The Lincolnshire Bird Club

On BBC 4 tonight at 9.00 p.m:

Twitchers: A Very British Obsession

Just wasted an hour watching it - it has fortified my resolve never to go on a twitch!!

12+ hours driving & eating at the wheel using mobile phone with no hands free ? think the police would be interested ?

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Dean Eades



Take nothing but photos - Leave nothing but footprints - Waste nothing but time

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Totally agree especially the driving stint. The programme was an interesting insight into what the twitching brigade get up to, to non-twitchers [birders] and the general public. It would be interesting to read the comments of the forum's twitchers.

The following programme was also very interesting about the Cuckoo for those of us who didn't know.

Regards

John

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GETTING OLD HAS IT'S ADVANTAGES BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THEY ARE lol

Frightening obsession! Awfully glad I don't have a weekly, monthly, yearly, life or any list at all!

David

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vnflv

For anyone who missed it now on iplayer -- typically resolving bird interested parties into the extremes of opinion with the most anti producing the loudest voices -- if anyone wants to spend a few hours of casual reading there are now 580 comments on the Birdforum thread http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php ... 17&page=24 -- many of the comments again polarise opinions on everything invented / filmed /edited out by the TV crew but more than anything to me it shows how the people involved in birding in general (those commenting) changed over the last 30 years-- it used to be sort of enjoyable and fun now so often its not --or am I just showing my age again?

Car Crash TV at its very best.

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rE tWICTHING;yeah i did see it thanks to this forum and iplayer,heck!!i didnt realiase how obsessed they were,it seems more like a numbers game,collecting as many stamps in philately or something,
GPC,!!!no your not getting old,birding was more fun years ago,too much serious now attached,e.g.if youve seen a rare bird and i havent seen it,it never existed attitude,never had that years ago-it would be-great rog great sighting!!,SHARING OF BIRDS was widespread then,not so now,where all this has come from im not quite sure.
if theres a load of birders all stood quite and serious looking at a rarity i will deliberatly start trying a few witty remarks the odd joke to lighten up the scene,most think its good ,but the odd stiffy gives me a serious stiff look.,i m ram,bling on and on again,
Interesting Prog.
Rog.

Such people can only be described as the worst kind of 'nutter'.

Joe

I watched the programme on the iplayer and have just read the birdforum debate which is now closed at 780 or so contributions, it took me 3 hours but it is a very wet and windy afternoon.

I have to say to all of you who haven't done it, that twitching is the most fun and excitement that 4 grown men in a car are ever likely to have together, in my experience. If you don't understand what I mean then fine, each to his own. If you haven't tried it don't knock it. I don't apply that dictum to criminal offences by the way.

You could never depict the rich tapestry that is twitching in one hour and this film didn't really try. It set Lee Evans up big time but he must have known that was coming and if you are running a website (or a UK400 club), isn't all publicity good publicity? I was impressed with Brett Richards philosophical contribution and he emerged with credit.

It was an extremely unbalanced programme and the most irritating thing to me as a twitcher was the attention given to the UK400 club and its judge, jury and executioner. The standard has got to be the BOURC list but it wasn't even mentioned. Still it was entertainment for the public and as someone said on Birdforum, (I paraphrase) if it puts people off twitching that's good, there will be more room for me and my mates to see the next big one.

I should also add there is almost as much fun to be had birding your local patch, ringing, doing ttvs and contributing roving records to the atlas and most people get by on their own combination and good luck to everyone who derives pleasure from birding.

A very measured and sensible response, Phil. I'm still chuckling about the "fun and excitement of four grown men in a car " bit. The mind boggles!!!