Tools Of The Trade

Binoculars:

Vortex "Diamondback", 10x42.  I've had these for... five years, now?  At least?  They've never let me down.  I like them because they just 'fit' me well (apparently my eyes are very close together, because I need to fold the eyepieces in closer than some models allow) and they just feel comfortable in the hand.

Camera:

Fujifilm Finepix HS 25. It may look fancy, but it's basically a point-and-shoot with delusions of grandeur.  It has 30x zoom, which is almost entirely why I bought it (the rest of the reason being that it was on sale).  I'll never get magazine-worthy shots of distant birds, but I usually get enough for diagnostic features (i.e., proof of sightings), so that's good enough.  I don't have the budget or patience to be a hardcore photographer, anyway!

Spotting Scope

Vortex "Viper", adjustable 20-60x zoom. Bought this just last year, after squinting across various ponds at various waterfowl with minimal success. I can already tell that it's going to be one of those things that I don't need to use very often, but when I do it's invaluable.   The Viper certainly wasn't the most expensive scope I could have bought, but it wasn't the cheapest either; it does a good job and it's a little more portable than the next model up.

Reporting
I use eBird to keep track of my sightings, get local notifications, and look up new places to take my weekend hikes. It probably carries a large part of the blame for turning me into the birder I am today (the rest of the blame falls squarely on the Long Point Bird Observatory, but that's a story for another day).  Something about the setup appeals to the anal-retentive organizational part of me that likes seeing pages of observation checklists all neatly sorted by date, location, etc.  And although I don't bird only to grow my life list, there is still something immensely satisfying about being able to add a new species to it.

The handy-dandy BirdLog app which connects to eBird really helps in the field... beats fumbling around with pencil and paper, as far as I'm concerned, and when coupled with a basic GPS tracker (I use RunKeeper, but there are so many similar apps) it's easy to track your time and distance.