Irresponsibility, the winner is... (1 Viewer)

Yup, we've all skipped a day of work, left the partner indoors or abandoned the kids in favour of a rarity, and the infamous Lee went birding on the day of his wedding, but a genuine question of interest, what is the most irresponsible thing you have done (or not done) in order to go birding?

I am wrestling with a dilemma and want to know if I really would be the worst on the planet

Jos Stratford said:

I am wrestling with a dilemna and want to know if I really would be the worst on the planet

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Brave/foolhardy??? . . :eek!: . . Those alien space beasties are pretty nasssssty bits of work . . . . best call Sigourney real quick . . . :eek!:

dantheman said:

Brave/foolhardy??? . . :eek!: . . Those alien space beasties are pretty nasssssty bits of work . . . . best call Sigourney real quick . . . :eek!:

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Or even a dilemma

Most irresponsible birding act, perhaps leaving a German exam at the earliest possibility to go see a Squacco Heron a few miles away. Hmm, come to think of it, it wasn't that irresponsible, spent all day with the bird and got a first for the exam.

Come on Jos, 'fess up. What did you do?!
I can't go further than the day off work/jilted a girl - unless you count the time I got a lift from a birding mate in his new car, which he wrote off on the way (fell asleep at the wheel) & was taken to hospital, along with one other birder - I carried on to Scillies - well otherwise I might have missed the Common nighthawk. On my list!

I twitched the Easington White's Thrush pushing a date off for a few hours, dipped the bird and then got dumped the next day for making her wait.

Hotspur said:

I twitched the Easington White's Thrush pushing a date off for a few hours, dipped the bird and then got dumped the next day for making her wait.

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Aah, but isn't that a good thing? (2nd part anyway). Part of the weeding out process to find a suitable 'birding friendly' partner??

True but i was looking for a good time not a long time at the time

Hotspur said:

True but i was looking for a good time not a long time at the time

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Believe me she was crap in bed anyway

For the most part, spending money I shouldn't and/or don't have to travel for birding. I was especially bad about that when I lived in Florida, with so many rarities to be chased, so few reachable by bike... especially from Miami, where biking would have been suicide anyway.

I've made a few excuses and took a few chances in order to go birding, but I'm not sure how many you could describe as irresponsible.

I've phoned in work sick occasionally in order to go birding and not told the wife - fingers crossed she doesn't phone me in work :eek!: Thank goodness for mobile phones these days! I guess that's irresponsible if either the boss / wife finds out. I ticked off Black Brant and Red-footed Falcon that way.

I also went birding on my way to the hospital to see my youngest lad born. Sounds bad perhaps, but it was a cesarean and I had a specific time to be there, so I don't think it was exactly irresponsible.

One Saturday afternoon in 1994, I took my 4 month old son to see Rose-coloured Starling at Moelfre on Anglesey. My wife thought we were going to Martin Mere. Just past Conwy, the car broke down in a big traffic jam. The AA came out, "fixed" it, but just past Menai Bridge it went again. Rather than phone the AA immediately, I managed to limp the car to Moelfre by making sure that I never stopped, i.e. I had to keep it moving at every junction. Once at Moelfre I phoned the AA, and whilst we waited for them, took my son for a walk in his pram and ticked the RCS. We got back to the car just as the AA turned up, and were home for 8pm. Wife non the wiser, although she was slightly suspicious about why we were so late back from Martin Mere!

I guess the worst thing I've done though, and something which still haunts me to this day was at Stag Rocks at Bamburgh. We were staying in the area on a family holiday. My eldest lad was about 6 months old at the time, and I took him out by myself in one of those rucksack type baby carrying things (i.e. he was on my back). It was March, and I was watching some Purple Sandpipers on the edge of the rocks. I tried to get a bit closer, by walking on the rocks, and I slipped. I was right on the edge of the sea and only by some miracle did I manage to stop both of us going in. It was cold and there was quite a swell, and I really don't know how I would have got out, especially with a 6 month old baby on my back. That was really irresponsible.

The worst thing I suppose I've done is phoned in sick, because I didn't fancy going to work, and then gone birding.

In May 1991 I passed an exam I didn't take by leaving my university in Beijing to spend a few days "guiding" for "foreign expert" birders (birding mates from Hong Kong) at Beidaihe.

Not really irresponsible as the date of the exam was brought forward while I was away.

At that time in China it reflected badly on the teacher if a student failed an exam, so he put me in the middle of the class - 65% - fantastic!

Cheers
Mike

I guess to date most of my birding acts have only been irresponsible to my own safety, birding the hinterlands of Afghanstan, picking my way through a mined area in Eritrea and the like, occasional encounters with beasties where perhaps it wasn't so wise to walk, but the reality I have never considered any of them outwardly risky. I guess potentially a tad insensitive, if not irresponsible, was picking my way across the devastation of the tsunami, then (though admittedly numbed by the dead around me) scanning for terns on the beach ...she who I was travelling with would not speak to me after that!

However, in answer to this ...

Come on Jos, 'fess up. What did you do?!

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It is not what I did, but what I am going to do, I am already ashamed and I haven't even done it yet

ok, so what are you planning to do?

Coigach said:

Thank goodness for mobile phones these days! I guess that's irresponsible if either the boss / wife finds out.

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I presume neither ever log onto BirdForum

Went for the Cumbrian Spanish sparrow the day after getting married.

Told a girl I was a long relationship with that I couldn't make our lets 'sort our relationship out' meeting because I was going for a laughing gull. In the end failed to get a lift (didn't own a car then) and was dumped anyway. 'You cared more about the bird than us.' Actually I didn't, I was nuts on her, but foolishly thought I could have both. Eventually saw the bird but never got more than a 'one for old times sake and we can still be friends' with the girl.

Oh and off to South Africa for 4 weeks, in a couple of days, after a very difficult patch in my marriage. Perhaps I'll add more to this thread when I get back and find quite how foolish that turns out to be!

Steve Babbs said:

Oh and off to South Africa for 4 weeks, in a couple of days, after a very difficult patch in my marriage. Perhaps I'll add more to this thread when I get back and find quite how foolish that turns out to be!

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Bravo, that's one post I like

More and more spring to mind. Put off a date for collared flycatcher - which I didn't even 'need'. I was trying to convince the woman involved I wasn't totally unreliable anyway and that she should give me the benefit of the doubt. Not surprisingly we weren't allowed to be more than friends after that either. I dipped the flycatcher as well. We did become friends for long enough for me to realise I'd made a big mistake.