It is generally accepted that the most important piece of bird-watching equipment is a good pair of binoculars. However, there are times when even the best binoculars cannot bring every bird as close as we want. So to extend our reach, we need another tool. On May 18, 1974, in Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey, rumor had it that amid the tens of thousands of peeps in the West Pool was a curlew sandpiper just coming into breeding plumage. Try as I might, I could not find it using binoculars. But then a car stopped, and out hopped a group of birders with three spotting scopes. Within five minutes one of them located the bird, and we were all treated to a good look. I bought a scope and tripod the next day.
The benefits of using a spotting scope have been demonstrated to me time and again over the years. On January 1, 1976, at Salisbury Beach in Massachusetts, after a seven-hour drive, we pulled into the parking lot and asked the first person/birder we saw, “Have you seen it?” His seemingly casual reply was, “It's in the scope.” This ivory gull was the easiest rarity I ever chased, thanks to a spotting scope. And on September 22, 1978, I used a spotting scope to find a spotted redshank that had been discovered there a few days earlier, amid thousands of yellowlegs, dowitchers, and other shorebirds.
In Goshen, New Jersey, in January of 1997, I arrived about a half-hour before first light and joined a group of six birders who had driven all night from Ohio. We were there to look for a northern lapwing that had been present for three days. Within 45 minutes, our numbers had grown to nearly 50, as we gathered at the last place this bird had been seen the evening before. Actually we were about 200 yards from that location, which was on posted private property. Eventually someone saw movement on the ground, and, by letting us look through his scope, showed us where. A few minutes later the bird took off, made a quick circle, and was gone--not to be seen again.
February 9, 2000, at Folsom Lake, California, was a dark, overcast day, and colors were all but nonexistent. I was after a Clark's grebe, the only North American member of that tribe I had never seen. The easiest way to separate this species in winter from the very similar western grebe is by bill color, which is dull yellow-green for western and bright yellow-orange for Clark's. But the poor lighting meant that I could use this only if the birds were very close. Unfortunately, all were well offshore, so I had to find one whose eyes were surrounded by white. I eventually found two grebes near each other and, thanks to my spotting scope, determined that I had located one of each.
I was leading a field trip for the Cape May Bird Observatory in Cape May, New Jersey, on May 6, 2000. Many birds were flying about, and although this is always exciting, it can be confusing for newer birders. Two of the species present were blue grosbeak and indigo bunting, birds that can be challenging for beginners to differentiate. As luck would have it, adult males of each species perched so that I could align both within my scope. Thus, everyone easily saw that the blue grosbeak had brown wing bars, whereas the head of the indigo bunting was distinctly darker than its back.
In other words, spotting scopes can help you find a bird in a large flock, simplify telling someone where a bird is hiding, locate distant birds, distinguish between similar species, and demonstrate how to identify look-alike birds. By now, if you do not own a scope, you probably want to. The difficulty is choosing which one is best for you. Spotting scopes are actually two items: the body and the eyepiece. Scope bodies are covered elsewhere in the Optics section, so I will not discuss them here.
Eyepieces, which are at least as important as scope bodies, come in two general types: zoom and non-zoom. The former offers varying magnifications, typically 20x to 60x; the latter does not. Zoom eyepieces permit you to use lower magnification when it is windy or there is heat shimmer (which occurs even in winter), and higher magnification as conditions warrant. Remember, increased power magnifies everything, including motion and distortion. Zoom lenses also permit you to find birds at a lower power and then enlarge them and, when looking toward the sun, to reduce your field of view and thereby limit the backlighting effect. However, they cost about 25 percent more than non-zooms, and as magnification increases, light, clarity, and field of view decrease. Therefore, many birders choose a non-zoom eyepiece, such as a 32x wide angle.
Some scope bodies have their eyepieces mounted straight in, whereas others are at an angle. If you are usually the only one to use your scope, you may prefer the a straight-mount eyepiece, but if someone else birds with you--especially someone who is shorter or taller than you--consider the angled version.
To increase the odds of finding the body/eyepiece combination best suited for you, find an optics or nature store carrying a good variety of brands and models. If there is none near you, attend one of the many birding festivals held throughout the country or ask other birders to let you look through their scopes. If possible, look through at least three eyepieces of each type with every scope body you are considering. There is often surprising variation even within the same model. Try to do this outdoors on a gloomy day, since even mediocre optics often give reasonable views in good light. Also, try an experiment. From a given brand, select the top-of-the-line body and a lesser one and a top-of-the-line eyepiece (zoom or non-zoom) and a lesser one of the same type. Put the more expensive eyepiece in the lesser body and the other in the better body. The lesser scope with the better eyepiece may be a superior pairing.
All good eyepieces accommodate eyeglass wearers by being able to reduce the distance to the eyepiece lens (known as eye relief). Historically, this was done with rubber eyecups that folded down. Today, better eyepieces have a tube that pulls or rotates in and out, so you no longer have to worry about the rubber deteriorating. It's also a lot easier than folding eyecups, especially in cold weather. Most eyepieces offer at least 1/2 inch (about 12 to 15mm) eye relief, although 1/4 inch (about 18 to 20mm) is better, because it will not reduce your field of view as much, thereby making it easier to find birds.
The world's best spotting scope will be useless if not held steady. There are various ways of doing this, but the most common is with a tripod, which consists of two items: the tripod (the legs and central column) and the head upon which the scope is mounted. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to skimp on a tripod. If you have just spent $2,000 on a scope, don't try to save $100 here.
Your scope head should easily rotate horizontally and vertically. Originally, tripods were used by studio photographers who needed to be able to fully rotate their cameras and were less concerned with speed. As a result, early tripod heads had two handles. In order to rotate horizontally, you had to untwist one handle, rotate the head in that plane, and re-twist that handle. You then had to repeat this process to rotate the head vertically. Needless to say, many a bird will be long gone before you have done this in the field! Enter fluid motion heads. Instead of requiring constant unlocking and relocking, these allow you to preset the tension so the head can be easily moved in both planes but will stay where you leave it. I typically reset mine about once a year, which is a big improvement.
Another recent design is the pistol grip, which looks like the handle of a handgun. When you squeeze the trigger the head moves in any direction; when you release it, the head locks in place. This design requires practice and a degree of hand strength, but some users favor it. Nature photographers often use other heads that, while very effective, can be quite expensive and very heavy. Frankly, for our purposes they're overkill.
Just as heads have evolved, so has the manner in which scopes attach to them. Originally the connection was made by screwing a knurled knob through the head into the bottom of the scope, often with a larger knob for extra leverage. However, these typically required using pliers, which invariably damaged the knobs. Today there are various quick-release mechanisms. These involve attaching a plate to the bottom of your scope, mating the plate with its counterpart atop the head, and then locking it in place.
Stability is the name of the game, and generally speaking, the heavier the tripod the greater its stability. Recently, sturdy, lightweight carbon-fiber tripods, which cost about twice as much as regular tripods, have become available. Although they are too new to assess their long-term durability, a friend has used one for a year and loves it. She also reports that it shows no sign of unusual wear, and she uses her scope far more often now because it is much easier to carry. Just be careful: Placing a heavy scope atop a lightweight tripod increases the risk of vibration and of it falling over.
Lugging a tripod on your shoulder all day can be painful, especially when you're not wearing a coat. As a result, consider a tripod with padded legs. Some come that way, and there are kits to pad the others. Many tripods come with a strap, suggesting they can be slung over your shoulder like a rifle. Although I know no one who can conveniently do this, I often extend the legs and balance the tripod on my shoulder by holding the strap near the leg. You can also purchase a ScopePack, which allows you to carry your scope and tripod unmounted on your back. A Scope and Tripod Bag allows you to carry your scope mounted on its tripod across your back or shoulder with the included strap. A Tri-Pak lets you to carry your mounted scope and tripod like a backpack.
If you bird on loose surfaces such as soft sand, snow, or mud you may want to use tripod shoes. These are typically made of hard plastic or rubber, are about six inches in diameter, and snap onto the tripod's feet.
Commonly used alternatives to a tripod include monopods, gunstock mounts, and window mounts. The monopod is a single leg, and you attach your scope to its top. No head is needed, although various monopods will accept one, as it moves freely. (Too freely, in fact, to be of much use.) The gunstock mount likewise is not very stable, but can be the only realistic way to use a scope on certain pelagic trips. It also is smaller and weighs a lot less than a scope/tripod combination, so traveling with it is easier. A good window mount allows you to use your scope quite nicely from the comfort of your car. However, this requires minimal, slow-moving traffic and usually works best when you are alone.
After spending several thousand dollars for a scope and tripod, many people want to protect their investment. Scope jackets work well for keeping rain, dirt, sand, and the like off your scope, and the better ones allow you to use the scope without removing the jacket by opening flaps at each end. Some also have pockets, but they are usually small. The Scope and Tripod Bag mentioned previously allows you to store your scope/tripod combination completely encased, but you must remove it for use.
Spotting scopes typically come with a ridge, an elongated bar, or a riflelike sight on the scope body as a basic aiming device. These work well for some people but not so well for others. Tele Vue (an optics company) offers an infrared pointer, the Qwik Point Birder T, that fits into a groove in its brand of scope bodies. Another version, Qwik Point Birder EU, can be wrapped around any scope. Once sighted in, these can be very helpful, although most birders who regularly use scopes learn to find birds by simply pointing their scope. As with any skill, some people are inherently better at it than others, and it becomes easier with practice.
Most scope manufacturers offer camera adapters that allow you to connect your 35mm camera to your scope, thereby converting it into a powerful telephoto lens. Modern video cameras can yield surprisingly good images by simply holding them to the eyepiece. These images can be replayed on your camera, played on most TV monitors, and downloaded into your computer. The images will not be professional quality, but they can be very effective for documenting sightings. Shawneen Finnegan demonstrated that the cave swallows in Cape May in November 1999 were of the southwestern, not Caribbean, race by this method.
Swarovski is among the companies that sell a doubler you can attach to its newer binoculars to double the power of one barrel. Some manufacturers (such as Zeiss) even offer a tripler. By the time you read this article, Swarovski should offer an adapter that will allow you to attach its doubler to its spotting scope eyepieces. Although I have not tested this device on binoculars or scopes, it is likely that the increase in magnification will produce a proportionate decrease in brightness, clarity, and field of view.
Selecting a scope body is perhaps the easiest part of buying a spotting scope; and with all the accessories now available, it really pays to do your homework. But fear not: Figure out how you want to use your scope, decide which options might interest you, ask questions of knowledgeable people, thoroughly test each piece, and enjoy a whole new world of birding!