AA Birdpix, Birds, Travel and More

  So you think you'll throw a sickie? I read a letter recently from someone who had twitched the Western Reef Egret, and they seemed surprised that anyone would drive overnight to see a bird (such dedication!). The fact is that twitching is not what it was in the last century, for many reasons, not least of which is the numbers of participants. At one time most twitchers were pretty hard core (a birding term for dedicated or enthusiastic, I believe it's also used in other contexts), one of the reasons being that most birders were known to each other (or Lee at least). To twitch was to be part of the "scene" and it was fun, for most people. There were those to whom it caused distress, depression, or even divorce, but thankfully most enjoyed the camaraderie and competitive nature of the chase. It couldn't continue, since people began throwing money at it, which of course alienated many, or it led to an interest in foreign travel, which meant seeing far more species ...

What goes around Comes around. Well, sometimes. It's a daft saying anyway, but I don't think Pallas's Sandgrouse will be coming around any time soon. However, I claimed that on my website about Egyptian Nightjar, and now look what's happened! I didn't get there of course. Whilst I've always said I would twitch a world tick (for me), I'm not prepared to spend money on charters. So I should have driven to Aberdeen on Sunday, but luckily left it till Monday, when there was no longer any point in leaving the house. "Every cloud has a silver lining", another daft expression, but on this occasion for me it was true. Given my declared target of seeing every bird on the British List anywhere in the world, it means I will have to go to Morocco or possibly Oman, which will be far more enjoyable than dashing up to Shetland. I'm going to Shetland at the end of the month, but that's something I do most years, it's a fortnight's enjoyable birding...

No rEgrets Excuse the awful pun, but all the best bird mags seem to be doing it. I never even considered going for the Western Reef Heron in Wales earlier this year, mainly because I've seen plenty and I'm sure there will be more. But the genus Egretta has much interest, and quite a few possible taxonomic changes, among other things. It doesn't include all Egrets, several are in the genus Ardea, which also includes large herons such as Grey, but I'm not discussing them here. The Western Reef may not have been Britain's first, but being dark phase it was easily identified. But there was the infamous "Stanpit Egret", which caused much controversy back in 1998. It looked different to accompanying Little Egrets, and was eventually recorded as a Little (or possibly hybrid). Little Egrets were not the common species they are today, it was about 1985 that I had twitched one in Devon, and they first bred in 1996.  I have tried to do some superficial research, and ...

  Citizen Science, AI, am I too old for this? The answer is emphatically no, but I had until recently been a bit disturbed by some of the "progress" in the birding world. But, speaking to the ebird people at the Birdfair, I realised why most of my issues were irrelevant. There are many reasons why information on websites such as irecord and ebird are not always accurate, but the truth is it doesn't matter, it's the overall picture that's important. My main issues with ebird were that the "checking systems" were based on computer algorithms. and many records were probably erroneous. There are humans involved, but not all parts of the world are covered, and many adjudicators live nowhere near the area they cover. The reality is that a record will always be accepted (unless it is obviously an error) and most are never seen by a human. But, anything important, such as rare breeders or endangered species, and vagrants, will be assessed, that is actually a qui...

  Changes and my website. I fell off the wagon the other day, and have finally given up trying to give up. Of course, I'm not talking about alcohol, smoking or drugs, but twitching. What is great is that I don't need to be in denial, or harm anyone else, nor feel guilty. In fact Ann was glad to get me out of the house.  In truth I just wanted a day away from an overgrown, parched garden, still not fully restored after I burnt the summerhouse down with my moth trap, and a better photo of Long-tailed Shrike. I have long since stopped having any interest in how many ticks I have in the UK, I think it was my first for two years, and the last one before it was a world tick, so I had a reason to go for that. The shrike was first reported on 19th July, the message  "belated news of 1st-summer at Macaroni Farm from 8-16 July but no sign since in extensive search." Back in the heyday of twitching there would have birders at the site almost immediately, despite the non-appeara...

  Godwit Musings Most birders like Godwits, and the current appearence of a Hudsonian Godwit has brightened up a summer for those in the south-east. The species has an amazing pattern of vagrancy, and I have an interesting personal history with them. It began in 1981;  I had started birding in 1980, but hadn't done any twitching. On holiday in Devon we saw a crowd of birders with telescopes trained on something, but as it wasn't a birding trip and we were with friends we didn't investigate. A few years, and integration in to the twitching fraternity, made me realise that I had driven past a Hudsonian Godwit, the long-staying (and returning bird) which was the UK's only record at the time, and was also recorded at Blacktoft Sands. Of course, that species (for me anyway), immediately joined the "most wanted" list. It was to be a long wait. I've never worried too much about my British list, although I did a lot of twitching I travelled a lot as I had a good j...