I've had a few people mistake my tripod for a gun before. I've also discovered that, in such circumstances, if I stare at them menacingly enough they are too scared to get a proper look at the "gun" and presumably carry on thinking it is one. Presumably an Arnie style chain gun too, given the tripod design. Certainly funnier than being called a sad bastard.
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Do people look at you in a weird way when your birding? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Euan Buchan
- Start date
Ian Hamiltan
Well-known member
iv,e been stopped twice by the police thinking my tripod was a gun,because
one of the legs was broken and it used to stick outside my bag,but now
i have got a new tripod and i have had no problems since.
nickderry
C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.
I've never had problems with people thinking my tripod is a gun, just people telling me 'that there are very few wild boar in this part of the wood.'
What I particularly like is when people duck down in front of my tripod to pass, thinking I'm filming something. I appreciate their consideration but it still makes me laugh.
I used to get schoolkids and chavs asking me what I was up to when I was watching the gull roost at Aberystwyth, depending on their interest/sarcasm I'd either tell them what I was doing honestly, say I was looking for mermaids or that I was the newly appointed tsunami early-warning system.
What I particularly like is when people duck down in front of my tripod to pass, thinking I'm filming something. I appreciate their consideration but it still makes me laugh.
I used to get schoolkids and chavs asking me what I was up to when I was watching the gull roost at Aberystwyth, depending on their interest/sarcasm I'd either tell them what I was doing honestly, say I was looking for mermaids or that I was the newly appointed tsunami early-warning system.
I once had someone think my tripod was bagpipes.
My whole neighborhood thinks I am freakie deakie to begin with and I am the only mom that keep binocs around her neck when there to pick my daughter up from school so.... ya I get looks but it no longer bothers me
Vectis Birder
Itchy feet
That's probably why people are so stressed these days; they're completely out of touch with nature thinking it's just a pastime for sad barstewards or weirdoes.
People at work have accused me of being a bit odd because I'm a birder, but when they then start yacking on about Eastenders, Castaway, or celebrity gossip then I start to wonder just who exactly the weirdoes are.
nickderry
C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.
As for other people thinking I'm weird, I suppose I have to give them the benefit of the doubt, I am really!
I've got the benefit of being a foreigner, so most of the French just find that me being a birder must be an English eccentricity, like high tea at 4, mint sauce and Benny Hill.
I've got the benefit of being a foreigner, so most of the French just find that me being a birder must be an English eccentricity, like high tea at 4, mint sauce and Benny Hill.
Ronald Zee
Well-known member
Euan
A couple of years ago I posted some of my birdwatching experiences here:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=33147
A couple of years ago I posted some of my birdwatching experiences here:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=33147
aythya_hybrid
real name Jonathan Dean
I think this is an interesting issue. Personally, I don't ever recall being given abuse as a result of my birding, although I have noticed that people often look at me with a very puzzled, almost intimidated, expression. I do a lot of my birding by public transport, so often end up carrying bins/tripod etc through built up areas. Even in relatively gentrified areas, people still obviously stop and stare. I remember going for the Amwell Little Butning last month, and a fairly elderly man stopped walking and stared at with me with what looked like an expression of genuine horror, which I thought was odd seeing as it seemed a relatively affluent area near a nature reserve! It may because I'm (relatively) young, quite skinny, and probably don't fit most peoples' conception of a bird/nature person should look like.
But more generally, as someone up thread correctly said, it's amazing how much anxiety unconventional behaviour can generate, and birding is not *that* unconventional. And yet even so, it habitually generates amusement, confusion and sometimes mild hostility. I think the confusion around birding is symptomatic of a more general uneasiness that the great British public seem to have with anything that seems remotely unconventional.
But more generally, as someone up thread correctly said, it's amazing how much anxiety unconventional behaviour can generate, and birding is not *that* unconventional. And yet even so, it habitually generates amusement, confusion and sometimes mild hostility. I think the confusion around birding is symptomatic of a more general uneasiness that the great British public seem to have with anything that seems remotely unconventional.
Being interested in birds and wildlife in general is not considered weird at all. TV wildlife programmes are extremely popular with all kinds of people. Unfortunately the more "geeky" birdwatchers i.e. those who chase around the country for rare vagrants, and look for birds to "tick" rather than just enjoy watching have given the hobby the reputation that it has.
ntbirdman
Well-known member
Here's my favorite birder run-in story. A friend of mine, Willie, got stopped by Buffalo Police, Border Patrol, FBI, and the Coast Guard, for birding near a bridge. http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/nw04/0112Border.htm
I haven't had any really bad encounters myself, but more than plenty 'looks' and questions about my 'camera'.
I haven't had any really bad encounters myself, but more than plenty 'looks' and questions about my 'camera'.
Xenospiza
Distracted
Oh no, please don't go there! It's not true either: most people don't even know such people exist, especially if they don't care about nature anyway.. The people watching nature programmes are not the ones that give you weird looks... they will probably pose more constructive questions.
Of course a flock of twitchers in the centre of a town will get some weird looks... but if you tell them you've come to see a very rare bird, they are (in my experience) usually appreciative (as long as you respect their privacy, hahaha).
Gentoo
Guest
I think people just give birders a hard time because we can be so obvious and often in odd places but in general we don't bother anyone. That too is an issue, many people are always willing to mess with those who weren't bothering anyone. We are actually normal everyday people. People who are into and obsessed with whales are a whole different breed, trust me on this one.
But non-birders see all birders as twitchers. Its the average non-obsessive birders that they don't realise exist!
Steven Astley
Well-known member
As somebody who is also quite skinny you have completely lost me on that one. Is a stereotypical birder meant to be fat? If anything I would have thought it would be the other way around.
Must admit 99% of peoples reaction has been very positive much more so than if was out on my mountain bike or walking through the local country park without my bins.
Xenospiza
Distracted
I don't think that's true, certainly not in the Netherlands (which of course only has some 500 twitchery types). They usually see birdwatching as an activity which is just that: watching (no matter what kind of) bird – I agree that comes over as weird. Only when they realise you can be more dedicated in seeing "special" birds (and of course I don't necessarily mean twitching), they start to understand. They still may think it's utterly uninteresting though...
Storm-Petrel
registered dude
i think there is a difference between birding and birdwatching. i think that birding is where all u do is tick and add birds to yer life list, but birdwatching is where u just enjoy watching birds no matter if there a lifer or not. and u take notes. thats just my opinion of the difference. i like adding birds to my life list, but i think im more of the birdwatching type.
8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P 8-P random...
aythya_hybrid
real name Jonathan Dean
My sense is that peoples' perception is that birders are not fat, necessarily, but maybe a bit chubby. Like Bill Oddie for example. Granted, maybe my physical size (or lack thereof) is irrelevant, but I do think that the fact that I am not perceived to look like a "typical" bird person does enhance peoples' sense of bemusement.
