Okay, I've kept this a secret long enough. Most birders tend to think of a spotting scope as a tool for groups such as raptors, marsh birds, waterfowl, gulls, shorebirds and open country sparrows and their allies. What many birders don't realize, however, is that a spotting scope equipped with a low-power, wide angle eyepiece can be used much closer work on popular songbird groups such as warblers, thrushes and woodpeckers.

The key is to use an eyepiece with a seriously wide field of view. On my Kowa 663, I have used both the TSE-14WD 30x wide-angle eyepiece and the TSE-21WD 20x wide angle eyepiece with great success on woodland groups.

The 20x is my favorite for this work. With a field of view of 173' @1000 yards and an eye relief of 20mm, it's about as easy an eyepiece to use as you can find on a spotting scope. At 20x, I often get enough detail on even partially visible birds to cinch an ID. For example, at 8x, the yellow rump on a Yellow-rumped Warbler is sometimes elusive, but not at 20x. Better yet, when the whole bird is visible at 20x in a good scope like the Kowa, the view can't be beat!