Sine we are...at least pretending.. to be birding, you can reminisce about the experiences you had with the first binoculars. I even had a crane with mine, so I must have had some fun with them. Mine were 12x25, double hinged.
Rather than list the birds here, they are in my blog
link
first 20
1. Eurasian starling (2.23.2003)
2. American Crow
3. northern mockingbird
4. northern cardinal
5. mourning dove
6. house sparrow
7. house finch
8. red winged blackbird
9. american robin
10. tufted titmouse
11. dark-eyed junco
12. american goldfinch
13. downy woodpecker
14. white-throated sparrow
15. killdeer
16. red-bellied woodpecker
17. bluejay
18. eastern phoebe
19. brown-headed cowbird
20. turkey vulture
by 55 a few neat ones
49. Clark’s nutcracker (Alberta)
50. Gray Jay (Alberta)
51. Common Raven (Alberta)
52. Song sparrow (Alberta)
53. Chipping Sparrow (Alberta)
54. Great horned owl (Alberta, mobbed)
55. American avocet (Saskatchewan)
First binoculars - zero (or none acknowledged). Bought my first pair, the horrific Simmons Redline 10x50 during the time Hale-Bopp comet came out. I happily used them for camping, mostly looking at landscape for possible wildlife. Short eye relief, fixed focus (gag).
It wasn't until I got a 400mm lens for my Pentax at the time that I wanted glasses for serious viewing. Fortunately, I had parlayed my Simmons into the better AETEC which is actually rather decent glass. Unfortunately I was still under the impression that power was the main performance metric and used heavy binocs I couldn't hold steady, and which also had low eye relief. Did find approximately 75 birds with those starting with Northern Shoveler, Western Sandpiper and many of the usual Southern Cali birds near the coast in Spring.
Now, 20+ pairs later, and a host of spotting scopes (thanks Fleabay), I've pared my kit down to pretty much only what I use (been there/done that with collecting - no real inteste in a museum of good glass going to non-use).
Nice question. In the early 1970's my parents bought me a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena 17 x 50. Just looked but can't find them on the web. They were big for a child, but I learnt to hold them (have wondered whether this experience as a young boy means I don't mind hand-holding heavier & higher powered bins).
Anyway we had a disused railway line embankment at the end of the 120 foot garden, so I'd get up early, jump over the fence and walk along it; and onto the farmers fields the other side of the embankment to the small river.
The birds I remember my bins first helping me with were my first skylarks rising up & up from the long dew covered grassy fields. And partridges & lapwings. And kingfishers flitting along the river. I'd get back for breakfast with muddy shoes and trousers wet almost to the knee.
Lovely quiet English countryside memories.