Caring for our most important birding optics

As birders, we love our optics. We often talk about and compare and contrast the latest technologies in high-performance lens coatings. We want the best binocular, scope and camera lenses we can afford. Once we own expensive optics, we take great pains to care for them. Do we give the same level of consideration for the most important optics in our possession? I'm talking about one of nature's greatest miracles - our eyes - as well as those wonderful apparatuses assisting about half of us - corrective lenses.

As an avid birder, one of my worst fears is losing my eyesight. I've lately noticed floaters in my vision and it kind of scared me. I recently went in for my annual eye exam and the doctor assured me that small floaters are normal for middle-aged men. Oh, great. I'm one of those now. Ouch!

Over the last decade, no matter which optometrist I visit, they all take great interest in my birding pastime, especially related to how my corrective lenses interact with my birding optics. I'm an easy sell on all the optional lens coatings for eyeglasses as they quickly convince me that it will help my birding. Out of curiosity, I've recently been reading up on those optional lens coatings to see if there really are necessary or if I'm allowing myself to be scammed by well-intentioned eyecare professionals.

Did you know? Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs hint that glass lenses may have been used for magnification dating back to the 5th century BC. The first eyeglasses were made in Italy about 1286. - Wikipedia

When it comes to eyeglasses, a variety of micro-thin multilayer coatings are available to further enhance high-tech lightweight plastic lenses. After reading up on them, I can easily recommend to fellow bespectacled birders scratch-resistant coatings (if your lenses don't already come with that feature), anti-fog coating (if you can get it), and ultraviolet light protection. Some of the scratch-resistant coatings even claim dust and water repelling properties, but I'm not sure that I have seen that really work. Water does bead up on lenses with it, so maybe that is what it is. Anti-reflective coating seems to be more for cosmetic reasons for people looking at the eyeglass wearer, so that they don't see distracting reflections in your glasses. Yet there are some things I've read that lead me to believe that anti-reflective coatings provide greater clarity, light transmission and they certainly help with night vision by reducing light glare. One disadvantage of anti-reflective coatings is that they may smudge more easily and be harder to clean. I always purchase the anti-reflective coating myself and with good lens cleaner solution and a microfiber cloth, they come clean just fine.

On this most recent visit to the eye doctor, I also ordered myself a pair of prescription polarized sunglasses. I selected tint that still allows natural color transmission and I have discovered that I can wear them and use my bins and scope without diminishing my enjoyment of beautiful color patterns or hurting my ability to hone in on field marks. I'm also hopeful that the polarized lenses will cut down on the glare and reflections when I'm scoping out waterfowl on local ponds and lakes.

Many birders may wear contact lenses. As it relates to birding, comfort is probably the most important factor to consider. I have an astigmatism in my left eye and regular contacts irritate my eye so much that I have basically given up on wearing contacts altogether. I have found that disposable silicon lenses that are weighted (stabilized) allow for longer wear and comfort which is important for those Big Days of birding. There's nothing worse the eye fatigue complicated with irritated dry and itching eyes. I'm now trying out some disposable daily contacts which seem pretty comfortable and they come with the added convenience of never having to store or disinfect them.

We need to keep in mind our eye health and protect those precious tools from ultraviolet light and bright sunlight. Light reflecting off of snow can be severely damaging and the same goes for high-altitude birding where there is less atmosphere to filter out the UV rays. You may consider a proper diet and nutrition for your eyes. Rich green leafy vegetables and eggs provide lutein. Appropriate levels of Vitamin C, E and Zinc are also important in preventing eye disease like macular degeneration. Routine eye exams and retina photos will help in the early detection of other eye problems. When it comes to a birders optics, the most important lenses are our own eyes.

Prothonotary Warbler Conservation

Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) are one of the few songbirds to nest in cavities. They inhabit much of the southeast and Great Lake states and nest in swampy forests. Their mangrove wintering sites along the coast of Central and South America are rapidly decreasing.

In northern Illinois, Prothonotary Warblers are uncommon but found yearly along riparian areas. I find some nearly every year, although oddly not this year perhaps because of the lack of rain and not searching the right spots at the right time.

Three Ways to Improve Prothonotary Warbler Conservation

• Increase acreage of bottomland and upland forest habitats
• Slow or halt deforestation and degradation of wintering mangrove habitat (restore habitat where possible)
• Develop baseline inventory of Prothonotary Warbler breeding and wintering populations

Conservation Action

Partners in Flight along with other conservation organizations such as Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Wildlife Program, The National Resources Conservation Service Wetland Reserve Program, Ducks Unlimited, and the Nature Conservancy have taken up efforts to increase acreage of proper habitat. Other organizations on the wintering grounds have been limited and stricter laws and enforcement of those laws are needed.

Over the years I have been tracking Prothonotary Warbler sightings to work on finding nesting locations (zero birds this year). I've found a few spots that would be great for increased monitoring and adding nest boxes.
It would be awesome to create a nest box program similar to what has been done for Eastern Bluebirds. However, according to the Birder's Conservation Handbook, nest boxes have "increased local densities of breeding birds, though there is concern that birds breeding in nest boxes may have increased rates of nest predation".
As of 2004, Prothonotary Warbler population was estimated at 1.8 million (39% decline since 1966). Full details on this species and 99 other North American birds at risk can be found in Jeffrey V. Wells' Birder's Conservation Handbook.

Prothonotary Warbler Resources

• National Audubon Society
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds
• American Bird Conservancy
• Birdlife International

Birding's Power Couples

Halloween often comes with parties wherein couples are requested to come in costume representing famous couples. My wife and I have been invited to such a party. For whatever strange reason, the associative thought process led me to think about celebrity couples in the birding world.

There seem to be several power couples in the birding world wherein both partners in the relationship seem to have prominence and influence for their incredible contributions to our unique community. Sometimes their influence is because they are a couple, and others have prominence as individuals, and some may have come together as a result of their individual accomplishments within birding.

BirdingIsFun.com is proud to have the better halves of two of birding's power couples on the team. Images have been gratuitously gleaned from the interwebs.

Kimberly and Kenn Kaufman

Lillian and Don Stokes

I was about to do a write-up on why I consider each couple a birding power couple, but if you don't already know...Google it!...or click on the links provided.

Other birding power couples that come to mind include and in no particular order:

Julie Zickefoose & Bill Thompson III

Liz DeLuna & Jeffrey Gordon

Sheri Williamson & Tom Wood

 Louise Zemaitis & Michael O'Brien

Sharon & Non-Birding-Bill Stiteler

Michael & Diane Porter

I'm sure there are many birding power couples at local levels with regional prominence and influence. My exposure has been mostly limited to North America, so there may be international couples that I just don't know of. Do you know of others?

Gifts from the Sky

Hawkwatching is winding down across North America as the last migrants are moving through.  As I was out in the yard getting ready for the approach of Sandy this week, I kept my eye to the sky, hoping for a Golden Eagle, or perhaps some other migrating raptor to add to my yard list.  A couple of Sharp-shinned Hawks and a Cooper's Hawk went over, but mostly all I saw were these:

Migrating Turkey Vultures, Hunterdon County, NJ (27 Oct 2012)

Then looking up, I was excited to see this atmospheric gift from the sky:

Circumzenithal arc, Hunterdon County, NJ (27 Oct 2012)

The sun was too far down in the trees to see if there were any Sky Dogs to the side of the sun, but there was a faint tangent arc above the sun.  Very cool.

Now as the winds from approaching Hurricane Sandy are picking up, I wonder what other gifts from the sky might be on their way.  And I'm reminded that Hurricane was one of the creative gods or forces of the Mayan Creation story in the Popol Vuh.  Powerful and destructive, but an important player in the creation of our world.  

Hurricane approaches.  Hopefully bearing Sooty Terns, frigatebirds, and other tropical gifts.

Watch Nature's Magic of the Snowy Owl - The Elusive Snowy Owl

I just watched this episode of Nature tonight. It was an amazing look at Snowy Owls. Definitely worth watching. You can watch four of the five chapters here or you can go the PBS Nature website for the full episode. Enjoy!

Watch Magic of the Snowy Owl on PBS. See more from Nature.

Watch Magic of the Snowy Owl on PBS. See more from Nature.

Watch Magic of the Snowy Owl on PBS. See more from Nature.

Watch Magic of the Snowy Owl on PBS. See more from Nature.

Non-White Wading Birds

Reddish Egret
Fort De Soto, FL

I loved Mia McPherson's post earlier this month helping people identify big, white wading birds (if you missed it, you should check it out). I thought it would be good to piggyback on that post to cover all the non-white wading birds you can expect to find in the U.S. For the sake of space, I'm only going to cover wading birds in the family Ardeidae, which includes all bitterns, herons and egrets. Bitterns are generally brown and streaked in their adult plumage and are more secretive than herons and egrets. The only difference between egrets and herons is that egrets have long plumes during breading season. All of them can be found in Florida within an hour's drive from my house.

Reddish Egret

Reddish Egret
Merritt Island, FL

Reddish Egrets are the only bird named an egret that is not white in its adult plumage (except, of course, the white morph of this species). It's a medium-sized egret with a wingspan of about 46 inches.  They can be easily identified by their reddish color, especially on their neck and head, a "shaggy" appearance, and a bill that is darker at the tip. But even if you can't see their color, you may be able to identify them simply by the way they hunt.  They dart around and spread their wings as they plunge their bills into the water.  They act kind of like an egret with ADHD.  Reddish Egrets are a threatened species, with only about 2000 nesting pairs in the U.S., mostly in Texas and Florida.

Reddish Egret
Fort De Soto

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron
Merritt Island, FL

Great Blue Herons are our largest heron with a wingspan of about 72 inches.  They are relatively easy to identify with their slate blue back, white on the head and a bill that's darker on the top than on the bottom.  They're so common you may be tempted to pass them by without much attention, but if you do, you may be missing out.   After all, being as large as they are, they can take large prey.  I've seen them with snakes and fish seemingly too large to swallow, but they manage to get them down.

Great Blue Heron
Circle B Bar Reserve

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron
Viera Wetlands

Little Blue Herons are much smaller than Great Blue Herons, with a wingspan of only about 40 inches, and their coloring is comparatively plain.  Like Reddish Egrets, their necks and heads can have a slightly reddish appearance, but it's much more subdued, and they don't have the "shaggy" look that Reddish Egrets have.

Little Blue Heron
Orlando Wetlands Park

Tricolored Heron

Tricolored Heron
Merritt Island NWR

Tricolored Herons are about the same size as Little Blue Herons with a wingspan of about 36 inches.  They can be distinguished from Little Blue Herons by the white on their bellies and on the front of their necks.  They may even have white on the backs of their heads in breeding plumage. Immatures have a little bit more reddish appearance than adults

Tricolored Heron
Orlando Wetlands Park

Green Heron

Green Heron
Central Winds Park

Green Herons are one of our smallest herons, with a wingspan of only about 26 inches.  This heron has a dark crest, and sometimes you can find them with their crests raised.  They are more secretive than many other herons, but sometimes you can find them out in the open perched on a tree branch with their heads pointed down to the water just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Green Heron
Viera Wetlands "Click" Ponds

Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron
Viera Wetlands

Night Herons are aptly named, since they are most active at night.  Black-crowned Night Herons have a wingspan of about 44 inches and are a beautiful white, gray and black. They have a black crown and a black streak down the back. Immatures are brown with white flecks on their wings and a bill that's only dark on the top.

Black-crowned Night Heron

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

At first glance, Yellow-crowned Night Herons look a lot like Black-crowned Night herons, but they have yellowish-white crowns an all-black bill.  They are also slightly smaller, with a wingspan of about 42 inches. The all-black bill helps distinguish immature Yellow-crowned Night Herons from Black-crowned.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Merritt Island NWR

American Bittern

American Bittern
Merritt Island NWR

American Bitterns are our largest bittern, with a wingspand of about 42 inches.  They can be extremely hard to find, since they are so well camouflaged.  Your best chance to find them is to catch them in flight, but occasionally you may find them in the reeds or even out in the open. Notice that American Bitterns do not have white flecks on their wings like immature night herons.

American Bittern
Viera Wetlands

Least Bittern

Least Bittern
Viera Wetlands

Least Bitterns are even smaller than Green Herons with a wingspan of only about 17 inches.  Least Bitterns can be distinguished from Green Herons by their orange and white streaked neck and chest as well as by white patches on their wings.

Least Bittern
Orlando Wetlands Park

Scott Simmons

Learn Outdoor Photography

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper - 3rd Idaho Record

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at Indian Creek Reservoir, Ada County, Idaho 10/27/2012. First seen today by Jay Carlisle and Heidi Ware of the Idaho Bird Observatory (Heidi also occasionally writes for BirdingIsFun.com), and subsequently seen by about dozen other Idaho birders including me! My life bird #444. This will likely be just the third sighting recognized by the Idaho Bird Review Committee.

There was a pair of beautifully colored juveniles. Most often partially concealed by vegetation.

Some diagnostic images:

A look at the feather pattern and yellowish leg color common to juveniles. Broad rufous tertial edges help distinguish this bird from the Pectoral Sandpiper.

Preening - note the extensive buff on breast below the streaking

A decent look at the rich rufous cap and head pattern with the bold supercilium. One of the birders out there called it "a big Chipping Sparrow".

The pair of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers were seen early in the day roosting in the rocks on the shoreline. Later feeding along a muddy-sandy spit, and in the afternoon we saw them along more vegetated shore edges near a flock of Long-billed Dowitchers. I have dozens of lesser quality images, but they show the birds foraging and probing in the mud, at times with large mud clods on their bills.

The image below shows the eye ring and bill shape, size, and color.

All of my images were digiscoped with a Swarovski ATX 85mm spotting scope and an iPhone 4S.

This a great sighting for Idaho, and really an especially exciting sighting anywhere away from the Pacific Coast. It was also great to meet a few Idaho birders I had only known by email and to get reacquainted with others since I have moved back to Idaho.

eBird sightings map

My Mystical Magpies

Our city was hit by an early snowstorm this week. Overnight, we received about 7 inches of the white fluffies, and they were still coming down the following morning.

Walking into the kitchen for my first cup of tea, I noticed the feeder was surrounded by snow, which meant that the little birds couldn't get to the food. I was just about to go out and clear it away, when a large black and white bird quietly settled on the deck railing. Ah, yes, I thought. I'm being summoned. Again.

Many, many years ago after a large overnight snowfall, I scattered two cups of dry dogfood out on the deck for the Black-billed Magpies. There were eight of them that time, and the food quickly disappeared. When it was gone, they left as quietly as they appeared.

That original deck feeding was so long ago I can't even date it. Yet each winter without fail, when we have a sudden large snowfall the magpies return. The routine never varies. It starts with one bird, sitting patiently, quietly, knowing it will soon be fed.

As instructed on this blustery day, I duly put two cups of dry dogfood on the patio table, ducking back inside quickly. As soon as I got back in I picked up my camera, and took a picture of the feeding bird. I'm surprised he bothered to fly off the deck railing at all, as he certainly didn't hesitate to start eating.

Soon this single bird was joined by a couple of family members, an assumption on my part as there is always a size difference, and a clear pecking order. Initially only one bird is allowed to feed at a time, immediately leaving the table when another flies in. Food consumption goes from one piece at a time to all they can grab in their beaks.

Eventually the rules are relaxed a bit, and two can feed at the same time.

It never takes long before more birds fly in and patiently wait their turn at the dinner table. They don't wait for the feeding bird to depart though. They seem to sit there until their patience just evaporates, and jump down on the table. With a great flapping of feathers, places are exchanged.

By the time my bird count up made it up to four the food had almost disappeared. Next time I’ll put out 4 cups.

The lifespan of a black-billed magpie is said to be five years. During those five years, my birds have clearly taught their youngsters what to do when a lot of snow suddenly appears. I suspect I am feeding generation upon generation of magpies that have learned this behaviour from their parents.

Even if you aren't familiar with Black-billed Magpies, think of crows or jays. Quiet is not generally a word used in any description of them. Yet these birds never make a sound. More and more magpies quietly float without any vocalizations to advertise the fact they've found food.  It's eerie corvid behaviour.

This snowfall ended later that same day, and I haven’t had magpies on the deck since.

What kind of bird doesn't come back every day for a handout? Clearly the self-sufficient magpies can get along just fine without relying on those pesky humans, but on days when their natural food is hidden, they have been taught exactly where to go for emergency supplies.

Every time this happens I am amazed and humbled anew by the cleverness of corvids.