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WHERE TO BUY STUFF ....

There are a small number of specialist stores in the Montréal area that serve the birding community and several others that specialize in one or other line of specialist equipment.

Books etc ........ you can visit the store below for helpful and knowledgeable service, or - because the prices cannot be beaten, frankly - you can purchase most birding books on-line from Amazon.ca using the links in the column on the left of this page. By using these links you will get probably the best discounts available anywhere. The top link will take you directly to a pre-selection of relevant titles.

WILDLIFERS
A small, friendly store in the western end of Montreal (Baie d'Urfé shopping plaza - junction of Morgan with Autoroute 20). Specialises in Swarovski and Bushnell optics, field guides, feeders, seeds etc. Good place to tap into recent sightings and check what's happening.

Call them on 514-457-4144 or visit www.wildlifers.ca

Other stores
A selection, albeit not as wide, of field guides etc can be bought in the usual book stores (no shortage of those in the city) or on the web …… Amazon.ca probably have a wider range than do Chapters but both give good discounts so it's worth comparison shopping. In addition, Amazon now make second-hand books available on-line through a selection of dealers and that is certainly an option worth pursuing given that even the shiniest new book looks very "second-hand" after a couple of wet-weather birding trips.

OPTICS ......

The single most important item in your armoury - and one you are probably already well equipped with before you found this site. However, in case you are new to birding, looking for a replacement or a trade-up in quality or even seeking a present for someone, here are some things to bear in mind :

• Cliché or not, it is very true that with optics you do tend to get what you pay for. You don't have to spend a fortune by any means but do try to avoid making false economies
• Inappropriate, bad or inadequate optics will spoil your enjoyment
• Try before you buy - and buy from a specialist who understands birding and can advise you personallyIn general, at the top of the list for quality (and, sadly, price) will always come Zeiss and Leica (German), Swarovsky (Austrian), Bausch & Lombe (American), Nikon, Kowa and Pentax (Japanese) followed at some distance by a range of lower quality but nevertheless pretty adequate equipment for much more reasonable prices from makers such as Swift or Eagle Optics ………….. and then there's the rest who we will not be mentioning any further.

At the top of the market there is very little to choose between the makes in terms of optical performance and the assumption that they will last a lifetime and are strong enough to withstand tough handling in the field is a given (as a dealer once told us "you could kill bears with that model"). You can make your choice amongst any of these makers on personal preference, feel and general ergonomics. Even finally selecting because of a nice logo or fancy colour is OK as they are all as good as you can get and will serve you well for many, many years.

In the middle range, price is clearly more of a factor and only you can tell what suits - but do look for a few basic features which we will discuss below. Lower down is lower down and we don't want you to go there and so won't discuss the options.

The specialist birding stores in the Montreal area whom we would recommend visiting to discuss your needs are Wildlifers at the western end of Montreal (they specialize in Bausch & Lombe equipment) and CCFA in the eastern suburbs (a huge range of many different makes). They are not the only stores, but we have dealt with them personally and assure you that they know their business.

CHOOSING OPTICS - WHAT TO LOOK FOR

There are innumerable sources on the web who will run through the benefits or otherwise of selecting 8x42, 10x42, full size or compact binoculars and there is no point in us reinventing the wheel by going through it again. Here we tell you what you really need to look for -

• Go to a reputable dealer who understands birders needs rather than one used to selling to people watching a horse or motor race. Take his/her advice.
• If you aren't allowed to try the binoculars/scope out in the open air go elsewhere.
• Firstly - choose the biggest, brightest image you can find in your price bracket. It is a sad but inescapable fact that most of the interesting birds will be seen at dawn/sunset and/or hiding in dense and shady foliage ….. hence if you are going to see the subtle field marks you want as much light gathering power as possible.
• Secondly focus on a distant object and then with it centered in the field of view look at the very edge of the image. If it is in any way out of focus don't buy - a lens should always give you a "flat" field of view that is sharp from edge to edge. If not, then a long day birding is going to make your eyes very weary indeed. Modern lenses can provide this at reasonable cost so don't be persuaded that it doesn't matter - it does.
• Look at the edges of distant objects in focus - is there any evidence of colour fringing along the edges? If there is then don't buy. Light of different colours is of different wavelengths and so comes to focus at different points - a well designed achromatic lens will compensate for this and bring all the colours into focus together. Very important.
• Do you wear eye-glasses? Make sure that the eye relief provided is satisfactory for your prescription so that when using your optics you don't have to have the equipment pressed hard against your spectacles. When I was buying my current binoculars the choice between Swarovsky and Leica was made for me solely on the fact that Leica give me about an additional 1mm of relief - it makes a huge difference. Comfort is important.If you follow the various links we have provided you can find out more about the preferred ranges of equipment.

The ultimate choice is one of what can you afford and how comfortable are you using it for a long day in the field.

FIELD GUIDES AND OTHER RELEVANT BOOKS ....

This is a minefield - there are so many guides that - personal opinion - none are universally perfect and a selection is needed. The trouble is that you don't want to carry more than one of them into the field with you, so what should it be. Here are some thoughts :

Firstly, a truly local guide does not exist and, with one solitary exception, all the ones available deal with the birds of the eastern half of the whole continent - so you have to check range maps carefully or else you risk "seeing" birds local to Florida at the Lachine rapids. Not a big problem but one to be aware of.

The most local guide - and a good one too - is available in French only. It goes under the title of Oiseaux de Québec et des Maritimes and you ought to have a copy. The index is bilingual so you don't have to struggle with two names for every bird (though it helps around here if you can) but all the birds you will see are there and none of the ones you won't - plus the illustrations are not at all bad. It has the additional advantage that an awful lot of birders you meet in the field will be francophone and you need to be able to communicate with them - knowing the name they have for a bird helps an awful lot if you have to ask them where the lifer you need is lurking ….. and vice versa of course.

For a good and universally useful Eastern North America field guide then the top choices in order of our preference would be as follows -

First (by a long way) - Sibley

Then : National Geographic and Kaufmann

"What, no Peterson??!!" you say. They were the first, they were the best but now they are not quite state of the art in this field. If you want a general eastern book in French you have little choice but otherwise they are no longer up there with the leaders. You may disagree, many will (if only from sentiment having grown up with them), but that's our opinion.