I now rarely carry a paper version of a birding field guide, since all of the major references have become available as iPhone apps. My iPhone currently has Sibley Birds, iBird Plus. BirdsEurope and Audubon Owls. With a pending trip far away, I realized I should get a field guide for that area, but somehow, came to the conclusion that I would have to be satisfied with a paper version.

Well, Birds Of the Middle East, Second Edition, one of the Princeton Field Guides, is a fine book, and as purchased through Amazon and shipping including tax for $28, a very reasonable buy, but, at 25 oz, not quite so light traveler and carry-on friendly.

Tonight I idly entered into the Apple App Store search function, the title above, and found, aargh, for $20.99, the eGuides Birds Of The Middle East! The reference material appears to be the same, though the app will include bird songs for half the 800 species, and will weigh....nothing. Obviously, I'll buy it, but will use the paper version for preliminary study at home, then download the eGuide just before I leave.

The same vendor also offers references for other world areas, such as the Indian subcontinent, and...turns out to be the vendor behind my Sibley's! Anyway, DO check for similar sorts of references prior to purchasing paper versions.

What binoculars do you use when you are traveling with the One Bag philosophy, when you go birding, especially overseas?

My nephew seems to be bitten by the birding bug; he's taken to planning his vacations around what birds he wants to see. He's young, travels light (hostel living), and is on a budget; so, I'm thinking a decent pair of travel binoculars would be a good present for him.

For my pending trip, I plan to take these Vortex Viper 10 x 28's:

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/vortex/vortex-viper-10x28-binocular

Probably 8X is a better general purpose birding binocular; I bought this pair in 10X, on the expectation that I would use them for situations when I would not be taking a spotting scope. If your nephew already has binoculars, perhaps you might want to consider an inexpensive spotting scope, such as:

http://www.eagleoptics.com/spotting-scopes/vortex/vortex-nomad-20-60x60-angled-spotting-scope

Rather rather more expensive is the new Vortex Razor HD 11-33 x 50 scope, less than half the size of my current Swarovski ATS65HD; I am not sure if a $700 scope is a good choice for hostel based travel.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/spotting-scopes/vortex/vortex-nomad-20-60x60-angled-spotting-scope

Wrong link for the second scope, which should be;

http://www.eagleoptics.com/spotting-scopes/vortex/vortex-razor-hd-11-33x50-angled-spotting-scope

This just-introduced model looks very much like one of the Nikon scopes:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/426150-REG/Nikon_8321_Fieldscope_ED50_A_2_0_50mm.html

but the zoom range is a bit different one model to the other, and the Vortex at least lists a usefully longer eye relief.

Most books and reference guides offer an electronic version.
Regards.

Thank you for the tips Alan.

As for the cost, my nephew already learned the hard way to leave nothing of value in your hostel room. He left his iPad when he went for a hike; no more iPad. He did not listen to his uncle. Now he takes anything he doesn't want stolen with him everywhere. Or, at least until he can afford better accomadations.