• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Twitching (1 Viewer)

Vernon Lundy

Well-known member
(MY) LIFE'S TOO SHORT FOR TWITCHING
Having recently spent untold hours looking through gates/peering over hedges/and numbing my buttocks sitting in hides I have come to the conclusion that life's too short for a septuagenarian to waste time 'twitching'.
Invariably I have arrived too late or left too soon to see the moribund waif on offer anyway. Most recently I arrived at Old Moor RSPB at 06.50 hr, having left home at 05.15 to enter the Bittern Hide at 07.00 only to be told that the Little Bittern had just flown a few metres from one hidden site to another. 5 hours later I arrived home only to see that the uncooperative creature had just been seen, undoubtedly by assembled thousands.
So that's it - my aged bones will not be seen at 'twitches' again. (Unless another species not OML appears!)
(This post appeared in 'Lawbreaking' thread by mistake.:eek!:)
 
Then come and join the birdwatching foot soldiers-those who still find enjoyment watching everyday birds,breeding, migration and local patch birds.
We are often the ones who flag up the rarities and the twitchers just come along and tick off another bird.
I was recently watching a humble Lapwing protecting a newly fledged juvenile from swooping corvids:not very exciting you may say-until I heard a Quail calling within yards in the adjacent fields.If I hadn't taken an interest in the Lapwing I would have missed the Quail and the chances are,the Quail wouldn't have been found.
Similary found a record breaking number of Glossy Ibis whilst on a 6 mile slog to count migrating Northern Wheatear.
I have never really twitched.You will see rarer birds on your local patches or see them for fun from around your hotel when you go on holiday abroad.
It may take a lot longer to see them but more relaxing.
 
Then come and join the birdwatching foot soldiers-those who still find enjoyment watching everyday birds,breeding, migration and local patch birds.
We are often the ones who flag up the rarities and the twitchers just come along and tick off another bird.
I was recently watching a humble Lapwing protecting a newly fledged juvenile from swooping corvids:not very exciting you may say-until I heard a Quail calling within yards in the adjacent fields.If I hadn't taken an interest in the Lapwing I would have missed the Quail and the chances are,the Quail wouldn't have been found.
Similary found a record breaking number of Glossy Ibis whilst on a 6 mile slog to count migrating Northern Wheatear.
I have never really twitched.You will see rarer birds on your local patches or see them for fun from around your hotel when you go on holiday abroad.
It may take a lot longer to see them but more relaxing.

Sound advice! I do plenty of patch work at home in mid-Cheshire but always used to enjoy boosting my pathetic British List until my realisation that life is finite and mine rapidly approaching the final day. As you suggest I can see most of the waifs and strays in their breeding or wintering sites when I travel abroad.:t:
 
Then come and join the birdwatching foot soldiers-those who still find enjoyment watching everyday birds,breeding, migration and local patch birds.
We are often the ones who flag up the rarities and the twitchers just come along and tick off another bird.
I was recently watching a humble Lapwing protecting a newly fledged juvenile from swooping corvids:not very exciting you may say-until I heard a Quail calling within yards in the adjacent fields.If I hadn't taken an interest in the Lapwing I would have missed the Quail and the chances are,the Quail wouldn't have been found.
Similary found a record breaking number of Glossy Ibis whilst on a 6 mile slog to count migrating Northern Wheatear.
I have never really twitched.You will see rarer birds on your local patches or see them for fun from around your hotel when you go on holiday abroad.
It may take a lot longer to see them but more relaxing.

But pratincol you are assuming that twitchers are simply tick hunters and no more, which is simply not true. I am a 'hardened' twitcher and know many others; we all enjoy birds in many guises be it working a local patch, ringing, BTO surveying, foreign birding, conservation work, watching bird behaviour, feeding garden birds and so on. Twitching is simply an exciting addition to our addiction to birds and birding. Personally I love the thrill of a sudden trip to a remote location, but I enjoy birds in some form nearly every day of my life and feel lucky for it. BTW, I agree that it would not be the same if we saw every bird we twitched (the risk element!). Perhaps there are some out there who are only interested in ticks, but I've yet to meet one. Live and let live, but most of all just enjoy birds in whatever way you like.

And Vernon, sounds like you should have got out of bed earlier, you only have yourself to blame ;). See you at the next one.....
 
Birding is supposed to be fun and you should do it at whatever level that brings you the most enjoyment. Personally I spend a lot of my time out locally but enjoy the occasional twitch, it helps to spice things up a little.
I agree that seeing birds in their normal range is enjoyable but it's not always practical or affordable. If I have seen a species abroad I don't tend to twitch it unless it's either close to home or in a place I would visit anyway.

James.
 
You will see rarer birds on your local patches or see them for fun

I see all my birds for fun, be they nesting House Sparrows, hunting Peregrines or Cretzschmar's Buntings creeping about between the sea pinks on islands I've never visited before. If you are seeing any birds not for fun, you need a different hobby.

John
 
I see all my birds for fun, be they nesting House Sparrows, hunting Peregrines or Cretzschmar's Buntings creeping about between the sea pinks on islands I've never visited before. If you are seeing any birds not for fun, you need a different hobby.

John
You might have misinterpreted the term 'seeing birds for fun'.I meant it as in: you will see them as a matter of course, or without effort.
 
Last edited:
yes but you are equating people who enjoy twitching as "having badwrongfun". Many twitchers (including myself when I was less of a patch lister) enjoy seeing all birds...not just new ticks.
 
yes but you are equating people who enjoy twitching as "having badwrongfun". Many twitchers (including myself when I was less of a patch lister) enjoy seeing all birds...not just new ticks.

No-you too have missed the context.
What I meant to say was................-Oh I just can't be bothered explaining
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 9 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top