Osprey Tours

  I was given a loan of these Kite APC, image stabilised 14x50 binoculars. I had to do some research as I have never used IS binoculars and after these I will stick to standard binoculars. With most IS binoculars, you have to remember to turn them on and then either remember to turn them off, or there is a timer to save battery, but even so, if you are just quickly looking at something like a bird in a tree, you don’t ideally want the binoculars to be left on for 5 minutes or so before auto powering down.  These are different in that after they are turned on, the can detect a downwards tilt and power down the IS motor.  This is not great if you have them on a tripod, which considering the weight of them, they should be on a tripod.  They are advertised has having 35 hours of battery life. These use ED glass to help with chromatic aberrations which considering the 14x magnification is a good thing. The 50mm lenses do really well in low light levels. The ones I used ca...

 I stayed at Loch Gruinart house, Islay back in September. Located at the north of Islay this guest house is on the edge of Loch Gruinart.  A perfectly cosy little guest house owned by a lovely couple and with great views. The room I stayed in was the ensuite with a great view over the bottom end of Loch Gruinart.  This gave great views of several thousand greylag geese, a golden eagle and the 1st brent geese of the season.  I also had the place to myself so that was great. A great base for birding being a 5 minute drive away from the RSPB hides and unmanned centre. There were also loads of books for guests to read, home made bread for breakfast and Sky tv in the common room. PROS: Great views Comfy bed Friendly owners Great base for birding CONS: No lock on bedroom doors No cooked breakfast No mobile signal and very patchy Wi-Fi SCORE: 8/10.  

  Osprey Tours are a bird watching tour company based in Scotland.  This blog will be a mix of reviews and birding reports                                                                                                                                                                                                          ospreytours.co.uk