Thanks Paul, good to hear that recommendation since I'd already read a recommendation of that very pair of binocs elsewhere. Are they reasonably light (without being too light, of course?) I do intend to take them everywhere--on our brief trips recently we've seen most of the shore birds in Florida already, but I've not identified them all yet. The loons are very familiar to us, since we have them at our summer home on the Ottawa River (a major flyway for Canada Geese, btw.) I will definitely try these binoculars before I buy them. Thanks again.