Heehee, yes, that's what we were afraid of - the "still too close" ! We might be able to count the feathers but what good is it if we can't see the bird... Yes, we're recovering nicely. And the baby was born two and a half week ago! She is absolutely adorable. Yet another thing going on in life that keeps me away from the dust cloth and the vacuum cleaner! (Yeay!) It's so lovely to be an Oma and Opa (dutch grammy and grampy) again. And this one is so much closer than California! Sandy, we checked them out online. Easier than going to a store. We were not impressed by the price range, in other words, if we were going to buy one of these ourselves we would spend more. We can't choose something that's not in their fancy folder, and we thing it's an overstock kind of thing. I have my eye on a good looking bird scope, but I don't think it's in the budget for this Christmas... They also have very nice cutlery. Maybe we'll get that instead and keep our eye on the bird scope instead. :) Mary

I echo Kendra's thanks for doing this Jane. This kind of sharing of opinions and info is wonderful. I find the field guide I have very frustrating - too much information spread out too much, in a very small book. I have a very, VERY basic Peterson's Guide to Feeder Birds of North America - great for newbies or kids starting out. In looking at all the guides you and Kendra mentioned, I would agree that the Smithsonian guide would be the one to have. Everything about just one species on one page is great. I also find it visually pleasant to look at. I did like the Sibley guide, and the Stokes seemed nice too. But I will probably get a Smithsonian for future bird identifying. Thank you! P.S. - They have it on Amazon for $19.80.

Do not be too quick to dismiss WalMart. Out of curiosity I just went to their website and input the word "Binoculars" in their search bar and boy was I surprised at what I found. I knew going in that Walmart has a very good sporting goods selection and serious hunters are very discriminating about their field optics, but I was not prepared for what I found. I had expected to find moderately priced mid range binoculars from companies such as Tasco or Focal, although in retrospect I think "Focal" is a proprietary trade name associated with K-mart. What I was not expecting to find was binoculars from top world class optical manufactures like Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Olympus, who are primarily known as professional photographic optics manufactures and Bushnell, Leopold, and Steiner who manufacture world class telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes and rifle & pistol sighting scopes. While I found prices ranging from $27 to over $1200 In my opinion there are a number of items listed in the $50 to $100 range that would well meet the needs of an avid birdwatcher for years to come. In my previous post I discussed the general construction of binoculars but there are a couple more features that I failed to mention. ZOOM - You will see some binoculars that are listed as zoom lenses by example, they may say something like 6-10x. I am sure that zoom lenses are desirable to some people, but in my experience you would probably always use them at the maximum magnification anyway so the zoom feature is moot. In addition, in order to achieve the zoom function they often have to add additional optical elements, which adds weight and reduces the light gathering ability resulting in a slightly darker image. COATED OPTICS-Generally coated lenses are only found on higher class optics but they offer many advantages. In its simplest form they apply a coating that reduces UV (Ultraviolet light). A UV coating does not generally effect the image quality but by reducing the amount of UV light that passes through the lens it will greatly reduce eye fatigue. They also apply coatings to reduce internal light flare, chromatic aberrations and aspherical aberrations. These coatings help maintain edge sharpness and color sharpness in the image and in my opinion they should be considered a very desirable feature.

Oakley, I am sorry you feel ignored. You sent your note in the wee hours Thurs. I read it at 7:30am Friday morning but was rushing to get into work early and didn't have time to post. Friday evening was hectic and I did a couple of hit and run responses. But every time I started to post, the phone rang. I am so sorry I missed a response to you. (((Oakley))) Yeah, I did say that my experience was different-- but that was in response to Ded's question about what eye to look at. You said no one looked at your lazy eye.. but I had a very different experience. I guess all my responses to this thread have been pretty self absorbed. This is a major focus in my life right now... and though I opened up here (and with some in my real life), it's one I am mostly dealing with alone. I have fears of what if it doesn't work.. what if the lenses are crazy thick.. will I be able to drive when I am transitioning between regular and prism lenses.. will I screw up my job prospect because there are two interviewers and one eye? As I have said, I have a lot of anxiety rolled in with my eye issue. It's not that I don't care about you or the other people dealing with the same or worse... I am just very much in my own head. I am VERY glad to hear you will be going to the Dr too. I am sorry that you have been affected as I have. Please do make an appointment and let us know how it goes! You can reach out to me privately if you like.. And I am sorry to anyone else who I missed responding to. I am SO appreciative of everyone's responses. Your encouragement and kind wishes for a good outcome mean the world to me. I am especially appreciative of those who shared their own experiences.. and those who are spurred to go to the doctor.