Birdwatcher starter kit: Just add wildlife

If you have just recently developed an interest in birds and the natural world, or have always wanted to get a bit closer to the wildlife in your garden or in the countryside then here are a few tips for the kind of equipment that can really enhance the experience.

Binoculars.

The most important piece of kit is a good binocular. It is not necessary to buy the top of the range to get something of good quality that is very usable, but it is worth while getting the best you can afford. The most popular specification for binoculars is 8x32 (8 times magnification with 32mm objective lenses). This specification gives a good compromise between magnification, field of view, brightness and weight. The birdwatchers' standard is an 8 or 10x42, but the larger 42mm lenses on these make them a little heavy for a lot of people. Unless you are often using your binoculars in low light, the smaller and lighter 32mm is a very good all-rounder that will be light enough to go everywhere. This is in no way to detract from the benefits of large-lensed bright binoculars which can be awe-inspiring in twilight conditions.

Many modern binoculars can close focus down to around 2m (6'6") which makes them very good for observing butterflies and dragonflies without disturbing them.

 



Testing scopes at our Glandford shop

Telescopes (also called spotting scopes or just “scopes”) are for the most part less frequently used than binoculars by birdwatchers. The purpose of a scope is to get higher magnification than can be sensibly achieved with portable binoculars. The limiting factors with binoculars in terms of magnifying power are being usable hand-held without a tripod and the need for a wide field of view. The same principals apply as with binoculars; bigger is brighter and better for higher magnification, but if weight is a consideration then a smaller and lighter scope may be a better idea. If you walk long distances or go birdwatching abroad then a scope with an objective lens diameter between 50mm and 65mm will be quite portable. On the other hand, if you mostly visit nature reserves with relatively short walks between the hides or like to do a lot of sea watching for passing divers, shearwarters and skuas then a larger (77mm to 95mm) scope will be better for higher magnification and low light conditions.



Insects and plants can prove an interesting
diversion when there are no birds about.

The eyepiece on the scope controls the degree of magnification and if it is fixed at one power or is variable (zoom). Most entry level and mid-range scopes are supplied with a zoom eyepiece, typically giving a range of 15-45x on a 65mm scope and 20-60x on an 80mm scope. Zooms are more popular because they offer flexibility and high magnification, but some people prefer fixed magnification eyepieces for the wider field of view. A resent innovation that is appearing on many top of the range scopes are wide-angle zooms which are designed to give the best of both worlds.



In addition to the Scope itself a tripod or at least monopod is required to keep it stable. For more information on these have a look at our website or click here to read our blog post on the subject.


The final piece of equipment is a field guide.  These range in complexity and coverage from garden birds of Britain to the whole of the Western Palearctic and vagrants to the whole world.  It's best to get familiar with the common ones first before confusing yourself with anything more comprehensive.  We stock a range of field guides at our Glandford shop including the ever popular black-covered Collins guide.
  

As mentioned in the previous blog post, second hand equipment can be a great way to get started with better kit than you could have got for the same money new.

Kitted up and ready to go

Whatever your budget or requirements we have a wide range of kit that will meet your needs. We also take part exchanges against new and second hand equipment so upgrading can done at lower cost.

Once you are kitted out all you need to do now is look for birds and all the other wildlife. One of the joys of birdwatching is that almost anywhere you go there will be something of interest to look at. If you are also interested insects, plants and mammals then you will never be short of something to watch and enjoy at any time of the year.

Top of the range for less

Just some of our second hand binoculars

It is true for most people that once you have experienced top of the range optics in the field that afterwards nothing else will do. The price of the best equipment is not within the reach of everybody however, but it is possible to make your money go further by buying second hand equipment. Anyone who has been through the tiresome and stressful experience of purchasing a used car may not wish to consider anything else per-owned, but with binoculars and scopes it is a much easier choice. The nature of optics is such that it is easy to tell if they are working properly just by looking through them. There is no great science to assessing the condition of binoculars or scopes, as long as the lenses are in good condition (especially the eyepiece lenses) and you can see clearly through them, then they are all right. Some used kit we still be covered by the remainder of the manufacturers warranty. As an example a six-year-old used Opticron HR66 scope would still have the remaining 24 years of its 30 year warranty.



A few pre owned scopes in all shapes and sizes

Whatever your budget there is second hand equipment available, offering often better optical performance than new models at the same price. This is particularly true of the high end gear where even an older model can deliver a significantly better image than an equivalent priced new item. For example the Zeiss Victory FL was the best model offered by the legendary German firm until late summer 2012 when they brought out the Victory HT. The Victory FLs are now available second hand for hundreds of pounds less than the new equivalent.

Top of the range for less.  Used Zeiss binoculars

We always have a good range of used binoculars, telescopes and tripods in our Glandford shop and on the website. The stock is constantly changing so keep an eye on the website and in the shop to grab a bargain.

Cley Spy, more than just binoculars.

Bee boxes and
wild flower seeds

Our Glandford shop is the best place to find the right optics for you.  With over 180 models of binoculars and over 40 scopes plus second hand equipment to choose from we can accommodate almost any requirements or budget.  But that's not all, we also have tripods, a range of outdoor clothing and hats, bird food and feeders, nest boxes, books, toys and much more.

Bird seed available in bag from 1kg
to 20kg.

Some of are latest lines include the really rather nice metal containers for bird food complete with a handy scoop for filling the feeders.  The same company also supplies us with the ingenious string tins and the contemporary style nest boxes and insect houses for bees, lacewings, ladybirds and other friendly invertebrates.


Nest boxes, insect boxes and
bird feeders



Just some of our books,
maps and cards

In our section for the younger nature enthusiast we have fluffy toys, a range of fun and informative books and a new selection of playing cards depicting birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.

As well as the Paramo, Jack Pyke and Tilley outdoor clothing we are soon going to be having some Stealth Gear jackets and their one and two-man collapsible hides.



Nature playing card packs

On top of all this we have a huge selection of accessories for birdwatchers and photographers including straps, tripods, monopods, heads, bags, cleaning equipment, magnifiers and torches.

Six of the best £200-£500 binoculars

Just some of the large range of binoculars
available from Cley Spy

Here is a brief round-up of some of the best binoculars for a medium budget. The finest binoculars available have prices that are hard to justify if you are not using them everyday or professionally. In resent years a huge range of optics has become available making the choice rather overwhelming. With such a bewildering array on offer it can be hard to see the wood for the trees, but with a little guidance sorting out the best one for your needs can be made a little easier.  Choosing optical equipment is very much a personal decision and because only you can see through you own eyes it is hard to make recommendations.  There are however some binoculars that offer a lot of performance for the money and the price range £200-£500 includes some excellent equipment that does a very respectable job without breaking the bank.

Opticron Explorer(£199-£209)

Opticron have a long legacy of good quality and keenly priced optics going back decades, and with a broad range of products from the budget to high end they are a sound choice for many people. This particular model is a well-built and comfortable 42mm binocular, available in both 8x and 10x magnification. Good wide field of view, decent close focus and a 10 year guarantee.

Hawke Frontier ED(£199-£289)

Very popular binoculars, available in 8x36, 10x36, 8x43 and 10x43 models. The ED (extra-low dispersion) glass elements in these deliver a crisp, clear image and all the specifications have an excellent field of view for their magnification. 10 year guarantee.

Minox BL (£249-£259)

These are one of the lightest weight 42mm binoculars available, fitting neatly in the hand and feeling more like a 32mm in proportions but with the light gathering of a 42mm for early mornings and late evenings. 2 year guarantee.

Pentax DCF BC(£299-£429)

Light, sharp and ergonomic. Rather than having the traditional choice of 8x or 10x magnification these are available in 9x32 and 9x42 versions. This strikes a good balance giving slightly more power without compromising the brightness or field of view too much. Pentax are one of the few companies still offering a 30 year guarantee.

Clestron Granite ED(£379-£400)

A good range of models with 8x42, 10x42, and more interestingly 7x33 and 9x33. For me the 7x33 is the stand out specification, with an excellent sharp, bright image and a staggering 9.1º field of view. This coupled with very well controlled colour fringing and close focus under 2m makes for a great summer binocular for both bird and insect watching. It is good to see a company thinking outside the box when it comes to design. 10 year guarantee.

Nikon Monarch 7(£499-£549)

8x42 and 10x42.  Very ergonomic with nicely textured rubber armouring over a robust feeling low weight body. Great optics that punch above their price. 10 year guarantee.

For more information on what to look for in a binocular and the rest of the range available from Cley Spy visit our website, pop in and see us at Glandford and Cley Marshes or give us a call

iphone digiscoping revisited

The latest new product from Kowa is an updated version of their adapter for attaching iphones to
scopes and binoculars. The TSN-IP5 is based on the previous adapter (the TSN-IP4S) but is made to fit the iphone 5.

Both the adapters are made of tough rubberised plastic and clip on to the phone in the same way that many cases for smart phones do, and has a lug for a lanyard which is provided. The mount that fits on the scope eyepiece is made of anodised aluminium and there are two sizes of felt-lined tube, one to fit binoculars and one to fit the eyepieces of the TSN-880/770 series scopes. The one for the scopes also fits onto Swarovski and Zeiss zoom eyepieces and with the felt removed fits (albeit slightly loosely) the latest Leica Televid 65/82 eyepiece. The binocular tube fits Kowa's own binoculars and the following models form other manufacturers.

Pentax DCF BC 9x42

Minox BL 8x42 and 10x42

Leica Ultravid HD 7x42, 8x42 and 10x42 and the new Trinovid 8x42 and 10x42

Nikon EDG 8x32

Viking ED Pro 8x42 and 10x42.

Barn Owl by Eddie Myers

We have been able to modify these adapters to fit some other scopes not listed above, so it is always worth asking if you have something different. Recently we found that the smaller tube fits neatly onto the 32x wide eyepiece for the now discontinued Kowa 820 series scopes when the rubber eye-cup is removed. These are still very good scopes today and turn up second-hand at good prices.

Kestrel by Eddie Myers

The capabilities of these phones to capture both stills and video have seriously impressed us. One of our regular local customers and birding legend Eddie Myers has been getting jaw-dropping results with his iphone 4s and Swarovski scope that usually provoke the response “What?! You did that with a telephone?”.

Water Rail by Eddie Myers

This is an exciting new area for digiscoping, allowing the capturing of high-quality images in the field with a mobile phone, a piece of equipment that many people are carrying with them already.

Spring clean optics bargains at Cley Marshes

Our satellite shop in the old visitor's centre at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust's Cley Marshes reserve has become our clearance outlet, with all of our ends of lines and one off deals. The spring cleaning has turned up some real goodies, like the last pair of the Zeiss Conquest 10x40s now with £142 off the

RRP. Or the light-weight and optically stunning Eschenbach Regatta 8x42 now down £50 to £399. Come and have a look at all this and many more deals on binoculars and scopes from £20 upwards.



This shop is in the perfect location to test out the kit, with the impressive views over one of the most famous nature reserves in the UK. When the Norfolk Wildlife Trust opened their new visitor centre at Cley in 2007, the opportunity came up for us to have a small shop in the old thatched Dick Bagnell-Oakley visitor centre just next door to the new one. From here you get an elevated view over the reed beds, scrapes and pools out to the shingle bank and the sea around a kilometre away. As well as the impressive list of regular species found at Cley we have had a few notable rarities and scarcities seen from the shop including collared pratincole, western sandpiper, red-backed shrike, water pipit, black redstart and Wilson's phalarope amongst the highlights. Cley's coastal freshwater marsh (the product of medieval land drainage) is an unusual habitat nationally and this coupled with its location on the North Sea, makes it an attractive area for regular and vagrant species.

The stock at our Cley shop will be constantly changing as lines sell through so keep and eye on the shop and the clearance page on our website for the latest bargains and special offers.

Wide-eyed: The new Kowa 25-60x wide-angle zoom eyepiece

The New Kowa TE-11WZ Wide-angle Zoom

As has been mentioned in previous blog posts, the big news in spotting scopes in the last couple of years has been wide-angle zooms, giving both the flexibility of variable magnification and a very good angle of view. The latest manufacturer to join the 'one eyepiece for everything' club is Kowa.

Kowa are one of the most respected Japanese optics companies with a particular forte for spotting scopes and a legacy of ground-breaking equipment going back over thirty years. For many birders in the mid to late 1980s the 77mm TSN 1,2,3 and 4 were the bee's knees when it came to near indestructible high-performance scopes. At that time fixed 20x or 30x were the eyepieces to have, not only because they were good lenses but also because the zooms available from all manufacturers were almost useless for birding on account of being soft and having a field of view nearly big enough to get an entire goldcrest in at fifty yards.

These days zooms are much better to the point of outselling fixed eyepieces more than 20:1 and offering fields of view nearly on a par. The latest generation of zooms from Leica, Swarovski and a host of others give a magnification range of 25-50/60x and have much improved field of view. Both of the afore mentioned European companies now only have zooms in the current product line ups and the ATX Swarovski scopes eyepiece is part of a rear module that includes the prisms and therefore most of the glass in the scope.

The TSN-IP4S phone scoping adapter

Kowa have stuck to the traditional body-and-eyepiece format and introduced their first wide-angle zoom, made for the 770 and 880 series scopes. Physically it uses the same metal chassis as the 20-60x that was launched with these scopes in 2006, and so is the same size and near enough same weight.  The biggest advantage to keeping the same dimensions as the previous eyepiece is that Kowa's excellent iphone digiscoping adapter fits it perfectly.  The mechanics and build are up to the high standards you should expect for a scope of this quality, feeling positive, nicely damped and robust.



Optically it has a tough act to follow in the form of the 'old' 20-60x but it in no way disgraces itself, delivering everything its predecessor could and a bit more punch, edge sharpness and of course field of view. I tend not to hold a lot of store in the figures quoted in specification sheets as it doesn't always translate into what the eye sees, so purely for a subjective point of view the new eyepiece is notably wider at 25x than the 20-60x is at 20x and this increase holds up right through the range. One of the real strengths of the 880 series is the phenomenal brightness from the large 88mm objective lens, especially at 60x and the new eyepiece, unlike some manufacturers' offerings, retains the this power rather than restricting the range to 50x.

At £669 it is quite and investment, but it really does deliver what it set out to and will keep Kowa at the cutting edge of spotting scope technology.