Written by: Žygimantė Vakarė Jovaišaitė
Featuring: Boris Belchev

General Interest

Birding with Thermal:
More Discoveries, Less Disturbance

Choosing the right equipment for birding is essential, with binoculars being a must-have. But now, you can spot more and more birdwatchers armored with thermal imaging devices. One of them is Boris Belchev – a Lithuanian ecologist, nature tour guide, and photographer, who is happy to share how thermal vision transformed his daily activities.

Can you tell me about your first time using thermal imaging binoculars?

The first time I used a Pulsar device – it was the Accolade binoculars – was transformative; I pointed it into a familiar forest – one I used to drive by all the time – and I was shocked by the wildlife activity I’d never noticed before. Thermal vision opened a new world for me, one I could only dream of years ago.

It’s only been a few years since my first look through thermal binoculars, but technology has evolved a lot. After the Accolade, I used the Pulsar Merger LRF XL50, now I’m onto the Merger Duo NXP50.

The jump in quality is really hard to describe. Both of these display incredible images in any weather, have great sensors, and, very importantly, have wide fields of view, so I can scan big areas in little time.

Obviously, the image quality is great. Plus, the Merger Duo NXP50 also has a night vision channel, which works really well when observing birds and other animals from shorter distances at night. On the other hand, Merger LRF XL50 has a huge sensor resolution, so you get more details.

And what’s the most wonderful thing you saw in this new world so far?

One memorable discovery was watching the great snipe’s courtship behavior, which I hadn’t seen before, as it usually takes place in the darkness. Seeing the birds’ jumping and wing-flapping fights through thermal vision was awe-inspiring.

I also spend a lot of time watching owls and showing them to my guests. Before thermal vision, we relied on car lights to spot nocturnal birds. Now, I can point my thermal imaging binoculars and enjoy the view without disturbing the owls – both flashlights and headlights scare the birds and cause stress to them, while thermals make the process discrete and calm. Plus, I can transmit the image I see to my smartphone real-time, enabling my guests to see the bird at the same time.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that thermal vision has way more benefits than just enjoying the views of nocturnal birds. What would you name as the key ones?

I think the greatest benefit is the ability to spot birds and even mammals without disturbing them. Thermal vision devices detect birds by their heat signatures, helping us find well-camouflaged species and observe their behaviors. The high resolution allows us to differentiate bird species more easily and even identify nests without causing disruption.

I love that Pulsar devices also have a sound recording function. It’s absolutely crucial for documenting bird calls, which are often key for recognizing a bird species.

I have also used Pulsar thermal imaging binoculars on certain expeditions, like catching sea ducks in the Baltic Sea. Before thermal, we would have to use flashlights to find the birds. Now, we can spot them from afar, approach silently, and only turn on the lights at the very last second before scooping the birds up. This allowed us to reach the quota much faster while also causing less stress to the birds.

So yes, I’d say the ability to avoid disturbing the birds and other mammals is the biggest benefit of thermal vision.

Do you think thermal vision will change birding for good?

Actually, I think it has already revolutionized nature guiding and conservation, allowing us to observe and document wildlife ethically and efficiently. It’s an exciting advancement, offering hope for the future of nature preservation.

I see more and more people turning to thermal vision for both their work and their hobbies. Scientists, researchers, photographers, nature enthusiasts – they all appreciate the possibility to observe animals from a distance, ensuring minimal impact on their natural behavior, yet receiving a truly informative image.

Speaking of nature preservation – can you elaborate on that? Obviously, the first step is the reduced disturbance of animals, but are there other aspects where thermal can help?

Thermal devices are extremely valuable for spotting distressed birds. A bird in trouble will often lose heat from unusual places – typically, it’s the head and the feet that radiate heat, and in water birds, the rest of the body is carefully protected. But if an animal is sick, in distress, or otherwise unwell, it won’t have the resources to take proper care of its plumage, and, in return, begin radiating heat from other body parts. Noticing these anomalies with the naked eye is practically impossible, but if you’re looking through thermal, you can alert authorities and they will intervene.

Then there’s the issue of invasive species. For example, raccoons pose a growing threat to local bird populations in Lithuania, as they can climb trees and access nests that natural predators can’t reach. Using thermal vision, we can monitor and manage such threats humanely.

Finally, it’s really helpful in doing population accounting, protecting nests and less-common species.

And I would really like to stress that it’s absolutely essential to respect wildlife. Even with advanced tools, we should keep our distance, especially from nests. And I think thermal vision really helps with that – we can discover new things, be more efficient, and, at the same time, retain minimal impact on wildlife.

Products featured in this article:

Pulsar Merger Duo NXP50

£4,279.95

The Merger Goes Multispectral The Merger Duo NXP50 provides users with the detection capabilities of a powerful thermal imaging device and the identification capabilities of a fully-fledged digital night vision device. Plus, with combined viewing mode and Picture-in-Picture, users can even evaluate the terrain around them via the digital night vision channel whilst identifying an…

Find out more

Pulsar Merger LRF XL50

£5,329.95

Clarity at Any Magnification The new Merger LRF XL50 is the first pair of thermal imaging binoculars to offer exceptional levels of thermal clarity throughout its entire magnification range thanks to its powerful 1024×768, 12µm, <40mK thermal sensor and powerful 50mm f1.0 objective lens. Combining this sensor with a powerful 50mm f1.0 objective lens, these…

Find out more