Like the rest of the Puget Sound region, we had quite the storm yesterday. Fortunately, the power never went off here at the house. However, it did go out at the shop just as I left last night and is still out. I went in for a while this morning just to check on things but came home after an hour. I have never owned a pair of quality binoculars so I thought I would take a pair of Stokes Broadwing 8x42 and try them out in the backyard. I might as well do a little product research since I have an unplanned day off. I have to tell you, I love these binoculars. They feel good in my hands and give a great image. I also carry the Stokes DLS which retail for a lot more then the Broadwing. The DLS is a fantastic choice if money is not an issue. If you're like me, and you watch where your money goes, I think the Broadwing is a great value. They are very nice binoculars for less then 1/2 the cost of the DLS.
The birds were out in force by the time I made it back to the house. All of the feeders were seeing action so we had plenty to watch. Here is our list from just an hour or so of watching from the deck.
Juncos Black-capped Chickadees Varied Thrush Towhees California Quail Starlings Crows Kinglet Downy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (I think) Northern Flicker Pine Siskin Purple Finch Nuthatch House Sparrows Pileated Woodpecker (By call, not sight)
The high point was watching a pair of Downy Woodpeckers interact with each other. They mirrored each others movements up and down our prune tree.
