Twitchers: A very British Obsession

just watching this on sky+, its all very, very odd... the lengths people go to and the politics involved appear to take any enjoyment out of it

solo birding or birding with friends/family for me.. just happening upon something (even if relatively common) would present far more enjoyment than travelling 500 miles, going yep.. seen that... then driving home

Hi Chris

I saw this programme for the first time last night. late on, and it was really interesting to watch.

It shows how seriously people take their hobby and it reaches another level of bird watching.

I see the main person featured who is a true bird lover featured on the programme is part of my local birding group.  So I may meet him sometime in the near future - especially at the evening 'group' meetings - love that as it will be another way of learning more about species anyday

Hopefully he might be looking in as I say this on here too! {big smile}

Regards

Kathy and Dave

For one who has strayed onto the dark side, as i said the other evening, I can see the draw of increasing your tick list. There is something special about seeing a species of bird for the first time. i think that goes for any first experience in life, if you know what I mean :)

Where I draw the line is that you should put the welfare of the bird first, even at the expense of not getting that 'tick' There will always be another opportunity. 

Hi Sparrow

Like you, I do not understand the full thing about 'twitchers' to travel for miles to see a rare bird either.  It is beyond my understanding.  Fair enough if those people have a lot of time, non-commitments, and finances to be able to do that, so they are alright to have that interest going on in their lives.  They have a similar set of friends to relate to so they have that social aspect of their lives going on too.

This is when I say it is good to have a partner who loves birds too as that counts for a lot. It would make things harder for one person in a couple loved to bird watch if another has no interest at all.

I would say I am a 'birder' and have other things going on in my life to be on the run 24/7 each and every day, sorry. i am afraid I would not like that at all.  So 'Twitching' is not for me.  It takes all types of people to make the world otherwise it would be a boring place if we where all the same.  So people are what they are and that goes without saying

Budgie: I believe the 'tick' list is a lot to do with the competitiveness between people who want to get the most birds.  There is an element of that going on.  As long as they do not stress or disturb the bird that is the main thing.

Wildlife comes first, respect that situation at all times, and then come humans second in this case.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

I think my take on it would be a bit of as mixture. I am always thrilled to see a bird new to me whether it's a Reed Bunting or a Greenshank. I keep a note of new birds, so that could be a tick/list I suppose. If I found out that a rare bird had been seen in my patch I would certainly go along but without a scope or lenses or anything. I would love to be given a look through someone else's scope though.

I would not travel miles to see a bird but I do choose days out or weekends away to include birdy places (Symonds Yat or Minsmere for example).

I don't visit reserves every week or even every month because of the constraints on me but I spend an hour now and then at my local sites.

Overall, I consider myself as a bird watcher  who would like to be a birder but NOT a twitcher. However, if I stumbled upon a twitch, I would be totally over the moon/stars and Jupiter.

Pipit x

Susan H said:

The programme certainly made me glad to be a bird watcher as defined once by Seymour. He said there are 3 categories - birdwatchers, birders, and twitchers. He seems now to have added listers to his categories!

Obsessives like some of those twitchers and listers really are lacking elsewhere, in my opinion.

OK shoot me now!!!!

Hi Sparrow

I thought that all of the people who were the main subjects of the film were obsessives, and were 'lacking elsewhere'.

I hope that the guy who didn't tell his wife how much his hobby cost, and who actually filmed himself making a call on his mobile while driving got a visit from the police.

I didn't see the proramme last night as we had a bird club meeting but if it was a repeat of the earlier programme it did not do the image of bird watching or birding any good,it made most of us look like fools.Many of the Twitchers I have known over the years have been very good bird watchers and local patch workers but the image from the T.V. show did not depict this.