Watching nature through a lens
Binoculars, telescopes and telephoto lenses help nature-seekers find birds and other woodland creatures
Some nature lovers find feathers appealing: the plumes on an egret; the tufts on a titmouse; epaulettes on a red-winged blackbird.
Me, I’m an eyeball guy.
This got started when my mom gave me a pair of binoculars. “They’ll make the birds look bigger,” she said.
I scurried into a neighboring woodland to see what she meant. Owl eyes stared out from the shadows of a large white pine. They seemed big as nickels, pretty daffodil-yellow but used as a tool to wreck havoc on creatures at night.
The owl perched unperturbed, tucked in by the trunk. It was noonish, a contemplative time for great horned owls; a time of “do not disturb.” The owl stared toward me, implacable. Its eyes gleamed marble slick.
I yearned to get closer but decided against it. White pines are sticky — that’s one reason. Horned owls can act nasty is another. What I needed was a telescope. Imagine what those eyes would look like magnified 40 times instead of seven. Take a guess as to who would scare whom.
That owl encounter proved the beginning. A telescope eventually appeared and then a telephoto lens. Staring creatures in the face became a passion. Timber rattlers obliged, as did skunks and opossums. I began a journal, noting the reaction of these and other species to long lenses being focused upon them. The Smithsonian has yet to request a copy, but I still keep my notes.
A few observations:
- Red-tailed hawks are quirky about eye contact. They will stare you in the face if you’re driving by at 50 mph, but will fly off when you screech to a stop, back up and try to get close.
- Red-winged blackbirds look best through a telescope when they call honk-a-ree. At this moment, they hunch their shoulders, throw their wings forward (exposing red shoulder patches) and stare balefully at those who tread on their turf. If you pretend not to care and approach the cattail stalk upon which said blackbird is perched, it will fly away clucking and peeved.
Be patient. Male redwings are known for a strong macho streak. They can’t stand being bullied. Two minutes later your bird will be back, hovering just overhead, glaring through you with beady brown eyes.
- A woodcock can stare you in the face while its bill is pointing downward. Try that with your bill pointed downward.
Woodcock are able to do this because their eyes perch near the very top of their heads. Such positioning allows them to yank worms from mud and watch for approaching predators at the same time. This allows them to enjoy a meal, while knowing it won’t be their last.
- The eyes of bitterns bulge out for a reason. Attached low on the heads of these long-necked waders, they allow the birds to see under their spear-shaped bills. Under is where the fish are – and frogs. Under is where you should be, looking up as a bittern looks down.
To be under a bittern, staring up as its neck coils to strike, is to feel humbled. It’s to be glad you’re not green with webbed feet.
Rick Marsi is a freelance writer from Vestal. Email him at email@example.com.