Rule 1 - always check the car park.
Rule 2 - If someone points out an un-identified bird - look at it - it could be something good
Rule 3 - Never pass up a loo break
More to come
:)
S
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Good rule S. Presumably you mean good birds hang around and are not frightened off.
Good to check for other reasons. I went for grasshopper warbler one night at a local Country Park, got out of the car, realised all the other cars had single men in them and they weren't there to listen to warblers. I went home.
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seymouraves said: Rule 1 - always check the car park. More to come S
... for spaces :)
LOL @ Mrs T !!! spaces? .... you can't be that lucky at Christmas and New Year, so I'd take the dog and walk there if I were you lol
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Regards, Hazel
Unknown said: Good rule S. Presumably you mean good birds hang around and are not frightened off. Birds I've seen in car parks in Britain ( list for abroad is waaay too long) - Car parks are Habitat too ! Pallas's Warbler, Yellow Browed warbler, Dusky Warbler, Common Rosefinch, Waxwing, Red Backed Shrike, Arctic Warbler, Little Bunting, Crossbill, Peregrine etc. etc.
Birds I've seen in car parks in Britain ( list for abroad is waaay too long) - Car parks are Habitat too !
Pallas's Warbler, Yellow Browed warbler, Dusky Warbler, Common Rosefinch, Waxwing, Red Backed Shrike, Arctic Warbler, Little Bunting, Crossbill, Peregrine etc. etc.
Rule 3 - Never pass up a loo break or bottled water
Rule 4 - Check your bins straps for wear regularly
Rule 5 - Don't be afraid to ask what's about.
Rule 6 - Remember - Just because a birder has £3000 of optics doesnt mean they know what they are looking at
Rule 7 - Always carry a lens cloth
With rule number 6- just because someone is watching a bird doesnt mean they know what theyre looking at! Check for yourselves and double check, dont just trust them!
seymouraves said:Rule 6 - Remember - Just because a birder has £3000 of optics doesnt mean they know what they are looking at
This seems to apply more nowadays than it used to,at one time a birder with one of the top names in optics usually had some idea the rest of us made do with East German or Russian copies.I have seen beginners with top line optics sort of "all the gear,no idea",good luck if they afford it I'm sure many of us would have dome the same to start with if we could have afforded it.
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Wendy S said:......................I have seen beginners with top line optics sort of "all the gear,no idea", good luck if they afford it................
There's a similar saying , although not as polite , in photography. "All the kit , full of **** ".
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Great tips S.
About the last thing about photography is the growing number of people that only want the shot of a certain bird and as soon as they get it they are off. They are not in anyway interested in bird watching. I had one walk into the hide got the shot and was gone within 60 seconds.
Galatas said:There's a similar saying , although not as polite , in photography. "All the kit , full of **** "
Funnily enough I had not heard that one before must be my sheltered upbringing LOL
Good luck if they can afford it,on a similar vein a good birding friend of mine seems to judge folk by the optics they carry around my mrs. will often go birding with a battered pair of Opticron just to wind him up.Talk about a binocular snob.