[Pitvar]

As someone who witnessed the walk past on Saturday and was close enough to have heard the exchange I can confirm the version of events and also that as the person in question walked past me and another birder he flushed a reasonable flock of around 30 waders which included two Little Stint that the chap next to me was scoping. A few Ringed Plovers didn't flush - which was all I saw for the next 30 minutes. It seemed a bit odd that with maybe 150 birders on the prom he chose to walk down the beach but the strangest thing was the comment about all there was were "gulls and some small things..."

[TerryL]

People make mistakes especially if relatively new to in this case birding , other people get peeved when others mistakes impact on themselves. Things were a lot simpler when we could bite chunks out of each other on the twitching threads , can't we get some of the old personalities off the old twitching threads back on ? i think we all miss it ;D

[Marcus Conway - ebirder]

Originally Posted by TerryL

People make mistakes especially if relatively new to in this case birding , other people get peeved when others mistakes impact on themselves. Things were a lot simpler when we could bite chunks out of each other on the twitching threads , can't we get some of the old personalities off the old twitching threads back on ? i think we all miss it ;D

Bob Tag would get my vote.

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

Originally Posted by Pitvar

the strangest thing was the comment about all there was were "gulls and some small things..."

Maybe he's just decided the peeps and other small waders need to be lumped Or maybe he'd read recent threads on Semi-P/Western and the other on Baird's Sand and "small thing" was an honest attempt at identification in the resulting confusion

It is rather amusing that someone would refer to themselves as experienced and know what they're doing in terms of fieldcraft and refer to a flock of small waders as small things

Seeing as this thread is still banging on and still open, I suppose it has to made clear again that the chap refered to in recent posts isn't the same chap as the thread was started about

[James Thomas]

Originally Posted by Jan-Paul Charteris

Maybe he's just decided the peeps and other small waders need to be lumped Or maybe he'd read recent threads on Semi-P/Western and the other on Baird's Sand and "small thing" was an honest attempt at identification in the resulting confusion

It is rather amusing that someone would refer to themselves as experienced and know what they're doing in terms of fieldcraft and refer to a flock of small waders as small things

Seeing as this thread is still banging on and still open, I suppose it has to made clear again that the chap refered to in recent posts isn't the same chap as the thread was started about

Maybe he's a disgruntled local dog walker who has been reading this thread and thought the best way of ensuring he can walk his dogs is to discredit birders.

[the black fox]

whoa hold on ,initially janes response to scotts intrusion put my back up ,but i am now thoroughly behind her even more so after hearing from other birders present and seeing the photos .
saturdays visitor has over his shoulder at least 5 to 6 grands worth of camera ,lens and tripod .you do not buy that sort of equipment and venture out on to a slippery at best beach area without some knowledge of what your going after .
this behaviour just gives the rest of us photogs that abide by the rules a bad name and causes animosity where we should have friendship and help .
keep it up jane i didn't realise the problem was anywhere as bad as this

[Stephen Dunstan]

Originally Posted by Marcus Conway - ebirder

Bob Tag would get my vote.

Anyone remember spud / logos - he / she was great. Real veterans will remember Michael Frankis, prolific then silent.

Bob Tag is still out there, been very helpful regarding a recent trip I went on.

Stephen

[Nightranger]

Originally Posted by the black fox

whoa hold on ,initially janes response to scotts intrusion put my back up ,but i am now thoroughly behind her even more so after hearing from other birders present and seeing the photos .
saturdays visitor has over his shoulder at least 5 to 6 grands worth of camera ,lens and tripod .you do not buy that sort of equipment and venture out on to a slippery at best beach area without some knowledge of what your going after .
this behaviour just gives the rest of us photogs that abide by the rules a bad name and causes animosity where we should have friendship and help .
keep it up jane i didn't realise the problem was anywhere as bad as this

Good post Black Fox, after witnessing things first-hand on Saturday and thinking about what has been said here, I am really baffled. On one hand, can we believe a bird/wildlife photographer was really in ignorance of two Yankee peeps being present? On the other hand, what did the photographer think of all the massed optics assembled on the prom? The only other thing he could have been photographing were the ships and he would have done better to be off New Brighton unless he knew something about one of the coasters anchored off the estuary. Even if true, the heat haze was horrific for us birders and any attempts to photograph anything bird-wise or ship-wise at his angle would seem fruitless unless he was looking for an arty shot of a ship in mid-air???

[the black fox]

i'll just up date that a bit as i wrote it late at night ,i am in no way running scott down ,he made a mistake and has had the balls to admit it publically ,line drawn under that one .
but this idjit on saturday defies belief ,its like someone walking out onto gayton sands/marsh at high tide and expecting to not get a comment .
it would be interesting to know where he actually hails from as i cant see a local photog being that stupid .it makes me laugh really as surely the idea of a large lens plus usually two times teleconvertors will give a better shot at distance .no real need to disturb the birds as its not going to be a scoop photo either .wader pics are twopence a thousand ....

[Jane Turner]

Steve Young recognised last Saturday 's guy... saying he was local but didn't know his name.... Its a monster lens!

I've been refraining from posting in order to stop bumping it. If this was in the ID forum I'd be able to remove the earlier references... but I can't

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by the black fox

saturdays visitor has over his shoulder at least 5 to 6 grands worth of camera ,lens and tripod .you do not buy that sort of equipment and venture out on to a slippery at best beach area without some knowledge of what your going after .

I dunno, I was down at Pennington a few weeks ago and when I asked a photographer what he'd got he said "I won't know till I get home, same as you"! He then proceeded to misidentify every bird on the shoveler pools with me patiently correcting him while boiling internally at his casual assumption that I was the same kind of numpty as him.

Its the old dude rule - kit does not equal ability, just wallet size.

John

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

Its the old dude rule - kit does not equal ability, just wallet size.

John

Yea but to be fair people with a big kit don't usually claim to be good because they have a big kit (it's usually a sign of resentment when it's mentioned by others )

There are people who always accept that there's more to learn and strive to be better, and there are people who, no matter how many times they learn something new, or get told something they could learn from, just consider themselves the dog's hanging baskets, and they're the one's it's hard to get to listen to reason or sense. It can be anything from simple ignorance to sheer arrogance. It's got nothing to do with money, or being a photographer, a twitcher or a ringer - it's simply that birders have as many different personality traits as anyone else in society

Luckily large gulls unite us all, coz nearly everyone feels more inadequate the longer we look at them

[rosbifs]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

Its the old dude rule - kit does not equal ability, just wallet size.

John

perhaps his ability with the camera is more important to him. and also perhaps he just appreciates the birds for being birds....

[Farnboro John]

Originally Posted by Jan-Paul Charteris

Yea but to be fair people with a big kit don't usually claim to be good because they have a big kit (it's usually a sign of resentment when it's mentioned by others )

There are people who always accept that there's more to learn and strive to be better, and there are people who, no matter how many times they learn something new, or get told something they could learn from, just consider themselves the dog's hanging baskets, and they're the one's it's hard to get to listen to reason or sense. It can be anything from simple ignorance to sheer arrogance. It's got nothing to do with money, or being a photographer, a twitcher or a ringer - it's simply that birders have as many different personality traits as anyone else in society

Luckily large gulls unite us all, coz nearly everyone feels more inadequate the longer we look at them

Agree with all of that except gulls - I cannot think of anything more tedious than going through a big roost identifying, ageing, sexing....... life's too short.

John

[MJB]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

...while boiling internally at his casual assumption that I was the same kind of numpty as him. John

John,
Nobody is the same kind of numpty as you...they wouldn't dare!
MJB
PS You're one of [a very fine] kind

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

Agree with all of that except gulls - I cannot think of anything more tedious than going through a big roost identifying, ageing, sexing....... life's too short.

John

To be honest that's what unites most of us with them!

[chowchilla]

Originally Posted by Farnboro John

Agree with all of that except gulls - I cannot think of anything more tedious than going through a big roost identifying, ageing, sexing....... life's too short.

John

I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds going through gull roosts mind-numbingly tedious.

One of the good things about Cairns is that it has the impressive diversity of one species, (OK a Laughing Gull turned up a couple of years back, and a Slaty-backed, but apart from those...)

[foxydave]

reading all the comments i find it a problem with theses sort of guys i dont go anywhere mid to late in day always very early . i have seen this for myself at mistly in essex where if you sit down the waders come right close with the tide . i had been waiting for the rising tide when three guys turned up all in camo gear large lenses i explain settle down they will come to you . no the prats started walking out on the mud flats scared the whole lot off 2 hours totally wasted ,

[Jane Turner]

For balance, I'd like to say I saw a young chap doing a thoroughly sensible seal impersonation yesterday. He arrived 2 hours before the tide... picked a spot, lay down and stayed there. He stayed there even when the waders completely avoided the place he'd picked. He stayed there through rain showers... and eventually, a combination of a Peregrine at the Lifeboat station and someone making a complete hash of getting onto a kite surfer at Beach Road shuffled the pack and many small Calidrids landed close to him (though most went behind him)

I think this might be the same guy who I thought bore some resemblance to Scott last week, who also to be fair, I didn't see move (unlike the one with the HUGE lens) and also wasn't the one to give my friend both barrels.

Today there was a small group of people close to the wader roost. They appeared to be having some sort of ceremony, digging a hole and burying the contents of a casket. As I've noticed previously, the waders, including the skittish Barwits and Curlews didn't seem bothered by people getting on and doing stuff that doesn't involve stalking them. They had a few concerned looks, then went to sleep.

[Sancho]

Originally Posted by Jane Turner

...Today there was a small group of people close to the wader roost. They appeared to be having some sort of ceremony, digging a hole and burying the contents of a casket....

This calls for an entirely new thread, which should have the best-ever BF thread-title, along the lines of "Pillocks Bury Cremated Loved-Ones near Wader Roost...Again!!"

[Cheshire Birder]

Originally Posted by Jane Turner

For balance, I'd like to say I saw a young chap doing a thoroughly sensible seal impersonation yesterday. He arrived 2 hours before the tide... picked a spot, lay down and stayed there. He stayed there even when the waders completely avoided the place he'd picked. He stayed there through rain showers... and eventually, a combination of a Peregrine at the Lifeboat station and someone making a complete hash of getting onto a kite surfer at Beach Road shuffled the pack and many small Calidrids landed close to him (though most went behind him)

I think this might be the same guy who I thought bore some resemblance to Scott last week, who also to be fair, I didn't see move (unlike the one with the HUGE lens) and also wasn't the one to give my friend both barrels.

Today there was a small group of people close to the wader roost. They appeared to be having some sort of ceremony, digging a hole and burying the contents of a casket. As I've noticed previously, the waders, including the skittish Barwits and Curlews didn't seem bothered by people getting on and doing stuff that doesn't involve stalking them. They had a few concerned looks, then went to sleep.

I was wondering if you spotted anyone yesterday, because that particular photographer made comments on another site which now appears to have been edited so that now they haven't dropped themselves in it so to speak.

CB