Just wondering as I like a spot of birding

I know I know!

Bugger, how do I alter spelling mistakes on the title?

He hasn’t been around since that freak, yoghurt making accident. Have you tried Facebook?

haha, was that the accident involving his pump action yoghurt rifle?

No

Ok Ok taxi for one please

Make sure you get a proper registered taxi cab though, not a dodgy unlicensed one.

I know my shags over my cormorants!

Using my binoculars the other day, I got to see some Great Tits.

I’m trying to avoid becoming one, however during my continued desperate attempt to see and photograph as many types and species of life we have in this country, recent trips out with the camera have seen me obsess over how many different bird species i can find.

It’s getting so bad, i’ve posted more on a wildlife forum over the past week, than i have on here or facebook. 😳

My high school thesis was on leaf cutter ants of the Amazon. Luckily my school had an “outpost” in the Peruvian Amazon I could visit. I spent a good few hours studying them and taking samples.

I hated them when I was a kid – they got in everywhere so I spent many joyous hours trying to kill them with a magnifying glass. Wasn’t very successful.

I’ve always liked birds though, my Dad would not have had it any other way, although he was worried for a time…!

I/m a keen birder but definitely no twitcher, and thete is a difference! 🙂 I love me birds and i will travel to see them (Snettisham, Bempton cliffs two fine examples), but i go to see BIRDS because they amaze me and i like to do the whole hippy ‘connecting with nature’ nonsense, i won’t drop everything and travel to see A bird just so i can ‘tick’ it off me list. Not a lot wrong with that per se, if you have the means to do it and it’s your thang then fair do’s but to be honest my experiences of ‘real’ twitchers is nothing short of depressing and there is a proportion of twitchers who think nothing of trespass, encroaching on peoples property, and the flushing of exhausted birds thus in all probability hastening their demise just so they can ‘tick’ whatever bird it is they have come to twitch. Yeah, of course they’re not all like that bit the twitchers i’ve encountered have been a pretty rum bunch on the whole, with a level of disdain reserved for me similar to that i get off ‘proper’ roadies when they see me out on me road bike wearing me usual mountain biking garb. Maybe it’s something as basic as appearance. Maybe it’s cos i’m 20-30 years younger than the average twitcher, maybe i don’t look ‘proper’. I know my birds so it’s not like i’m some clueless chump who can’t tell boobies from tit’s. Birders on the other hand, are generally far more approachable and good, friendly sources of local birding knowledge.

Anyway, was digressing there. There’s nowt wrong with enjoying birds, anyone can be a bird watcher and since i’ve discovered it life has become richer for it. Rides are more interesting, my work day is more interesting, where i live is a locally important site for birds. It’s also interesting how it opens your eyes to other stuff as well, other wildlife, plants, trees, always had an appreciation of it, now i’m hooked on it all. For me, the ethos is the same as i use for biking, just get out and enjoy it. Doesn’t matter where you are, where you go, what you’ve got or how good you are, as long as you’re having fun. 😀 That’s what a lot of true ‘twitchers’ (and indeed bikers?) seem to have forgotten.

There’s nowt wrong with enjoying birds, anyone can be a bird watcher and since i’ve discovered it life has become richer for it.

Worth a read! LBJs FTW!

Used to be a bit of a Birder in my youth… and I look forward to taking it up again when I’m too old to enjoy me biking 😉

Love these

Can someone explain why Twitchers are so miserable? I said ‘good morning’ the other sunny day and was completely blanked. It wasn’t the first time either.

They all look so grumpy!

Can someone explain why Twitchers are so miserable? I said ‘goo :Pd morning’ the other sunny day and was completely blanked. It wasn’t the first time either.

They all look so grumpy!

was he on a road bike 😛

i am a birder – esp my raptors – twitchers are odd….

paul

I’d put myself down as a birder too.

Not in the habit of driving off anywhere at the drop of hat to see stuff and just rely on keeping eyes open when out and about. Often come across species I’m not expecting. Found a bunch of Crossbills feeding on spruce trees recently which was nice to watch. Couple of years ago I was absolutely captivated by a sighting of a Great Grey Shrike.

My degree honours project was the study of nightjars’ use of felled forest sites as an alternative to heathland habitat.