Re: [Killietalk] Finding eggs

[Wright Huntley <whuntley at verizon_net>]

*Richard Arline <pb1212bba at bellsouth_net> wrote:*

>  Hello all,
>
>  For those of us whose eyesight is not what it used to be, what do you
>  use to search for eggs and where would be the best source of
>  acquiring such implements?
>
>  Richard Arline Hollywood FL

Magnification always helps, but low power is best. I have to wear 
glasses, so reading glasses are out as they don't do diddly for bad 
astgmatism. I like the loupes used by jewelers and machinists that clamp 
to the bow of your regular glasses and allow about a 2 diopter lens to 
swivel in front of your dominant eye, when you want a close-up look. Try 
Edmund Scientific. Harbor Freight often carries cheap hoods that go over 
regular glasses to give a 2 or 3X magnification. I find them tiring to 
wear, compared to the clip-on loupes.

Illumination and the container are also important. Best of all is a 
light table or slide-sorter, but I get almost the same effect with a 
shallow white bowl and a high-intensity halogen reading lamp (50W min. 
and 100 is better). By looking at the bowl from about 45 degrees above 
it, and having the lamp directly across at about that angle, light 
reflects off the bowl such that amber eggs light up as bits of peat are 
dragged across the brightly lit center. Eggs, particularly older and 
darker eggs, are much easier to see when the light shines through them 
than when it is just reflected. Most get dull and hard to see through 
the peat that gets attached to them in reflected light.

The third essential tool is a well-trained brain. Finding eggs gets far 
easier after you have found a lot. Your "pattern recognizer" needs to be 
muscled up by repetitive exercise. :-)

Wright

--
Wright Huntley - Rt. 001 Box K36, Bishop CA 93514 - whuntley at verizon_net
                     760 872-3995

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