Get yourself a good pair of binoculars and maybe even a harness so that you can be hands-free. You want make sure it has some of the following features: good magnification (likely 8 or 10), good field of view (likely 32 or 42), water/fog proof, and rubber coating.
Get an account like eBird in order to improve your birdwatching skills. It provides a helpful list of potential options based on your location. It also tracks, sensitive, threatened, endangered, and rare species in the checklist. Accounts are free.
We are launching our Tuesday Tips to regularly post tips on topics you care about. We welcome suggestions. The Current Theme is: Birdwatching An easy way to learn about birds is to join a local Audubon Society, take a bird identification class, or download an app like Merlin. This allows you to improve your skills related to bird calls and songs as well as visual identification.