My Birdwatching Equipment
As a lifelong birdwatcher I have used a large number of binoculars, telescopes, cameras, identification guides and other birdwatching equipment. However, not all of it is exactly what one would hope for.
In this lens I will talk about the birdwatching equipment that I currently use and which has really enhanced my birdwatching over the last 5 years. I have been a professional birdwatcher since January 2008 and I have found a set up that is not only very effective but is reasonably priced.
Here is the birdwatching equipment that I use.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
Readers from other countries can get similar benefits from their local Birdlife International Partner; a full list can be found here: Birdlife International Partners.
1. My Binoculars
Over the years I have used a lot of binoculars. The best quality binoculars cost serious money, well over £1000. However, I have been using a pair of RSPB binoculars for over 5 years now that are excellent quality at a reasonable price. The pair I use (pictured) are the RSPB 10.5x42 waterproof binoculars which cost £199.Whilst this is not a cheap pair of binoculars it is an excellent balance between price and quality - in fact they may be the best value for money binoculars available.
The RSPB 10.5x42 waterproof binoculars are lightweight, comfortable to handle and have high quality lenses and with the 10.5 magnification they allow birds to be viewed well at quite a distance; I can often see colour and detail that others are struggling to see with more expensive binoculars.
These are an excellent pair of binoculars at a reasonable price. They are available to buy on the RSPB's website: RSPB 10.5x42 waterproof binoculars.
Remember, when you buy RSPB binoculars any profit they make goes straight back into conservation.
A Great Pair of Binoculars For The Less Experienced
Binocular Reviews
- BestBinocularReviews.com
A very comprehensive website for binocular reviews. - TheBinocularSite.com
Another very extensive binocular website. - Which.co.uk
10 different binoculars reviewed. - Birdwatching.com
A number of reviews and articles on how to select optics. - BinocularReviews.org
A whole blog devoted to birdwatching optics reviews.
2. Bird Identification Guides
Most of my birdwatching is done in Thailand and the UK and whilst there are many books for United Kingdom to choose from, there is little choice for Thailand.
For the UK, Collins Bird Guide stands out above the rest. This has excellent illustrations and informative text, accurate distribution maps and excellent features on how to identify certain groups of birds.
For Thailand, Craig Robson's Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand is the standard book, but it is getting woefully out of date and leaves much to be desired.
Although I haven't used them personally in the field, I also own the Sibley Guide to the Birds of North America just because it looks like a great book - I am reliably told that it is.
I have another lens on the Helm Identification Guides a link to which can be seen below. These are an excellent series of books and there is a guide for almost every country or region - take a look.
Birdwatching Guide Books
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Helm Bird Identification Guides
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The Helm series of Field Guides and Identification Guides are a superb set of resources for birders, birdwatchers and ornithologists alike. I have been birdwatching for more than 30 years and as I have become a more serious ornithologist I have become...
3, MP3 Player and Speakers
This is one piece of birdwatching equipment I neglected for many years, but one which has probably made the most difference to the number and quality of birds that I now see.
Many secretive, skulking or uncommon birds can be extremely hard to find, particularly in tropical habitats, but if I hear a species, a quick burst of call playback often brings the bird into view.
One must be cautious not to overuse this tool to prevent unecessary disturbance to nesting or rare birds, but used sparingly it can be very effective.
It is also a very handy tool in assissting in the identification of birds which can only be separated by song or call.
The Sony MP3 player (2GB version) can store a huge number of bird calls and is very small and light - excellent for use in the field.
The Philips speakers I use are quite small, light and fit easily into a small bag or large pocket.
I whole-heartedly recommend this set-up to those who want to use bird calls in the field.
Sony 2 GB Walkman MP3 Player (Black)
Amazon Price: $38.99 (as of 12/05/2009) 
Philips SBA220/37 portable speaker system
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Sony Walkman MP3 Player
3 Reasons I Prefer The Sony MP3 Player to an iPod
1. It is cheaper.
2. It can easily be operated with one hand leaving the other free to hold my binoculars..
3. It is light and can be allowed to drop, leaving your hands free, and it will hang on its wire rather than crash to the ground.
Buy the Sony Walkman 2GB MP3 Player
Bird Calls
Here are a selection of recordings for sale but many can be downloaded for free at xenacanto.org.
4. My Telescope
For the last few years I have been using an Opticron ES 80 Fieldscope. I have been very pleased with this telescope and it is good value for money, once again its performance is only slightly less than telescopes twice as expensive. I use my telescope with a 20-60x zoom eyepeice which works well but loses a little quality at the highest magnification.It is quite a heavy and large telescope but used with a light tripod and telescope carrier I have made it a fairly light and easy to carry setup.
Telescope Carrier
One of the best pieces of kit I have is this telescope carrier. It fits onto the legs of the tripod and goes onto your back like a backpack, spreading the weight over your whole back.Using this, the telescope setup really doesn't feel too heavy at all and it allows me to have both hands free to use my binoculars. Quite often I have had the extra seconds to view a quick-moving bird through my binoculars because my hands were free, while those with me lost time putting their telescopes down first.
Not only is this a more convenient way of carrying a telescope but it is actually better for your health as carrying a heavy telescope over one shoulder means that the weight is unequally distributed and this can lead to back problems.
It is available on the RSPB website for £59.95: telescope carrier.
5. Digital Camera - Nikon Coolpix 7600
Digital camera and Memory Card
I have been using the Nikon Coolpix 7600 for a few years now and it has allowed me to get many useful photographs.
Whilst digiscoping is now well-known, less is spoken of digibinocularing! The Nikon Coolpix 7600's lens fits perfectly into the eyepiece of most binoculars and on full zoom decent quality record shots can be taken - in fact very good quality photos and video clips can be obtained if you can be still enough, I often rest on my telescope.
Along with the camera, I use a SanDisk 2GB memory card which holds in the region of 1000 photos at 7 megapixels. I have always found it to be sufficient.
Nikon Coolpix 7600 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom
Amazon Price: $329.99 (as of 12/04/2009)
SanDisk 2 GB Class 2 SD Flash Memory Card SDSDB-2048-A11
Amazon Price: $8.31 (as of 12/04/2009)
How to Make Thumbnail Galleries
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How to Create Free Thumbnail Galleries and Share Your Photos
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Like many others I have some websites on which I wanted to place large numbers of photos, something which requires a large amount of webspace and time. For me this was a problem until I stumbled upon Shareapic. The Shareapic website hosts all your p...
Take Better Digital Photographs
Resources for budding photographers
What Equipment Do You Buy?
Other Useful Birdwatching Lenses
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How to be a Good Birdwatcher - 16 Tips.
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I have been birdwatching for nearly 30 years now and have been a "professional" birder for almost 2 years and whilst I would not claim to be the perfect birdwatcher I hope that in this lens I can pass on a few tips and tricks that I have le...
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Birdwatching Tips, Tricks, Techniques and Secrets
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Birdwatching is a hobby that can be practised at many levels, from armchair enthusiast to hard-core twitcher; one thing that unites all of these types is their love of birds. What is also true for all types of bird-lovers is that the more one watche...
Some of My Favourite Birdwatching Websites
- Thaibirding.com
- Free information on birdwatching in Thailand.
- Bird Nerd
- Birdwatching Sites in Britain.
- Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
- The UK's premier bird conservation charity.
- Alex Vargas's Bird Photos
- My friend Alex's collection of bird photos from around the world.
- National Audubon Society
- North America's foremost ornithological society.
More of My Birdwatching Lenses
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Birdwatching in India - My Favourite Birds
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Birdwatching in India can be a very rewarding experience. With the large size of the country and the huge variety of habitats, ranging from snowy mountains in the north to tropical rainforest in the south, there are a huge number of species to be fou...
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Birdwatching in Thailand - My Favourite Birds
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I have been birdwatching in Britain since I was just 7 years old, but in comparison, birdwatching in Thailand can be a most amazing experience due to the huge variety of species. Biodiversity is very high in tropical Asia and this is reflected by alm...
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The Life of Birds
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The Life of Birds is a fantastic 10-part documentary BBC televison series first broadcast in 1998. Narrated by David Attenborough, The Life of Birds contains some of the most memorable footage of bird behaviour ever seen, including many species never...
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10 Amazing Bird Video Clips
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Birds are a most amazing group of species, the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, indeed there is evidence to suggest that they are dinosaurs. I have been watching birds since I was 7 years old, but it didn't take me long to see that bird behavi...
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Birdwatching In Britain - My Favourite Birds
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I have been birdwatching for almost 30 years now and a number of species have become favourites of mine. Most of my favourite birds make my list because of something personal to me and not because they are rare, colourful or iconic species; in fact t...
I Hope You Found This Useful
Let me know which birdwatching equipment you can personally recommend.
Comments about this lens are also welcome.
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Reply
- nickupton nickupton Oct 26, 2009 @ 2:46 am
- You would. I don't record my own calls, just use prerecorded ones so I can't say how good this equipment is for making the recordings.[in reply to Scott]
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Reply
- Scott Scott Oct 23, 2009 @ 7:31 pm
- Do you need a microphone for recording the bird calls with this MP3 model?
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Reply
- Dreff Dreff Oct 4, 2009 @ 3:13 am
- Nice lens with useful information.
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Reply
- Sarah Sarah Jun 27, 2009 @ 4:50 am
- Thanks for the ideas, I am looking for a present for my bird watching husband and the mp3/speaker idea is great.
101 Ways To Help Birds
101 Ways to Help Birds
Amazon Price: $14.96 (as of 12/05/2009)
All birders and birdwatchers can learn how to help birds with this excellent book.
About The Lens Author
Lensmaster nickupton has been a member since June 23 2007, has rated 150 lenses, favorited 73, and has created 63 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "The Sneetches by Dr Seuss". See all my lenses
by nickupton
Having been a birdologist since the age of seven I am something of an ornithological recluse. However, I managed to gain adulthood, if only physic... (more)
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