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Birding Injuries? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Laggard
- Start date
Barred Wobbler
Well-known member
Gemfyre
Well-known member
Scrapes and scratches are common. Sunburn (hoorah for being in Australia).
Sympathising with Barred Wobbler here - my knees aren't built right and have been prone to dislocation all my life (I've lost count of the number of times it's happened).
Last time I was on a solo road trip, checking out a gorge at Cape Range National Park (and of course getting some birding in). Not 20m out of the carpark I managed to take a wrong step on the rocks and went down and my knee went out! There was no-one around for miles (or within screaming or radio range, and forget trying for mobile phone reception our there)! I almost had a heart-attack to go with the bung knee. Luckily I managed to put it back myself and limp back to the car and spent the rest of the day lazing on the beach and swimming. I actually went snorkelling two days later!
But now, about 9 months later my knee is still not 100%. When I was young it was a case of "Rest for 20 minutes then you can run around again". I don't know when I'll run again now. I can see bad arthritis setting in pretty early. Gah, who needs knees anyway?
Sympathising with Barred Wobbler here - my knees aren't built right and have been prone to dislocation all my life (I've lost count of the number of times it's happened).
Last time I was on a solo road trip, checking out a gorge at Cape Range National Park (and of course getting some birding in). Not 20m out of the carpark I managed to take a wrong step on the rocks and went down and my knee went out! There was no-one around for miles (or within screaming or radio range, and forget trying for mobile phone reception our there)! I almost had a heart-attack to go with the bung knee. Luckily I managed to put it back myself and limp back to the car and spent the rest of the day lazing on the beach and swimming. I actually went snorkelling two days later!
But now, about 9 months later my knee is still not 100%. When I was young it was a case of "Rest for 20 minutes then you can run around again". I don't know when I'll run again now. I can see bad arthritis setting in pretty early. Gah, who needs knees anyway?
The only serious injury I've sustained while birding was years ago when I fell & broke my wrist scrambling up a bank in rural Essex hoping for a better look at a Barn Owl. Fortunately, the break was a minor one & eventually completely healed, but it gave me a very painful few days.
Then there was the time while several of us were setting up camp high up on an alluvial fan in deepest cow-county Nevada. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a burst of gunfire & bullets rattled all around us. Luckily nobody was hit & after we returned the fire a solitary "sorreee" came floating up out of the darkness & all was well again.
Then there was the time while several of us were setting up camp high up on an alluvial fan in deepest cow-county Nevada. Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a burst of gunfire & bullets rattled all around us. Luckily nobody was hit & after we returned the fire a solitary "sorreee" came floating up out of the darkness & all was well again.
SimonC
Still listing - I'll capsize one day
There was a similar thread to this years ago, where I recounted my most uncomfortable moment whilst birding
Not an injury as such (unless you can count injured pride?) but I still remember it to this day
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=106946&postcount=4
Not an injury as such (unless you can count injured pride?) but I still remember it to this day
http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=106946&postcount=4
Azzy
Well-known member
I've had the unfortunate luck to be so focused on sneaking closer to a flock of zebra finches that I found myself standing on top of a bull-ant nest, it didn't take very many bites to realise my mistake.
Otherwise, I knelt down onto a patch of sclerolaena seed pods once http://www.zipcodezoo.com/hp350/Sclerolaena_tricuspis_7.jpg. The fact that I was wearing pants did not matter, those things are spikey as anything.
Otherwise, I knelt down onto a patch of sclerolaena seed pods once http://www.zipcodezoo.com/hp350/Sclerolaena_tricuspis_7.jpg. The fact that I was wearing pants did not matter, those things are spikey as anything.
I was walking backwards trying to get a better view of something in the Andes cloud forest, when my friend grabbed my arm.. I was about three steps from walking off the road and down a pretty steep cliff! I was heading for about the only gap in the bushes too, would have been really unlucky!
Wasn't so much the thought of the fall, but how far we were from a hospital that scared me.
The only accident I had was walking along a grassy bank in Unst. The bank finished but the grass carried on at the same height, and I stepped off into thin air. I plunged into heather and mud, which wasn't so bad, but then moments later, my Binoculars, rucksack, tripod and telescope all landed on top of me. Saw Otter and Lapland Bunting later, so it wasn't all bad!
Wasn't so much the thought of the fall, but how far we were from a hospital that scared me.
The only accident I had was walking along a grassy bank in Unst. The bank finished but the grass carried on at the same height, and I stepped off into thin air. I plunged into heather and mud, which wasn't so bad, but then moments later, my Binoculars, rucksack, tripod and telescope all landed on top of me. Saw Otter and Lapland Bunting later, so it wasn't all bad!
Bowland Birders
Well-known member
Been thinking about getting some builder's knee protectors for a while now, any got any tips on a good brand please?
Thanks, Mike
Can recall being engrossed in following a nuthatch back in the early days of my birding career. Completely missed the edge of the slope and finished up bruised and battered with my head at the side of a large millstone grit boulder... a couple of inches to the left and it would have been Humpty Dumpty time.
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