Last month, I was birding on a lonely 2-lane road near the south fork of the Kaweah River, just south of Sequoia National Park. It was early evening and I was passed by a tall energetic local woman out for her evening walk. She paused to talk birding for a minute, and as she marched on, she noted that every birder she has ever seen seems to be smiling. “Is it true that you are all happy when you’re birding?” she asked.

Well, we want to test that theory locally. Every summer your Board gathers for a planning meeting and one of the main topics is The List of field trips to be made available to all of you members and any others who may want to join us in the great outdoors. Often various board members give reason A or reason B for adding or changing The List or date of sites where a number of us will be meeting on a chilly Saturday morning months hence.

However, should this be the decision of only 12 people, no matter how experienced?

The Board would like to hear/read your spirited suggestions. What trip(s) did you love? Should it have been at another season? What trip was a waste of your precious time? How far are you willing to drive/carpool in this age of $4 carbon-conscious gasoline? What day of the week is best? What birds and habitats would you like to discover?

Our Malibu Lagoon walks are pretty much “set in stone” on the fourth Sunday of every month. We also schedule up to 15 other field trips each year. Most of these are on the second Saturday of the month; occasionally they may be on a different Saturday or on a Sunday. A few may be led by members of other chapters or organizations.

This blog is the ideal town square to post your thoughts. We live within reach of a  great diversity of habitats and birds. You have time to think. The List will not be decided until the 20th of July.

I hope we hear from you soon.

Lu Plauzoles

I just got a replacement pair of binoculars for my old Zeiss “Diafun’s” and I went to my stack of unread or un-acted-upon items that seems to permanently decorate my desk. There I found a copy of the Cornell Ornithology Lab’s Fall 2013 article on the birding binocular evaluation that Steven Zax generously handed me in November.

Cornell doesn’t go through the process of evaluating binos very often. The last bank of test was five years earlier, and as pointed out in the article, there have been many changes in equipment and prices since 2008. So, if you are in the market to replace your current pair, or to know what you would get in case of a loss or accident, the articles are worth reading, and Cornell generously puts them on line for you at no fee.

A few notes about their conclusions.

1. You can spend nearly $3,000 including sales tax for the best of the best nowadays.

2. Their basic advice (Jessie Barry and Ken Rosenberg are the authors of the main article) is to buy the best you can afford. I disagree, or put it differently. I would say the best you can afford to lose or break.

3. There are a lot of good binoculars available under $700 now.

4. There are no under-$100 binoculars that will satisfy a serious birder.
To read all the information, go to http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1642&q=best%20binoculars
[If the above link is broken try: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-cornell-lab-review-affordable-full-size-8×42-binoculars/]
You will find a whole lineup of links to the binocular review including the main article, Ken Rosenberg’s explanation of how to make a good buying decision, and the results of the evaluation in a table version.
It turns out for me that the replacement for my Diafun’s is a pair of Zeiss “Terra ED’s”, slightly heavier, brighter, and amazingly sharp edge to edge.

Happy birding! Feedback welcome.

Lu Plauzoles