How to Use a Telescope for Bird Watching

Video Transcript

Welcome to Expert Village. My name is Wayne Petersen and I direct the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Important Bird Areas Program for Massachusetts. Today we're here at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield, Massachusetts. And, we're going to be talking about the equipment needed to get one started in birding. So, if you see something that you particularly want to look at, you basically point the scope in the direction. In this one, there's a little site on the side where you can actually squint and find the object through that, or with practice you can get so that you pretty much are in the general area. Then, you look through the scope and you move it left to right and you focus. In this Swarovski telescope, there is a central focus band that focuses the scope. In some others, there may be individual focus wheels more like on a binocular. Once you find the bird that you're wanting to look at, then, you can increase the magnification by turning, in this case, the eyepiece or possibly a separate focus mechanism depending on the model. And then, you would have to refocus with the focus knob. And, you can do that to as great an extent or to as less, lesser extent depending on what you want to do. The only other thing I would mention is that with a telescope it's possible to look for birds where there are large flocks, again, at the seashore where you can have an opportunity to look through big flocks of gulls, urns, shore birds, things of that sort. A telescope is very useful for scanning. So, that by setting it at a magnification where things are in focus and then slowly panning from left to right it's possible to get a look at a lot of birds that may be at a distance from you. Likewise, for birds that are flying over the ocean, a telescope can be very useful because it allows you to pick up the bird and then track it just like you would as if you were looking through a rifle scope or something where you were, the way a hunter would do. So, telescopes do allow you to get obviously a greater magnification than most binoculars do. And, if they are properly mounted on a tripod that is stable, now this is very important, stability is essential to the use of the telescope. Having a stable tripod so that you minimize vibration due to wind or any other kind of shaking that could come along, very critical. A telescope in many cases can be taken off the tripod. It can be mounted onto a window mount. An automobile makes a natural blind. And, in many cases, it's possible to mount the scope on a window of a car. And then, you can use your car as a blind and use the scope very effectively in this respect. So, telescopes have a lot of application, but they are certainly going to up the ante in terms of the expenditure that you're putting out in terms of yet another birding tool.

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