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Mar 2022
8:22pm, 30 Mar 2022
9,576 posts
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sallykate
Hello Fetchie birdwatchers - I wondered if you could advise at all on binoculars. Is there any point getting a cheap (less than £50) pair, and if so could you recommend any?
I'm only thinking about garden birdwatching, nothing very serious - magnification 10 max.
Thought I had a little pair which were my mum's but can't find them and would like to replace them.
Thank you in advance for any advice 
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Mar 2022
10:58pm, 30 Mar 2022
2,138 posts
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154 Rob
Bus from Dublin airport and saw hooded crows...
Not seen any since so maybe they're coastal or?
Will look tomorrow 👀
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Mar 2022
12:51am, 31 Mar 2022
20,482 posts
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flanker
SallyKate, with all things optics you largely get what you pay for, at least until you get to the high-end brands where you're paying for name/kudos as well as performance.
On that budget you'll struggle to get anything decent, unless Aldi/Lidl do any this year as they're not bad and good for the money. I've not looked for a a while, but I'd guess you're looking at £100-150 to get anything semi-decent. With that sort of budget I'd recommend buying second hand, maybe from a decent dealer if you're lucky, or from eBay. My first couple of pair were from eBay and far better than anything I could have afforded new.
For garden use 8x will be perfectly adequate, far easier to use, and cheaper.
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Mar 2022
8:47am, 31 Mar 2022
2,126 posts
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Heinzster
Bus from Dublin airport and saw hooded crows... Not seen any since so maybe they're coastal or? Will look tomorrow 👀
Hooded crows are pretty common all over Ireland, more around rural areas.
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Mar 2022
9:28am, 31 Mar 2022
3,603 posts
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jacdaw
Second hand east german Car Zeiss ones? With a risk they might be junk.
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Mar 2022
10:14am, 31 Mar 2022
4,108 posts
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J2R
SallyKate, I second flanker's suggestion about Aldi/Lidl. Years ago I bought a pair of 10x50 (I think) binoculars from one of the stores, don't remember which, branded Bresser. They cost something like £15-20 and they were remarkable value for money - very decent optics, solid enough build. The trouble is that Aldi/Lidl have tended to do gimmicky things in recent years, zoom binoculars, which aren't anything like as good. But worth keeping an eye out nonetheless in case something like those Bressers come back.
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Mar 2022
10:40am, 31 Mar 2022
54,916 posts
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Derby Tup
8 x 30 are perfect to have on a window sill or similar. Lighter than 10 x 50
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Mar 2022
11:39am, 31 Mar 2022
4,111 posts
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J2R
DT, I combine birdwatching with weight training.
Actually, the Bressers are kept these days in my car just in case I find myself somewhere unexpectedly birdful. Main bins are Hawke Frontier ED 8 x 42, nice bright clear bins which are sufficiently close to the Swarowski/Zeiss/Leica level for me not to feel I'm missing out too much, meanwhile saving myself many hundreds of pounds. Satan was working in the binocular shop when I bought them and surreptitiously handed me a pair of Swarowskis to compare, but I was admirably able to resist temptation . If I'd been using them day in , day out, like a reserve warden, I'd have gone for the Swarowskis, but the small but perceptible difference was not worth the extra money for the use I would put them to.
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Mar 2022
1:41pm, 31 Mar 2022
940 posts
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paulcook
One Moorhen on today’s run, and while totally unremarkable unless some local geography has changed, I’m not sure where its nearest water would have been.
More pleasing was a wonderful call of a lapwing half way round.
Plenty of bird tracks in the snow too.
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Mar 2022
5:28pm, 31 Mar 2022
24,692 posts
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Rosehip
Lapwing in the field with the sheep- which is better than last yrs choice of a wheat field
First mallard ducklings spotted this year too
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