Gear up for the Great Backyard Bird Count!

Spend Valentine’s weekend showing some love to our feathered friends by taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count! 

Over a period of four days beginning Feb. 14, hundreds of thousands of birdwatchers — both avid and casual — will grab their notepads or birding apps and head outside to take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count.

This international event, which will take place February 14-17, is an online citizen-science project that was launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society. It is designed to provide real time data on the global bird population.

A female Northern Cardinal captured by photographer Sheldon Faworski using an Explore Scientific ED80 FCD-100 Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor. 

During the 2024 count, which drew more than 640,000 participants, 7,920 different species were identified. The top three most frequently identified birds in the United States were the Northern Cardinal, the Dark-Eyed Junco and the House Finch. 

A Dark-Eyed Junco captured by photographer Sheldon Faworski using an Explore Scientific ED80 FCD-100 Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor. 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE: 

Taking part in this fun global birding event is simple.

First, pick your viewing spot - whether it’s your own backyard or your favorite hiking trail. The only real caveat is it has to be a place with birds. Just be sure to note the time and location of your observation session.

Second, watch the birds at your chosen location for 15 minutes or more at least once over the four-day event. 

Third, identify all the birds you see or hear during your birding session. For beginners, the easiest way to do this is to use the free Merlin Bird ID app from Cornell Lab. This app, which offers four easy ways to identify birds, covers bird species from all seven continents! More experienced birders or those who have participated in the count before might prefer the eBird app or website. 

Last, share your results! There are three ways to submit your birdwatching observations and contribute to this amazing citizen science project. You can use the Merlin Bird ID app, the eBird app or connect to the submission site through your desktop computer or laptop. More information on how to submit your results can be found at www.birdcount.org/participate/. For more general  information about the event, including tips and identification charts, visit birdcount.org. 

A male Northern Cardinal captured by photographer Sheldon Faworski using an Explore Scientific ED80 FCD-100 Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor. 

UP YOUR BIRDING GAME WITH BINOCULARS:

Even though you do not need any special optical aids to participate in the bird count, a nice binocular is always great to have on hand to see those small details that may help with identification on any birdwatching adventure. 

There are many attributes to consider when selecting a pair of birding binoculars. These include aperture, magnification, eye relief, coatings and more. However, one commonly overlooked spec is close focus! 

So, what is close focus? It is a measurement of the closest you can be to a subject and still maintain a clear focus that delivers sharp details. It’s a specification that means quite a bit to birders because their subjects often pop up close by, and having to step back to get a blur-free view can mean losing track of the target or causing it to flutter away. Ideally, a good birding binocular will have a close focus of 10 feet or less. If you can snag a binocular with a close focus of 5 feet or less, it can do double duty as a great aid to see delicate details in butterflies and smaller insects! 

When it comes to aperture, the bigger you go the more light-gathering power you have. BUT, this comes with a huge trade-off in weight and portability. A 56mm aperture might deliver mind-blowing brilliance, but it will be burdensome and will likely require a tripod to get a steady image. A 42mm aperture is an ideal compromise between aperture and weight. That objective lens size can gobble up light but still be easy to carry or keep close at hand using a neck strap.

In terms of magnification, higher power is not always better even though the point of a binocular is to see more details. As magnification goes up, the field of view gets smaller, which makes it harder to track fast-moving subjects like birds. Plus, as you move up in magnification, image shake gets more noticeable. The most common recommendation is to stick with a versatile 8x magnifying power.  

A Redheaded Woodpecker captured by photographer Sheldon Faworski using an Explore Scientific ED80 FCD-100 Air-Spaced Triplet Refractor. 

There are several great binocular options available through Explore Scientific that deliver on all of these specs AND have other premium features. All of these options are waterproof and have barrels that have been purged with an inert gas to make an internal environment that is fogproof. With a close focus coming in at 3 feet, the Alpen Teton Series 8x42 Binocular is designed to deliver in up-close observing situations. While the Teton model is on the higher end of the pricing spectrum, it does offer optics made of ED (extra-low dispersion) glass that really wows in terms of contrast and color and Abbe prisms that maximize light retention for brilliant images. Some other options to consider are the Alpen Chisos Series 8x42 Binocular, which also features ED glass; the Alpen Wings Series 8x42 Binocular; the Alpen Apex Series 8x42 Binocular or the National Geographic Excursion 8x42 Binocular. All of these models have a close focus in the range of 6.5 to 8 feet!

Comment below if you have additional questions about binoculars, we would love to help you find the perfect fit!