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The Take A Kid Birding® Package The perfect gift for the budding young naturalist! By Laura Guerard, Manger Bird Cape May On-line
SYNOPSIS: The Take A Kid Birding® Package combines all of the basic tools that every young birder needs:
The Take A Kid Birding® package takes the guess work out of choosing the basic bird watching tools for your child, niece, grandson or even the kid next door. We took a top notch pair of binoculars (and the best for youth, especially at this price, that I have ever seen) and added the best field guide for beginning birders. To round out the package we also put Pete’s guide to bird watching into the mix to answer any questions on “how-to”. The cherry on top is a "Take A Kid Birding®" bumper sticker. Let’s start with the guides. I first met Kenn Kaufman, the author of the Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America, when I worked at the Audubon Camp in Maine on Hog Island. After spending time with Kenn, I learned that he is a natural when it comes to understanding how people learn about birds and bird identification. So it is only fitting that he would create what I regard as the number one field guide for beginning birders (not just young birders). Unlike field guides that use a single photograph to represent a species—which presents challenges due to the fact that you are viewing one individual of that species who’s “look” can vary depending on time of year, and plumage wear. Kenn uses digitally edited and enhanced images so that the field marks that you would expect to see on a bird in “real life” are there, which makes identification easier. Taking it one step further, he also chose background colors for each of the images that help highlight and not camouflage any distinguishing characteristics. This attention to detail and design is what makes this guide so user-friendly. The Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America has additional smart features such as the pictorial table of contents that organizes birds based on shape. This presents a mentor with an educational opportunity when working with a young birder to decide if a bird belongs in the “sparrow” group versus the “warbler” group for example. The color coded tabs (associated with each group) allow you to easily find the correct section in the guide without memorizing taxonomic groups and order which, is a lot to ask of a beginning birder much less a young birder. Once you and a young birder have narrowed down the identification to a given page in the field guide, you are presented with the species that you are most likely to encounter (i.e. the most common) at the top of the page with the less frequent, and rarer, species towards the bottom of the page. Bird watching for Pete Dunne is like getting dressed in the morning, meaning it is second nature. That is why a book written by Pete on the How-to, When-to and Where-to of bird watching is no doubt filled with personal, first hand tips that will help you and a young birder get the most out of your birding adventures! It took me years to learn a fraction of what I read in one afternoon. This book will help mentors answer questions that they have and help prepare them for the questions a young birder will have. In Pete Dunne on Bird Watching, Pete breaks it down so that anyone can find something useful. It starts with “Backyard Birding” which is one of America’s fastest growing hobbies. Next he delves into “Tools of the Trade—Binoculars and a Field Guide” (see a pattern with the Take A Kid Birding package?); “Fundamentals of Birding”; “Resources” including the social scene, clubs tours and events; “Finding and Facing Challenges”; “Tips” and, most importantly; “Ethics and Responsibilities” including “The Etiquette of Birding” and “Courtesy to nonbirders”. You may even want to read some of these sections together with a young birder and discuss—before your trip, while traveling to your birding destination, and/or, while out in the field for reinforcement. This book covers all of the basics and then some. The only thing better would be to have Pete in your pocket! Lastly, and most importantly, the binoculars. The release of the Yosemite 6x30 was preceded by a rumor that Leupold was about to introduce THE binocular for young birders. I heard the rumor, I was skeptical. I knew that coming from a company like Leupold the glass would be good but stating that it would be the best, even good, for young birders was a large statement. I have birded with youth from pre-school age to teens. Most binoculars touted to be “kid friendly” are about as good as two toilet paper rolls taped together with saran wrap serving as the lenses. I have seen numerous youth frustrated that they couldn’t find a bird or see it with their binoculars when it was in clear view. One look through their binoculars and I knew why—it wasn’t the birder, it was the optics. As a mentor remember: no matter how old you are, if bird watching is frustrating then you will not enjoy it and probably will not want to continue. Since the Leupold Yosemite is made for birders of all ages, it is a binocular kids can use until they have kids. The Leupold Yosemite is in many ways frustration-proof. The high quality lenses provide a young birder with a clear image edge-to-edge with good color accuracy. A 6x magnification reduces the potential for distortion from unsteady hands or when viewing from a boat, yet provides definition and contrast in less than perfect light conditions. They are 100% waterproof. At only 17 oz, kids will want to carry them. With an interpupillary distance of 50.0-70.0 mm young birders with small faces and thus closer set eyes will be able to adjust the barrels so that viewing is comfortable. The field of view (420 ft @ 1000yds) is generous which makes viewing and finding birds (especially moving ones) much easier to do. The overall size of the porro prism body is small which makes it easier to use by those with small hands and the focus wheel is big enough that you can turn it with a mitten on! The only downfall of the porro prism design is that kids with very small hands may have trouble fitting their hands around the barrel in order to reach the focus wheel. However, I have never seen this first hand. I am such a fan of the Yosemite that I asked Leupold if they would donate a pair for the Young Birder's Photo Quiz Grand Prize and they graciously agreed. Thanks Leupold for forging the gap between kids and birding! In a nutshell, the Take A Kid Birding® Package combines all of the basic tools a young birder needs to get started. We have priced this package as low as we can at $100 member’s price (items sold separately retail for about $150) because we want mentors and youth to be able to get out and explore without cost being the limiting factor.
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