BIRDING TO THE EDG

Nikon Sport Optics and Birder's World magazine are proud to announce the winner of the fall Eagles survey goes to Janice Gabriel of Dallas, TX. Janice was one of many participants whom went online at Birder's World to tell their favorite experiences with eagles in the field. Janice was awarded a Nikon Monarch 8x36 binocular for her wonderful efforts. We know Janice will be pleased with the wonderful contrast, clarity, and durability that the Monarch has.

Birder's World will continue to offer these surveys through the summer of 2010. The next contest will be "Warblers!" We encourage all birders to go to Birder's World during the months of October-November and tell us your favorite encounter with a warbler or a group of warblers. We love to hear the different stories that each birder might have and how you interpret what you see in the field. The warbler survey goes live on October 23rd so start brainstorming while you can. I got my story.....do you have yours?

Keep in mind that each participant is included in a grand prize drawing for a Nikon EDG binocular next summer, so keep getting those surveys in to us! Good luck to everyone.

The fall is really just setting in here in Colorado and the one bird I keep an eye out for is Sabine's Gulls. They typically arrive near the end of September here on the Front Range and they usually carry through the end of October for their primary time of migration. This year has been a little slow, but things are picking up and Colorado birders are now seeing these birds in typical fashion. During that time frame, these guys usually show up on the larger lakes occupying their flight in the deepest parts of the water. I have seen these birds on smaller ponds, but not too often. Sabine's Gulls are one of the more easy to identify gulls given a very distinct flight and wing pattern they have.

Notice the brown speckled shading above on the mantle and some of the wing coverts. This is indicative of a juvenile of which accounts for most of the Sabine's Gulls in Colorado. This area would be gray on an adult to go along with a very distinctive black hood. The white and black wedges on the wings are on the bird year-round and usually can be spotted from a distance. These juveniles will retain their feathers until after their fall migration on their wintering grounds on the southern west coast of the United States staying mainly pelagic during those months.


I would like to thank Bill Schmoker (Nikon Birding ProStaff), whom provided these photographs for this post. He uses a Nikon D2X and a 200-400 AF-S VR F/4 Nikkor lens. I encourage everyone to check out his gallery linked here for photographs of over 550 species.

I can't wait to head out today to try and find one of these guys myself. Good Birding!

Hello fellow birders! I hope the fall is treating you all well. Check out Forrest's comments on the Nikon Monarch X binocular. This is one of Nikon's newest lines and is surpassed by no other optic in this price range of just under $600. Dielectric coatings are the major feature here assisting in 10% greater light transmission with all of the rugged qualities of the Monarch.

Okay, I am off to look for migrants, so wish me luck. All the best birding to you!