Richard Klim
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A wonderful, inspirational book. But to have any impact on widespread attitudes to twitching, the general public needs to read it, not just Ian...
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Does anyone like me think twitching gives birdwatchers a bad reputation (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter IAN JAMES THOMPSON
- Start date
In a previous existence I have managed nature reserves that have had a few reasonable twitches (Stilt Sand, Upland Sand, Steppe Grey Shrike and Sandhill Crane spring to mind) and on no occasion can I think of an example where a twitcher did anything to give birders a bad name - I thought they were a bit stingy with donations considering what they had spent to get there but otherwise they were all well behaved. I am sure that there are occasions when there is bad behavior as there are with birders and photographers at times but these tend to be few and far between and shouldn't be used to tarnish all birders / twitchers / photographers
Robin Edwards
Well-known member
So Ian - would you consider yourself crazy enough to pop out and see a rare bird that you hear about close to your home patch in the North East? By your standards, I'm trying to judge how crazy I might be?
IAN JAMES THOMPSON
Well-known member
I've had rare birds locally in my region and I can tell you I've never gone to see a rare bird once even if they are only 1 or 2 miles away from where I live.
Ian.
Robin Edwards
Well-known member
That's confirmed then Ian - by your standards I'm a complete nut-job. I saw two interesting subjects last week, one was 3 miles away, the other a crazy 5 miles and at each I was pleased to encounter some very friendly like-minded nut-jobs.
temmie
Well-known member
If you ignore birds a mile away, you really have to walk around them to NOT see them, don't you?
I see it differently: if there is something special, it's a good occasion to go out and see a lot of other birds (besides a certain rarity), mostly in a new (often interesting) setting.
It's fun and I regularly meet some of the people I usually travel with (I never meet them in between travels, as everybody is busy, except for that one twitch!).
I see it differently: if there is something special, it's a good occasion to go out and see a lot of other birds (besides a certain rarity), mostly in a new (often interesting) setting.
It's fun and I regularly meet some of the people I usually travel with (I never meet them in between travels, as everybody is busy, except for that one twitch!).
SlowLowFlyingTurkey
Well-known member
A Bittern on your bird feeder would be fairly noteworthy.
IAN JAMES THOMPSON
Well-known member
It would make no difference to me, whether it was a bittern or a blue tit. Whatever I see, I get great pleasure in watching whatever birds I see. If I see a rare bird it's more by accident than having travelled hundreds of miles to the other end of the country just to observe a rare bird.
Ian.
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
It's obvious you're a birdwatcher and not a birder then. Each to their own, but you're outlook is a hell of alot more weird to me than a twitcher
IAN JAMES THOMPSON
Well-known member
Why is that? Why should a rare bird, give more pleasure than a common bird? It should make no difference whatsoever!
Ian.
Robin Edwards
Well-known member
Ian, so my conclusion would be to recommend you stay at home and watch the birds from your window. That way you won't be troubled by the crazy, bad-assed, twitching sorts that give your choice of birdwatching such a bad name. Aren't Blue Tits great though - who needs diversity and variety in life I say.
Simon Wates
Well-known member
I get your point.:smoke:...but in my mind I'm just so grateful that in this difficult world we live in, grown ups go out looking at birds, its a delightfully quaint thing to do (at least!) and it would be a great pity if people stopped.
If I was you I wouldn't be criticising folk who go to great lengths to see any birds - you should be celebrating it.
I can assure you that even hardened twitchers love watching their birds at least as much as you do in your garden. Personal feelings about how/what we see are just that; personal and cannot be judged. I wouldn't dream of belittling your experiences watching Blue Tits.
Anyway, to answer your original question; no I don't think birdwatchers have a bad name at all - on the contrary! They have though, always been teased by "normal people" - I remember the days when it was a cissy thing to do - apparently!
Maybe you should consider seeing the next local new species for yourself? I bet you would like it.
If I was you I wouldn't be criticising folk who go to great lengths to see any birds - you should be celebrating it.
I can assure you that even hardened twitchers love watching their birds at least as much as you do in your garden. Personal feelings about how/what we see are just that; personal and cannot be judged. I wouldn't dream of belittling your experiences watching Blue Tits.
Anyway, to answer your original question; no I don't think birdwatchers have a bad name at all - on the contrary! They have though, always been teased by "normal people" - I remember the days when it was a cissy thing to do - apparently!
Maybe you should consider seeing the next local new species for yourself? I bet you would like it.
IAN JAMES THOMPSON
Well-known member
Why is that? I get great pleasure in birdwatching and I go birdwatching with RSPB Local Group. They are all of the same belief as me, if you see a rare or common bird it makes no difference.Ian, so my conclusion would be to recommend you stay at home and watch the birds from your window. That way you won't be troubled by the crazy, bad-assed, twitching sorts that give your choice of birdwatching such a bad name. Aren't Blue Tits great though - who needs diversity and variety in life I say.
Ian.
IAN JAMES THOMPSON
Well-known member
I wouldn't belittle anyone. Just find it quite strange.
Ian.
Robin Edwards
Well-known member
MTem
Well-known member
Ian, I doubt there is anyone on here who doesn't see another's hobby or obsession as 'strange'. For me it's carp fishing - don't get it at all - and I'm sure there are some fishermen that bring their 'game into disrepute'. Doesn't mean I need to understand it, or agree with it, or have anything to do with it. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy being by a lake doing what I like doing.
Some like to 'twitch', some do it to extremes, I don't, you don't. End of ...
We all enjoy birds and care about their environment and welfare. That's what matters.
And saying what someone else does is 'strange', and that they might be giving others a bad reputation, and intimating your approach has loftier ideals IS getting close to 'belittling' them, I'd say.
I think you've had the answer to your original post :t:
Mick
James Lowther
Well-known member
you go out with your RSPB group, you've visited local bird reserves and you have an annual 7 day birdwatching holiday. In my opinion all these activities are wrong and strange as you should be content with the pleasure you get seeing blue tits in your garden. This kind of mad galavanting gives birdwatching a bad name.
yours in partial jest,
James
p.s. the truth is I've been birding outside my garden 3 times in the last 6 months... but I felt very guilty when doing so
Maffong
Well-known member
The problem seems to be, that eventhough you have a different opinion than most here (which of course nobody can forbid you, nor ridicule), you don't seem to accept other peoples' opinions. That would be okay if you'd explain with good reasons why the opposite site is wrong. There's things that aren't good about twitching, for example it costs a lot and the CO2-emissions are a big downside, however there's also lots of positive points to it. This starts with the personal joy of seeing something new and meeting new people and goes on with gaining knowledge about vagrants or rare migrants, to name just a few reasons.
Little excursus:One of my favourite examples, that you should almost never condemn something as bad is the following:
There are many different kinds of conservationists and animal lovers. You have animal right activists like Peta, you have animal conservationist, you have natural conservationists and many more.
I think in South Africa there's a plead for the culling of sea lions right now, because their number is becoming so big, that the penguins there don't have any fish left. This is because some decades ago most of the Great White Sharks, the sea lions #1 predator have been culled. Now animal rights activists don't want the sea lions to be culled, because killing is 'wrong'. The animal conservationists might want the same, but for other reasons, if they are pro sea lions. If they are pro penguins, they might want even more sea lions killed (probably not really, just for this example).
A natural conservationist might want a control for both populations, so that an equilibrium can be found. Also they would want Great Whites to make a comeback, which might be a nightmare for the animal conservationists.
You see, the world isn't just as simple: This is good, this is bad, this is wrong and this is right. BTW this also applies to politics, ethics and many more. Apart from some old Bond movie villains I don't think that there are many people in this world, who are evil, just for the fun of it
Now back to the topic: I don't think twitchers in general do any harm to anybody and it's their personal freedom to go on a twitch or not. If you don't like twitching, don't do it. If you see somebody badly misbehaving, tell them and if they are not willing to see their fault, report them somewhere. Nobody wants to be associated to bad behaviour and those related to it will sort it out. But don't denunciate people deliberately, you might destroy parts of their lifes. As I said, people normally don't do things because they're evil! And a person doesn't do bad things because he is a twitcher (or whatever), nor does every twitcher behave badly, because once you saw one not following the rules
Greetings Maffong
Little excursus:One of my favourite examples, that you should almost never condemn something as bad is the following:
There are many different kinds of conservationists and animal lovers. You have animal right activists like Peta, you have animal conservationist, you have natural conservationists and many more.
I think in South Africa there's a plead for the culling of sea lions right now, because their number is becoming so big, that the penguins there don't have any fish left. This is because some decades ago most of the Great White Sharks, the sea lions #1 predator have been culled. Now animal rights activists don't want the sea lions to be culled, because killing is 'wrong'. The animal conservationists might want the same, but for other reasons, if they are pro sea lions. If they are pro penguins, they might want even more sea lions killed (probably not really, just for this example).
A natural conservationist might want a control for both populations, so that an equilibrium can be found. Also they would want Great Whites to make a comeback, which might be a nightmare for the animal conservationists.
You see, the world isn't just as simple: This is good, this is bad, this is wrong and this is right. BTW this also applies to politics, ethics and many more. Apart from some old Bond movie villains I don't think that there are many people in this world, who are evil, just for the fun of it
Now back to the topic: I don't think twitchers in general do any harm to anybody and it's their personal freedom to go on a twitch or not. If you don't like twitching, don't do it. If you see somebody badly misbehaving, tell them and if they are not willing to see their fault, report them somewhere. Nobody wants to be associated to bad behaviour and those related to it will sort it out. But don't denunciate people deliberately, you might destroy parts of their lifes. As I said, people normally don't do things because they're evil! And a person doesn't do bad things because he is a twitcher (or whatever), nor does every twitcher behave badly, because once you saw one not following the rules
Greetings Maffong
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
So you go on field trips to see 'common' birds....all a matter of degree to me.
You're still going out of you way to see birds, stop judging others and just get on with it.
A
