What irrates you when birding! (1 Viewer)

[Pete Mella]

Hi All,

When you go out birding for the day and later can't remember the
species you've seen!
Probable cause you're getting older!:eek!:


Darrell

I recommend a notepad!

 

[Storm-Petrel]

i hate it when non birders think they know all about birds and that theyre always right.

One day at school:

My friends: hey david look at the bird flying up there? what is it?
Me: oh thats a turkey vulture.
My friends:HAHAHAHAHA!!! a vulture?? you retard thats a hawk! wut the hell man i thought you were a birder. Aren't you supposed to know this stuff.
Me: well, think what you want, but its a turkey vulture. see, its dark colored with the pink bald head.
My friends: your crazy anyways lets get to class...

One day birding while my sister was with me
My sister: hey david look whats that bird:
Me: That would be an eastern phoebe.
Sister: i thought it was a mockingbird.
Me: you think everything is a mockingbird!!
sister:i guess thats true
when we get home i open my sibleys and show me sister the eastern phoebe. her eyes immpediatley go towards the black phoebe.
Sister: No it wasn't an eastern it was a black!!!
me: hmm, it didn't look anything like that i guess you would have had to see it through bins to get the color. just trust me, it was an eastern phoebe
Sister: no no no i KNOW it is a black phoebe
me: *rolls eyes" well i better go call the rare bird alert because theyre normally found 100s of miles away
sister: cool i found a rare bird.
me: no i was being sarcastic. If you want to think its a black phoebe than fine with me but im just telling you its an eastern...

 

[Pete Mella]

When people express surprise when they see a "seagull" inland!

 

[dantheman]

When people talk about 'seagulls' at all

 

[DunnoKev]

When people talk about 'seagulls' at all

Quite right. I'm a huge advocate of just lumping all the shidehawks together as one spp. "Gull" Seagullus seagullus so we all never have to waste time looking at another one...

 

[ColonelBlimp]

Dogs. On one of my cycling jaunts there is a very steep, very narrow drop down a hill past a farm, on whose wall rests a rather unloveable spaniel.

This creature has the habit of hurling itself at my bike the second before I pass it, with especial vigour if I am hemmed in by cars on both front and back. I haven't managed to actually hit it, although it has hurt me- having come off a number of times because of my concern for the health of this little bugger before scrabbling up again to not be run over or bitten.

 

[Jaff]

Also, woodpigeons exploding out of trees and scaring me silly.

Worse still for me though are Red-legged Partridges. They suddenly explode out of nowhere, quite often only a matter of feet from me and I nearly end up with brown trousers!

When people talk about 'seagulls' at all

Quite right. They should be called 'bloodyeverywheregulls'

 

[DunnoKev]

Right, just to show I can make an effort I responded nicely to someone who asked me the curt 'anything about?' question earlier today..

"Oh, there a nice Ruff turned up over there" says I

"No, that was there yesterday. What else?"

Strangely he got nout else from me after that very pleasant exchange. But I've got his car registration. Hope he remembers to carry a foot pump next time he comes to this bit of the world...

 

[Jaff]

Next time tell him "Oh dear, you've just missed a (insert rarity)!"

 

[Storm-Petrel]

When people express surprise when they see a "seagull" inland!

haha forgot that. the other day at hyde park me and the family was there and there were lots of black headed gulls. my mom said: WOW! seagulls this far inland! David isn't this cool to see these birds inland. you must be exited.
'
yeesh how old does she think i am and then i had to explain the whole "gulls" vs 'Seaguls" thing

 

[PYRTLE]

"I'm extremely tempted to name and shame now as all the reports this person has made have been extremely dubious "

Do what a well known birder/twitcher did and send him (or her) a bill for your time and or fuel OR get rid of your pager..........at least they didn't claim a Brunnichs'
Also respectively suggest that with the many hours of seawatching now approaching that they invest not in one, but two eyepatches to avoid strain - this would also reduce dodgey sightings to nil!

 

[neilmc]

Sexist birders who make crude jokes about women at twitches, refuse to believe any sighting a female member of the party has made or make snide comments when they see a woman with a bigger and better telescope than they have (and that last one surely reveals a lot!)

 

[joannec]

Sexist birders who make crude jokes about women at twitches, refuse to believe any sighting a female member of the party has made or make snide comments when they see a woman with a bigger and better telescope than they have (and that last one surely reveals a lot!)

I agree with this..... not particularly at twitches though as I don't twitch (not much anyway). I've never had anyone make crude or sexist jokes about women while birding but been I've been ignored by male birders....it's usually the older regimented types who are guilty of this.


Re: bigger and better scope envy3.......says it all really

Joanne

 

[borealowl47]

Judgement!

December always irrates8-Pme because there is no birds
to get in winter and you want to start your 2009 list!


Manitoba ,google cold no birds you will come up with Winterpeg
8-P

 

[Fozzybear]

What irritates me? When I have to stop! Especially if I'm out at my regular lunchtime watching gate and have to go back to work just when lots of birds are around - the meadow was teeming with blackbirds, song thrushes and redwings the other day, with lots of tits and robins flying around and I really, really didn't want to go back to work! :-C
:t:

 

[Stephen C]

annoying..

gun shots. can never really enjoy the rest of the day after that.

 

[colonelboris]

One that used to annoy me back in Blighty was when someone looked at my (frankly) rubbish scope and said "Oh, you want one of these, they're only just over a grand. Anyone can afford them."
Right, that's why I've got the Aldi special £25 scope, then...

 

[Mysticete]

Blizzard like conditions on that one day where you finally had free time to go birding (the day before of course it was warm and sunny...

 

[Gillian_M]

Blizzard like conditions on that one day where you finally had free time to go birding (the day before of course it was warm and sunny...

Oh yes, that seems to happen to me a lot...:C

My biggest annoyances are dogs running up to me when I'm focused on a bird, especially since there aren't supposed to be dogs on or off-leash where I'm birding, and airplanes flying right overhead just as I hear an interesting chip note that I'm trying to locate. Happens every time.

 

[Kevin Groocock]

Blizzard like conditions on that one day where you finally had free time to go birding (the day before of course it was warm and sunny...

And the day after...................................