Fun with Binoculars

As wonderful as binoculars are for viewing birds, they can also be used to look at things much closer, or much farther, than any wild bird could be.

Binoculars as Magnifying Glasses: Just about everyone who has ever held a pair of binoculars quickly notices that when you look through them backward, things around you appear tiny and distant. But that is true only of things that are more than a few inches away. When you pull things extremely close, those binoculars you got for viewing distant birds are suddenly transformed into extraordinarily keen magnifying glasses. You can suddenly see tiny structures within flowers, the barbs and barbules of a feather, the whorls and squiggles of your own fingerprints. Of course you need to be careful not to actually touch the ocular lens glass with the objects you’re viewing, but with some care you can get some of the crispest detail on close objects you can imagine!

Binoculars for Star Gazing: Binoculars are also useful for looking at stars. You won’t see nearly as many as you can through a telescope, but you can often see the moons of Jupiter or Saturn, and a lot of detail on the surface of the moon.

When you are out during a solar eclipse, you can view it with your binoculars. Notice I didn’t say THROUGH your binoculars—that would be extremely dangerous for your eyes! But you can project the eclipse through the binoculars onto the ground (flat pavement or a stiff sheet of paper or cardboard on any rougher surface), and that will allow you to see it literally doubly well. Enjoy!

Binoculars for Viewing Insects and Other Small Creatures: Binoculars, especially those with close-focusing capabilities, are great for looking at insects, frogs, and other tiny creatures. A great many birders have started watching dragonflies and/or butterflies as well as birds.

~ Laura Erickson