotcha. Well, it looks like I've got some practicing to do. So what are the best conditions for birdwatching? Anthony says it's important to think about whether time of day and lighting.
Anthony: I think the first thing you have to take into account is your comfort. Birds aren't really active when it's pouring rain or hail and gale. Nobody enjoys being out in that so pick your time. Further to picking your time, birds are generally quite active in the first part of the day as they go about finding food. And on a blazing hot summer day, that period is reduced to 2-3 hours after sunrise and maybe an hour before sunset. So in the heat of the day, nothing's around. In the middle of winter, birds are active much more as food is a bit more scarce, and something like an Eastern Spinebill will have to feed enough during the day to get it through the night. That's the amount of energy required to survive -5° Canberra morning. The next key point is getting the light right on the bird. If you have the bird in between you and the light source (the sun) you're going to see a silhouette. And that's not really a lot to go on in terms of identifying a bird. You can still get a general impression of its size and shape, but you won't be able to distinguish colours. Any patterns like bouncing or stripey or any other distinguishing features. So try to keep the sun behind you and if you do see something you want to have a quick look at, try to get into the best location you can without disturbing the bird. That's easier said than done. I found in my experience, if you directly approach a bird it will disappear. So you can approach a bird on an angle in a zigzag pattern. And don't look at it, that way it doesn't think you're a threat. You can change your position, get the light behind you and get a good look at it.
Kirsty: Anthony says we need to slow down to encounter birds. Take our time. Stop and listen. It's important to look behind you too because you never know what might hop or fly across the path behind you when you're not watching. Keep the noise down. A quiet approach is less likely to disturb the birds and if you're with a group of people, keep your chatting to a minimum so you can see as much as you can.
Anthony: You won't be walking far when you're birdwatching. This is not an exercise for bushwalkers. We've been out on certain woodland birdwatching outings and have gone 300m in an hour.
Kirsty: There are lots of places to go birdwatching in Canberra and Anthony says that groups like the Canberra Ornithologists Group are here to help.
Anthony: Canberra Ornithologists Group (COG) has been around for a long time. We have a large membership for a reasonably small city. We have a high population of scientific professionals, students at the universities and they're all members. We have a substantial member base code runs, monthly meetings with guest speakers, and the quality of those guest speakers is very high because of those people that are in this town. So it's not unusual for somebody like the curator of the Australian National Wildlife Collection at CSIRO to come and talk to the group every now and again. COG is very active in conservation advocacy and runs multiple survey projects. We publish a monthly newsletter and a journal a couple of times a year. The journal features audio observations and several peer reviewed articles. I think the key thing that I'm pleased about with COG is the outings program. We run an outing every week in spring and summer and at least two a month during winter. Outings can run from a 3hour morning trip to a 4 day camp out on a private property and everything in between. And we also run pelagic trips off Eden.
Kirsty: Anthony and his team make sure the beginners learn as they go along. Total legends! Aren't we lucky to have so many birdwatchers out there that are also happy to help others learn? As a teacher, they get a huge tick in my book.
Anthony: We will pair you up with somebody experienced on an outing so that they can help you learn. There's nothing worse than going on an outing and everybody knows what they're looking at and identifying everything. And you're just standing at the back saying, "Oh yeah. Okay". So it's good to be included. Many of us as leaders make the point of making sure that beginners learn as they go along. I think the key piece of advice I could provide is to go birding with people that know what they're doing and what they're looking at. I've experienced people trying to learn calls with CDs or cassettes or using apps on their phone, but there's nothing quite like having a person point out the distinguishing features of a bird and the calls that it's making so that you learn.
Kirsty: Many thanks to Anthony Overs for persevering through some pretty challenging recording conditions to share his birdwatching, passion and advice with us. And many thanks to the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra for everything that you do and for hosting our visit. You can access the transcript for this episode and the latest news at weekendbirer.com. You'll also find links to our social media accounts to learn more about our guests. Oh, and if you've got a minute, you can also subscribe to Weekend Birder and leave your review via your favourite podcast service.
