The Right Tool

Photo: Young birders using Kosciusko SWCD’s new Vortex binoculars.

BY AMANDA HELTZEL

My dad has always told me that if there is a tool I need to help me do my job well, it’s worth the investment. This has been great advice. When I was a biologist, I needed to keep track of the tiny nuthatches I was studying so I bought a better pair of binoculars. Oftentimes, when we think of tools, we imagine hammers and wrenches—not magnifying glasses, soil probes, or other environmental tools. What we all know is that when we have the right tool for the job, we can expect better outcomes.

The “job” of a student is to learn. We want students to discover the joys and value of the environment through our education programs at Kosciusko County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). This is where birds come in.

Birds are a great entry point for inspiring people to care about nature. Birds are charismatic, inspiring interest in the natural world. They are also accessible. No matter your age, physical ability, location, culture, or any other number of circumstances you too can enjoy watching birds! Birds are also a barometer of environmental health. The presence, absence, and change in behavior of birds are in response to their environment. All of this makes birds an ideal focus for environmental education.

It is exciting to watch students light up when they spot a bird with the right tool for the job – binoculars. Arguably, you don’t need binoculars to enjoy birds, as we can look and listen with just our eyes and ears. However, using binoculars encourages us to focus in on a bird and take time to observe, appreciate, and learn. We have observed that binoculars often increase student engagement in outdoor programming.

With the help of several partners, we are happy to share that we now have a new set of 30 youth binoculars for students to use at our programs! In October 2024, local fourth grade students took them for a test run during our week of field trips to Wildwood in Silver Lake. Over 500 fourth graders from Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw elementary schools had an opportunity to learn about birds and try out binoculars. Students reported seeing white-breasted nuthatches, wood ducks, red-bellied woodpeckers, and more. By a show of hands, every fourth-grade class indicated that birdwatching was their favorite activity of the field trip.

We would like to thank the Tippecanoe Audubon Society, the Indiana Audubon Society Mumford and Keller Grant Program, and Vortex Optics for funding the purchase of binoculars. Thanks to these partners we have been able to put the right tool in the hands of kids so that they can learn to love nature.

Indiana Audubon’s Mumford and Keller program provides funding for natural resource research and projects, with a focus on Indiana’s birdlife. Learn more at indianaaudubon.org/mumfordandkeller.