"By definition it is the fear of dipping by missing a pelagic boat trip."
Would it be cruel of me to point out the similarities between this and some
gambling behaviours I've heard of? Eg Making sure the weekly tatts ticket is
bought in case the numbers finally come up, or not changing poker machines in
case it's about to pay out.
I think there's quite a bit of gambling involved with birding. We bet our time
and petrol money, etc, on every birding outing, sometimes quite a lot of it.
Perhaps it's the occasional win that's part of the attraction.
There was a recent discussion here about techniques for finding grasswrens - do
you walk or do you sit and wait? I've no idea which is really more successful,
but I do wonder if part of the attraction of the walking technique is that you
at least end up certain of feeling like you tried hard.
If the motives behind birding and gambling are in fact the same, I know which
I'd rather do.
Peter Shute
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