New Bins!

     I have been using for a while now the binoculars that came along with the husband. They are great binoculars and he's wonderful for letting me use them, but I needed an upgrade. In binoculars, that is, definitely not the husband (insert cute smile here).

     I did some research and found that as far as magnification goes, I would be happy with 8X, it would give me a larger field of view, allow more light in, and not be too shaky- the image may get shaky as your magnification goes higher. Then there is a second number, the diameter of the objective lens, I went with 42mm, the smaller they are, the lighter your bins will be, but also will not give you a bright image, the larger you go the bulkier and heavier your bins get, and I am done with those bulky binoculars!

     I settled on the Nikon Monarch 8X42, the focus wheel was smooth, and the images look great and they are so much lighter than what I had been using. So, naturally, I had to take them for a spin...

     This morning was really cold. When I left home it was 27 with a wind chill in the teens, good weather for biking, of course! I biked out early to Coney Island Creek Park before work and froze, but even for a short bout of birding, I was so happy to see what I did, which included long-tailed ducks, loons, red-breasted mergansers, and lots of charismatic gulls.

A common loon floats in the Creek, I saw 7 loons in total, wasn't totally sure if all common or a mix of common and red-throated.

A juvenile greater black-backed gull.

I was enjoying the gulls floating on the (oh so very cold) wind. This is a juvenile ring-billed.

Juvenile ring-billed.

Adult ring billed in the surf.

Juv. Ring-billed.

You got it. Juv. Ring-billed.

     Clearly I was using the binoculars more than the camera, and the trip was shortened because I was really cold. I love my new binoculars and so far recommend them to anyone interested in a decent pair. Stay warm out there!