Longish? This one, very long. You have been warned.
I loved Terry Pacey's note about the Twitcher from overseas who, at great
expense, hired an NQ bird expert for an 80 hour drive and was satisfied to
spend just 15 seconds looking at a bird of the species he wanted to tick,
then said, "I've seen it now. We can head back."
Birding-aus's twitcher discussion caused me to get out "Bill Oddie's Little
Black Bird Book", a delightful mixture of information and hilarity, as might
be expected from a professional humorist who is also a twitcher, poking fun
at himself and twitchers generally. It deals with Twitchers in the UK, so
circumstances are rather different from here: you can't drive the length
and breadth of Australia in one weekend, even with five twitchers crammed
into a Mini Minor to share driving through the night.
Terry's twitcher didn't come from the UK, but he might well have done so.
Here's Oddie's account of the (typical?) twitch:
"The fact that the bird is already being watched by two hundred people
means you don't have to identify it for yourself. So an efficient twitch
simply goes:
'Where is it?'
'Over there.'
"Oh yes. ... Great. (Tick) Tarra ...' and on to the next one."
There are chapters on twitching terminology (e.g. explaining
'ornithologist', bird-spotter/bird-fancier, bird-watcher, birder, twitcher,
dude); equipment and clothing (there are photos of the twitching author in
juvenile plumage, moulting into adult plumage, and full adult plumage);
Identification - What bird is that? ... fooling the (rarities) committee);
and so on.
That last should be compulsory reading for the Australian Committee. And no
doubt they have already studied it.
Equipment advice: "The first thing to accept is that size impresses no one!
And that goes for binoculars too."
Oddie does add a caveat to that size thing however - telescopes:
"Even to own a telescope proves you are not a dude. ... The hip word
is scope. And you don't look at a bird through your telescope, you just
'scope' it. ... Telescopes are dreadfully hard to look through ...
whether you can actually see through your telescope or not, there is still a
certain snobbery attached to telescopes. Hence you get quite a few marks
for lugging around one of those extremely heavy brass telescopes like Nelson
used to use. They pull out to such a length that you can look through them
by lying down, applying one end to your eye and propping the other end on
your feet. This is very uncomfortable, and proves you're really prepared to
suffer for your art."
A non-twitching reader (as I am) might wonder (I did) whether anyone really
does use one of those ancient brass telescopes, lying down. No doubt Oddie
anticipated that and so there's a photo (p. 28) entitled "Three hundred
twitchers at Falmouth in March 1980 having a Foster's Tern", and the
twitcher nearest the camera is doing just that.
At page 34 in the glossary, Oddie explains:
"Twitchers do not 'see' birds, they 'have' them. More usually, they
use the past tense as they don't even like mentioning a rare bird until it
has been safely ticked or had. Hence the phrase might be: 'I've just had
an icky'. Which, being translated, becomes: 'I've just seen an Icterine
Warbler'.
Oddie admits that 'I've just had an icky', might draw the response, 'And I
hope you feel better for it', but reckons there's no answer to 'I've just
had a shag'.
Being one himself, Oddie can perhaps be forgiven for being uncomplimentary
about twitchers:
" ... all of them are surely united by a common feeling, a shared
sensitivity, a mutual love ... the mystery and magic of birds.
"Do me a favour!
"Bird-watchers are tense, competitive, selfish, shifty, dishonest,
distrusting, boorish, arrogant, pedantic, unsentimental and above all
envious. OK, not *all* of them are *all* of those things, although I know
several that *are*. But most of them are at least two or three. I
personally am four or five, depending on my mood. And some days I'm nine or
ten. ..."
There's a "Birder's Songbook" at the end. Not the best of them, but the
shortest:
I tawt I taw a Spotted Crake
Creeping down the drain.
Oh no! It's just a Water Rail
And I've missed out again!
Cheers
Syd
_____________________________________________________________
"Bill Oddie's Little Black Bird Book", author Bill Oddie, a Methuen
Paperback, first published in Great Britain in 1980.
Almost certainly out of print, but you might strike lucky in a second-hand
bookshop.
____________________________________________________________
> From: "Terry Pacey" <>
> Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 16:34:54 +1000
> To: "Birding-aus" <>
> Subject: Re: [BIRDING-AUS] a (longish) note on twitching and twitchers
>
> Hi all
>
> Carol's description of her twitcher reminds me of a story told by a very
> well known bird guide in North Queensland.
>
> The birder involved travelled from a North American country to see a
> particular species. I won't say which country but it is between Canada and
> Mexico. On his arrival, the guide proceeded to drive for almost 40 hours to
> reach the area. As they drove along a track, a bird was seen to fly to a
> dead tree about 100 metres away. The guide checked it out and could hardly
> believe it when it happened to be the desired species. He told the visitor
> who immediately leapt from the vehicle, looked at the bird for all of 15
> seconds, turned to the guide and said," I've seen it now. We can head
> back."
>
> Apparently, the huge payment involved, and a huge tip, softened the blow of
> an 80 hour drive.
>
> Now that is a TWITCHER! We Australians have a lot to learn.
>
>
> Cheers
>
> Terry Pacey
>
> Birding-Aus is on the Web at
> www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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> "unsubscribe birding-aus" (no quotes, no Subject line)
> to
>
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