Surfers, birders, and fishermen may enjoy being outdoors in every season. But in winter we may only see one person per quarter mile of beach, so I guess not everyone does! But everyone knows that spring means it’s time to get outside!
Despite chilly mornings and evenings, by early April there’s no doubt that spring is here! Since Groundhog Day, daylight has increased by two-and-three-quarter hours. Every day in spring might bring something new. We’ll enjoy green shoots emerging from the soil, frogs singing, turtles basking in the sun, and every day will be “That-bird-wasn’t-here-yesterday-Day”!
Many tools can help you make the most of your time outdoors. Some you can get right now, for free. From the app store you can install iNaturalist, to help identify insects, plants, mammals, reptiles and more. Merlin Bird ID, a free app from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, will help you identify birds, while eBird will help you track your bird sightings.
But, whether bat, bird, bug, or Imperial Starfighter, you must first get a good look at the object to identify it. Fortunately, no matter whether you enjoy the outdoors on foot, by kayak, bike, boat, or car there are optics for every situation!
For readers new to field optics, in the descriptions below, the first number is the magnification, such as 8x, 10x, 15-45X (zoom), etc. The second number is the diameter of the front lens (objective) in millimeters; the bigger that is, the more light it gathers. Most optics today are waterproof, so don’t worry about rain showers or salt spray.
Let’s start small and work our way up. For tossing in your bag for the beach, the glove box of your car, or for hiking, biking, and kayaking, you want something small and lightweight. Smallest are monoculars, with just one tube, which can be as small as four inches long by one inch wide and weigh as little as four ounces. They often come with a holster-like belt pouch, and usually a neck or wrist lanyard as well. Next are pocket binoculars, for those who prefer using both eyes. You can find some that fold small enough to fit in a pocket. Common sizes for either are 8×25 or 10×25. Usually, a binocular is designed, and a monocular is just half of that without a center focus.
Next are mid-sized binoculars, with objective lenses of 30 to 33 mm. Those with lenses of 30 or 32 mm are still compact and weigh only 15 to 20 ounces. Full-sized binoculars such as 8×40 or 10×42 at 24 to 30 ounces are popular for birding and hunting. Monoculars also come “full-sized” such as an 8×42 at about 11 ounces. “Large” binoculars are those with objectives of 50 mm or more. These are usually reserved for dawn and dusk hunting, marine (shipboard) use, and astronomy.
When things are minute, or very distant, you’ll want a spotting scope. These also range from a 9-27×56 mm that you can sling over your shoulder, to a four-pound 30-70×99 mm that requires a tripod. Rewards range from being able to read the leg band on a sandpiper just back from South America to seeing the rings of Saturn!
If this has piqued your curiosity, visit Cape May Bird Observatory’s Northwood Center in Cape May Point, open year-round. Or stop in at CMBO’s 30th Annual Optics Sale, this Saturday and Sunday,
April 12th & 13th, at the Cape May Convention Hall. Representatives from Hawke, Kowa, Swarovski, Vortex and Zeiss are eager to show you their latest optics!
