GO GADGETS:IT DOESN'T quite provide the birder's satisfaction of lying in the long grass for several days to catch a glimpse of a grey phalarope or Swainson's thrush, but a few practised toots on an audubon bird caller (€7.95 including postage from www.nznature.com) stands a good chance of attracting the attention of any feathered friends in the neighbourhood.
This little device has a pewter stem inside a timber housing, and is tidy enough to lie forgotten in a pocket until you and the local winged wildlife cross flight paths.
• Those hundreds of "twitters" who travelled from across the State, the UK and even mainland Europe to see something as rare as the little blue heron that recently landed near Letterfrack in Co Galway, having been blown off course from the southern United States, will want to make sure that they have the best view possible.
Canon's 18x50 Image Stabilizer binoculars (above, a mere, er, €1,590 from www.canon.ie) will do the trick. They use the same image stabilisation technology as high-end camcorders, with a prism that automatically adjusts to maintain a steady image, which in turn prevents eye strain and enables watchers to look at their subject for longer. Small birds will never look the same again, and big birds will loom so large that you'll want to run away.
• Since dentists don't fit in suitcases - or, if they did, Ryanair would charge you extra to carry them - it might be easier to pack an Oral B Vitality electric toothbrush (right, €42). A two-minute session with the 8,000rpm spinning head leaves your chompers feeling like the sandblasted exterior of the National Museum of Ireland. The toothbrush vibrates differently to remind you when it's time to stop.
• aharvey@irish-times.ie