Nehaveigur

I have nothing against birds. It’s impossible to look at one and, based on its appearance and the way it behaves, not ascribe a personality to it. The aggressive and curious way of bluejays reminds me of car salesmen.

Even though birds amuse me, I never got into birdwatching, a nerdy way to spend time outdoors with more than passing resemblance to stamp collecting. Birders are obsessed with binoculars, and even though I’m not one of them, I’ll admit to owning a pair. They’re 10×40 and made by Nikon. I keep them in my truck and occasionally I take them out to look at animals. They’re great for spotting whales when I drive along Highway 1 or to look at the moon and stars when car camping. More than 10x magnification doesn’t make sense for binoculars, and a lens diameter of 40mm lets in enough light for stargazing. These specs also make my binoculars too big and heavy to carry around on any serious hikes.

Recently I’ve bought a small 8×20 telescope called a monocular. Its major advantage is that I can put it in my pocket without having to bother with the weight or cumbersome dimensions of the binoculars. I take it on almost all my walks and as a result get more use out of it than I ever got from my binos. There biggest tradeoff is that looking though only one eye for a long time is tiring, but that’s a small price to pay for having them at hand when I need them.

Why don’t birders use monoculars? I don’t know, but maybe it’s that they have never considered the possibility that monos are superior to binos. Binoculars are so closely associated with birder culture that using any other device maybe makes them feel less like a birder.