I have been in locations twice this summer where bird groups of 10 plus have invaided the area and later reported birds that I did not see all day long. Are they making things up? I was told that some have not so good eyes as they use to and that might be the case. But It also maybe swelled egos on the part of some, that they count more birds than last years count.
Surprisingly, I've been in a group of twenty, where only 2 or 3 of us saw the one bird that popped out for a few seconds, even though we were all basically standing next to each other. With bins, you may be concentrated on one particular spot, and miss it.
I've seen birds that were perched, put down my bins, and couldn't find it again... then later found it, and it was in the same spot. Or could not find the bird someone is pointing to until it flew.
Many also bird by _ear_, so a sighting isn't always required.
