1826: Birdwatching

2017-04-19T12:20:24Z

Matanarie: /* Explanation */ "Randall neither confirms nor denies"? Was he asked?

{{comic
| number = 1826
| date = April 19, 2017
| title = Birdwatching
| image = birdwatching_small.png
| titletext = No, tell the park rangers to calm down, it's fine--I put a screen on the front. I just want to get the birds a little closer.
}}

==Explanation==

This comic was published with a large picture size, much larger than the standard screen. This is deliberate, evidenced by the image name: [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/birdwatching_huge.png birdwatching_huge.png]. This is intended to replicate [[Cueball]]'s frustration with birdwatching, as the experience of scrolling through a large image on a small screen mirrors that of looking through the large sky using binoculars that, due to their amplification, cover only a small area of the sky.

The actual joke of the comic appears to be that Cueball wants to use the vacuum cleaner to pull in the birds. This is physically impossible with such a small device. Even if the shop vac created a perfect vacuum, it can only pull out air at the speed of sound, which amounts to approximately 1 cubic meter per second considering the apparent size of the hose. This is not enough to create a significant amount of wind or affect the atmosphere.

The title text refers to park rangers, who would naturally be distressed by birds being forced to coalesce via an extremely powerful vacuum. If such a vacuum were created and used for this purpose, it probably would pose a threat to said birds. Cueball says he has solved this problem by placing a perforated screen in front. In doing so, he can safely attract the birds without trapping them inside the vacuum. He implies that this should remove the danger to the birds, which is not the case. While the birds can no longer enter the vacuum itself, having a large number of birds pulled into a (presumably small) screen would probably fare poorly for the birds, so Cueball's solution is rather poor.

Randall neither confirms nor denies{{cn}} that this is related to [[1719: Superzoom]], which also features a camera and birdwatching.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball and Beanie Man are standing with camera and binoculars.]
:Cueball: Birdwatching is hard. They're all too small and far away.

:[Both raise tool eyepiece.]
:Cueball: That Hawk is over a mile up! How did you even spot it?

:[Both, lower eyepiece. Cueball looks down, fuming.]

:[Cueball now has a SHOP VAC and has it pointed to the sky.]
:Shop Vac: WHRRRRRR
:[Beanie Guy looks at Cueball, confused.]

:title text: No, tell the park rangers to calm down, it's fine--I put a screen on the front. I just want to get the birds a little closer.
{{comic discussion}}

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1826: Birdwatching