Making a Difference

This will help you tell the difference between a White Faced Ibis and a Glossy!

 

Vortex Viper HD 15-45x65 Spotting Scope

 

Rigging for the New Year

 There are times and circumstances when only a good scope will do.  Resolve: getting rigged for the New Year!

Yes, a trip to the wetlands or when you are trying to get a glimpse of the Attwater Prairie Chickens--always a good time to have your scope.  And a good scope requires a good tripod.

Take a look at these:
Vortex Viper HD 20-60 x 80 Spotting Scope, Straight or Angled Configuration
Vortex Skyline Tripod

You Just Never Know

When going to the Texas Coast you should always take a scope, because you never know;

you just never know.





 

Learn more about the Vortex Razor HD Spotting Scope, available in Angled or Straight configurations.

 

 

Visit us at www.kingbirdfeeders.com for quality binoculars, spotting scopes, bird feeders, bird houses, field guides, and gear. roy@kingbirdfeeders.com

 

 

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A New Way of Seeing



 

A New Way of Seeing

Vortex Recon 15x50 Spotting Scope

Combines the portability of binoculars with the range of a spotting scope.  Hand held or used with a tripod. Lightweight and packable.  Grand features .

Learn More

Visit us at www.kingbirdfeeders.com for quality binoculars, spotting scopes, bird feeders, bird houses, field guides, and gear. 

Turn Any Grown-up into a Little Kid

 

Vortex Viper HD 20-60x 80 Scope

How often can you make someone absolutely happy?  How often do you know you’ve chosen so well that the receiver just can’t hide their appreciation?  Wouldn’t you love to do just that?

Learn More

Visit us at www.kingbirdfeeders.com for quality binoculars, spotting scopes, bird feeders, bird houses, field guides, and gear. 

Still Soaring

Still Soaring

Kingbirdfeeders.com continues to bring you quality products and the best service.

Droll Yankees Feeders

Made in America; Lifetime Guarantee. Easy clean and easy fill models.  Sunflower feeders, Peanut feeders, squirrel proof feeders.  Learn More.

Vortex Optics:

Binoculars and Spotting Scopes

Quality design, excellent optics, terrific performance even in low light conditions.  Unconditional and unlimited warranty.  Learn More.

Visit us at www.kingbirdfeeders.com for quality binoculars, spotting scopes, bird feeders, bird houses, field guides, and gear.

In Need of a Great Scope

A great scope at an affordable price that has the features to ensure years of enjoyment in the field, that’s the ticket.  Here it is, the Vortex Viper 15-45x65 Spotting Scope.

Most of us are looking for performance, equipment that we can trust to do the job at a reasonable price.  And we want it all to be backed by a company true to their word.  Such a deal exist in this scope.

Vortex Viper 15-45x65 Spotting Scope

A good sighting at long range is attainable with this scope.  It boasts XR fully multi-coated lenses for increase light transmission and XD glass for extra low dispersion.  Net effect: maximum brightness and clear images.  The exterior lenses are specially coated with Armor Tek protecting them from dirt, oil and scratches.  This scope is purged with argon gas guaranteeing superior water and fog proofing.

All Vortex Optics products are backed by a warranty that is second to none.  This warranty is unconditional and unlimited—that’s a strong commitment to providing a quality product to all.

Vortex Razor HD Spotting Scope

This scope is the latest entry from Vortex Optics into the realm of spotting scopes on the market today. Its design is for ruggedness and bright, clear images. It possesses a triple apochromatic lens to eliminate fringing and chromatic aberration. This scope comes equipped with dual focus. Here is what Bird Watcher’s Digest has to say about the new Vortex Razor HD Scope.

“Truly comparable to high-end European-made scopes, the Vortex Razor amazed us when we compared all the top scopes for our review in Bird Watcher's Digest (to appear November, 2009). This is a beautifully designed, bright, sharp, rugged scope. It comes with a 20-60 power zoom eyepiece. Angled-eyepeice design. We recommend it highly. It's the only scope with truly high-end optical quality at a moderate price.”

So many features go into making this wonderful scope. The Vortex HD System plays its part in eliminating degradation of resolution and producing color fidelity. This scope sports ArmorTek—a new chemically bonded optical lens multicoat to increase light transmission, color fidelity and image resolution. High definition (HD) glass and a special optical element configuration provide unmatched edge to edge detail and accuracy. It is affordably price.

Advanced Birding and the Spotting Scope

Most of us begin birding with a field guide and a pair of binoculars. Yet, we eventually realize that certain situations demand our acquisition of a spotting scope. It may be that we find ourselves at the wetlands and can not quite tell if we are looking at a White Faced or Glossy Ibis. Or, we spot a raptor across the canyon and can not say if it is a Red Tail or some other hawk. Or, maybe, we just would like a better look at the Black Throated Green Warbler high up in the oaks.

Your advancement in birding does not mean you are becoming an elitist. Your expertise is growing and should be cause for celebration. Owning a spotting scope doesn’t make you an elitist either. In fact, many manufacturers have improved their processes to accomplish advances in construction and image quality while making their product more affordable. The spotting scope is now considered as essential as the binoculars.

There are many elements in the choice of a scope. Many are personal preferences. One such is whether to buy a scope that is straight through (ST) or angular (AN) sighted. It is probably easier to find and focus on some distant bird using the ST configuration. With practice, one can adjust to an AN scope and become just as proficient. However, if you find that you are often in a group and sharing a scope the AN may be the better choice. You can set the height to the shortest person in the group and everyone can easily view whatever bird is the subject of inquiry.

Light gathering ability is a major consideration in a scope. Generally, the larger the objective lens the greater the ability to gather light. An 80 mm objective gathers more light than a 60 mm lens. However, with a larger lens also comes added weight and cost. For most of us, and in most circumstances, objective lenses in the 60 to 65 mm range are quite adequate.

The eyepiece, or ocular, can be fixed or variable. A 20x ocular is good for fixed eyepieces, but variable magnification are either 15x-45x or 20x-60x. The lower magnification on the variable ocular is used to locate and focus the bird while the greater magnifications can be zoomed in to gain detail for a sure identification.

Eventually, one has to make a decision as to what amount to spend. For those whose budget is limited the Cornell Laboratory Scope Quest 2008 becomes an excellent source of information and advice. Ken Rosenberg organized this event and compiled data on a number of scopes. In this, the Stokes Sandpiper Scope did quite well. Ken writes, “An even nicer surprise was the Vortex Stokes Sandpiper, which at $359 or less could be the best buy of any model we tested. This small, lightweight scope is fully waterproof, works well with eyeglasses, and provides an image nearly as nice up to 45x as the more expensive [models].”

Considering image quality, ease of transport, magnifications, objective lens size and, of course, cost, it all comes down to what fits your personal needs and preferences. Once you have made your choice, enjoy it to the fullest.