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Wayne’s List
Recommended Bird-worthy Binoculars

The Vortex 6.5x32 Fury: A Mid-Priced Binocular To Love

With spring on its way and my garden beckoning, I've been thinking about a conversation with Frances E. Kuo, director of the University of Illinois Landscape and Human Health Laboratory on her research on kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and time spent in nature.

Patrick Tregenza, USDA

As if plump ripe tomatoes and fresh raspberries picked yesterday weren't already enough reason to shop at your local farmer's market,  researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have provided yet another justification for getting intimate with the origins of your produce.
  

Bruce and Jean had a mixed marriage. Jean was a committed birder. Bruce wasn’t. After a few bird walks with my wife and me, Bruce let on that there really is something to this birding business. He told Jean that he was ready to take the plunge, and asked her how she would feel about buying him a pair of good binoculars for his birthday.

How much do you need to spend for bird-worthy optics?

I am really trying to be less judgmental, but I just can’t stand lousy optics!  Since you can find bird-worthy optics in just about every price range, there is really no excuse to handicap yourself with binoculars that don’t do the job.

Or do they?

Several years ago I bumped into M in Central Park. I was sporting a brand new pair of (what was then) state-of-the-art 8.5x42 binoculars which M was eager to test. She was in the market for a new pair and was in a quandry about what to buy. A week later I saw her in the Park again. She was proudly sporting a new pair of 10x42s. They were the same model I showed her the previous week, but they were 10s instead of 8.5s.

Ten years ago, my husband and I moved back to his childhood home, a small town in a deep valley in Colorado's Southern Rocky mountains. Our friends assumed we'd buy some acreage and live out where we could see coyotes, golden eagles, and elk every day. Instead, we moved into a tiny turn-of-the-previous century brick duplex on a postage stamp-sized lot two blocks from downtown, where we could walk to almost everything needed. We rejoiced in rarely starting our car and in getting to know the place the old-fashioned and intimate way--on foot.