Blimey guys...its
christmas what about a bit of peace and harmony for once
Seriously though yet again people who don`t twitch (or perhaps don`t
currently twitch, but have in the past or people who only twitch local rarities???) want to beat people that do with a big stick of righteousness....I can`t for the life of me think why it can arouse such antipathy, after all you don`t get people on here proclaiming "Patch Watchers - whats the point visiting the same site week in week out why don`t they show a bit more imagination" or "county listers - blimey whats that all about, why have your birding demarcated by artificial administrative boundarys" etc etc do you?
Birding is a hobby, a lesiure activity, an escape from the day to day pressures of work and responsibilites, different people get pleasure from different aspects - fantastic! Twitching, patchwatching, seawatching, ringing, world birding, rarity finding or just enjoying the birds on your feeders are all equally valid expressions of that.
The reality of most peoples birding isn`t a clear cut divide into purely one aspect - most birders mix and match a combination depending on what they want to do at anyone time - a bit of twitching, a bit of seawatching, a bit of patch watching - all go together to make a varied and enjoyable year!
I am loathe to go on and justify why I enjoy seeing birds to anyone - its my hard earned freetime and money I use up and I can do with it exactly as I see fit, but just for the record - twitching gives me the opportunity to see interesting birds i`d never have the chance to see otherwise - i`ll never get to Kazakhstan for a Black Lark but I can make it to Anglesea can`t I? All the birds we see common, scarce and rare are fascinating but there is an allure to the unusual, the infrequently seen, some of them are beautiful, some offer tricky ID challanges, some are spectacular, some hold their mystery by simple elusiveness but there is definately a magic to them all that never palls for me. Twitching is about far more than seeing rare birds though - its the "adventure" of an overnight drive to some distant and beutiful part of the country, its the ferry ride across to the Western Isles, its a hair raising flight in a tiny plane through lumbering storm clouds. Its about spending time free time with good friends and the cameraderie that goes with it. When I think about some of the beautiful and spectacular places I have visited through twitching - it`ll take a hell of a lot to convince me i`d have had more fun spending all of my time at the ash settling pool at the back of my local tip! Its the opportunity to see the birdlife of all the different parts of the country - seeing a rarity is usually accompanied by spending the day birding in that part of the country, whether thats the waders on a winter estuary, seaduck bobbing distantly in a scottish loch, a swarm of Gulls roosting on a reservoir or thousands of Geese sheltering a lone straggler it provides the ideal vehicle for experiencing every birding spectacle that this country has to offer - and its not just birds its other wildlife butterflies, dragonflies, otters whales and the like that you can experience too...
Of course a list of birds that you`ve seen
but why should it? Does a list of birds you`ve seen on a local patch signify anything? Does a list of birds you`ve found signify anything? I`m not sure I want it to signify anything either - its fun not work!
I suppose the birds you`ve seen does relate to
who gets the most freetime
but then doesn`t someones patchlist relate to how much time you spend on your patch? Isn`t how many birds you find a function of how much freetime you spend searching?
The so called "Twitcher" who has to dash off to every sighting,notch up "yet another" in the note book,they see the bird ,but do they "really see it".Once it has been ticked off,then it is off home and wait for the next rarity
What a fallacy this is, of couse they really see it - they will eagerly pore over every feature, watch its slightest move, listen to its every call - they will spend ages with a bird (time allowing) because its new & exciting! No-one retreats home waiting for the next rarity - the people I know (myself included) are out at first light birding till dusk because theats what they enjoy!
.....and there are several more who don't (Twitch) who are also leading things forward (Birding)....not just ID wise
Good for them - but what if you`ve no desire to move anything forward, what if you simply want to enjoy your hobby and share it with friends and companions? Should I not play five-a-side football after work, just because i`ll never make the Man Utd first team? Why be so elitist?
Non-twitchers should be allowed to bird how they like- you put them under the obligation to release news and play by your rules! People like the guy on the lizard are happy to live outside your birding world - quite obviously
Its not about obligation, its about friendliness & generousity. He is not obliged to release news, but why would he not want to - its not about pressure or disturbance if its the Lizard is it? There are far more tourists traipsing around in summer than birders even a Wallcreeper or Siberian Rubythroat would generate in October...and birders are less likely to leave litter, leave gates open or have their dogs running riot aren`t they? He just chooses not to share his good fortune with others - well within his rights of course, but as i`m sure he`s aware of the pleasure those birds would give to hundreds of other people merely demonstrates a certain lack of generosity of spirit doesn`t it? It would be like me not pointing out a Merlin at Horsey Mill to a group of novice birders or explaining the ID of a bird to someone that asked for help - well within my rights - but mean & selfish!
er....why not genuine? Because lots of people haven't seen them?
far be it from me to answer this one i`ll just quote from the Association of European records and rarities commitees guidelines "Whenever possible, records should be proved by photographs, video films or" tape recordings" ....
