More westerners, countability, Re: Scopes and Hooded Mergs

[Joshua Stuart Rose <jsr6@duke.edu>]

Hi Carolinabirders,

Latest in the invasion from the west: Bullock's Oriole in the Everglades, 
and a Varied Thrush near Toronto.

Since we were discussing "countability" a while back, I've got a 
question: what about Mute Swans? The ones that used to hang around 
Greenview before it was altered/improved were domesticated releases. 
However, I saw one on the Outer Banks a few winters ago. I counted it on 
my state list, then saw a claim on the list that they shouldn't be 
counted there, so I took it off. However, in a post by Harry LeGrand Jan. 
2 (to which I'll refer again later) he mentions that the species is on 
the official NC state list, and that there is a sadly too-healthy 
population in the Chesapeake Bay. So how about it? What do people think 
about Mute Swans in general, or on the coast, or in particular the one 
that was at Pea Island in January of 1997 (I think)?

On Thu, 11 Jan 2001, Harry LeGrand wrote:
> 
> But -- the high numbers of Hooded Mergansers are most interesting.
[snip] > I don't think it is simply more here
> this winter because of cold weather up north freezing over lakes (or
> else we'd be seeing lots more Com. Mergansers and Com. Goldeneyes).

But haven't we seen this? Scanning the last few weeks' worth of the 
Carolinabirds archives at http://www.ibiblio.org/~pardo/birds/current/: 
on January 7, Ricky Davis reported 22 Goldeneyes, 4 Long-tailed Ducks, 
and a Common Merganser on Jordan Lake; Jordan usually has a Common Merg 
near the dam, but virtually never Long-tails, and Goldeneye generally 
only the one female at the Poplar Point settling ponds. This followed 
other Goldeneye observations on Jordan Lake by Doug Shadwick. Wayne 
Forsythe had a Common Merg on Lake Julian, "the first one I have ever 
seen in... 14 years". Brian Bockhahn saw a male/female pair on Falls Lake 
on December 27. Dwayne and Lori Martin saw three Common Goldeneyes and a 
Common Merganser on Lake Hickory December 23. And I seem to remember a 
Common Merg somewhere out past Goldsboro a while back, although even if 
this memory is correct, this was probably before the serious cold set 
in. Sounds above-average to me.

Or by "lots more", did you mean serious flocks rather than just more 
widespread vagrancy than usual? I did notice that your report from Lake 
Phelps January 2 sounded like below-average Common Merg numbers for that 
location... I just wish a few had made it to Lake Murray while I was 
there!

On Wed, 10 Jan 2001 LenKopka@aol.com wrote:
>
> I'm sure the subject of spotting scopes has been discussed here before, the
> dialogue went into one ear and out the other because I wasn't in the market
> at the time.  Now I wish to upgrade from my old Bushnell Spacemaster to one
> of the newer high-end models.
>
> I'd appreciate brief comments from anyone concerning their recommendations.
>
> In addition to brand and model, I am also interested in your thoughts on
> straight vs angled eyepeices and standard vs ED glass.

I'm actually a big fan of angled eyepieces. The primary benefit is that 
they are easier than straight ones for people of different heights to 
look through. Straight-through scopes often have to be readjusted for 
each person who looks through them. Angled scopes can be set for the 
shortest person in a group, and taller people generally have no problem. 
Of course, if you tend to bird alone, or to guard your scope jealously, 
then maybe this isn't a factor...

Brand-wise, I use a Swarovski AT-80 with a 20-60X zoom. New, it dazzled 
me. It hasn't proved as durable as I might have liked; apparently, I 
abuse my equipment more than even the Austrians bargained for. But it 
still works pretty darn well; I even took a few photos, including a 
dazzling shot of an Anhinga's head, through it using my girlfriend's 
digital camera over winter vacation.

When it was still new, I compared my scope with a similar model from 
Kowa. At low power, they were pretty much identical, and the Kowa was 
nearly $400 cheaper. However, the Swarovski was dramatically better when 
both scopes were zoomed up to 60X.

On the other hand, tropical ornithologist and former Carolinabirder Don 
Bright-Smith blew through town a few months ago. While he was here, a new 
grant came through, and he spent some of the money on a Leica scope. 
Flourite, zoom, the works. I was blown away! We were reading small print 
in a biology textbook from over 20 meters away!

Good birding,

Josh



Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/