Essential Accessories Every Birder Needs

A neck strap is fine for ten minutes. After an hour of birding, you want a harness. The Swarovski harness distributes binocular weight across your shoulders and back instead of your neck, which makes a dramatic difference on long walks. The X-shaped design keeps binoculars centered on your chest, high enough to grab quickly but secure enough that they don't swing when you bend over. The connectors are universal — they work with any binoculars, not just Swarovski. At $60, it's the cheapest upgrade that makes the biggest daily difference.

Every birder should keep field notes. Writing down what you see — the habitat, the behavior, the weather, the time — deepens your observation skills more than any app. But regular notebooks disintegrate the first time it rains. Rite in the Rain notebooks use a proprietary paper that sheds water completely. You can write in pouring rain with a pencil or an all-weather pen and the notes stay legible. The pocket-sized (4.625 x 7") format fits in a cargo pocket or pack lid. At $8, there's no reason not to carry one.

Between Merlin bird ID, eBird logging, GPS mapping, and photography, a modern birding outing drains your phone fast. The Anker 20K has enough capacity to fully charge an iPhone five times over, which means a full weekend of birding without worrying about outlets. The dual USB-C ports deliver fast charging, and the battery indicator shows remaining capacity at a glance. At 12.5 oz, it's not featherweight, but the peace of mind is worth it. We keep one permanently in our birding pack and top it off between outings.

Mosquitoes can end a birding session faster than bad weather. The Thermacell E55 creates a 20-foot zone of protection without sprays, lotions, or DEET smell. It heats a small repellent pad that disperses allethrin, a synthetic version of a natural chrysanthemum extract. Within 15 minutes, mosquitoes clear out of the area. It's rechargeable via USB-C, runs for 5.5 hours per charge, and each refill cartridge lasts 12 hours. We clip it to our pack strap and forget about it. By the time we've set up at a birding spot, the zone is clear.