Twitching by numbers: A birder's account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland

Product Information

For some twitchers, travelling many miles to see a rare bird seems to lift their spirits to new levels of exhilaration. Driving an unnecessarily large and heavier car to keep up with the Jones’s isn’t just an added burden re inflated air pollution it means any accident involving them will be more serious than it would have been – especially for cyclists and pedestrians and obviously children – a bad situation being made even worse. The book details what happens during my twitch, credits finder and categorises each rarity (1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, 5-year, 10-year, 20-year and lifetime).

Encountering rare birds is amazing, I’ll never forget coming across a grounded little auk in a public park and if I ever look out at my mum’s bird table and see a rose coloured starling I’d probably be at serious risk of cardiac arrest from excitement.He comes across as a laddish character with flaws (we all have flaws) and perhaps his openness was what got him criticism for some of his remarks, and perhaps that criticism was well deserved. The pace of his fascinating narrative races on with barely a pause for breath, and, by the end of the book (which comes all too quickly), he has covered 25 glorious and super-eventful twitch-filled years. Garry is an accountant and that’s why the book has its title – it is not only the numbers of birds he has supplied but the numbers of many other things too.

You would have been at the top of the list in 1987, aside Ron Johns, if you had seen a paltry (I jest! Re the rare birds themselves it can’t be much fun if you’re an absolutely knackered off course migrant and hundreds of people descend creating a bit of a commotion.No doubt some twitchers who started birdwatching long after me will have seen more different birds than myself and of course I’ve noticed the boasting by some and it’s not just me that’s noticed. Luckily at Leighton Moss no charge for permits for members, but member had for admission at lots of reserves.

Twitching is a lifetime marathon and as the author points out you’ll have to spend a good four decades at it, and fairly obsessively at it, to stand any chance of a top 10 ranking. Our reliance on personal transport because of underfunded public transport (and many people’s preference for the former) means an utterly savage proportion of the population have been involved in serious accidents – I’ve known people who’ve been killed in car crashes, who doesn’t?Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more. There are stories of sticks being thrown at bushes so birds would be flushed out to get a better look at them, and exhausted, agitated birds flying from bush to bush until they were nabbed by a sparrowhawk. He talks about things that people might not see as important and makes a point of what he thinks is important. While you all might take the piss (fair enough) I have got quite a bit of experience of writing and publishing books, one of which was about birdwatching, as I am sure you know.

The author has a lot of anger in him and some people might find it offensive, but I thought it was great. The legendary warden from the 1960’s and 1970’s at Minsmere, Bert Axel had the same strong feeling as well about this subject. The book is illustrated by the author and, although infinitely better than I could do myself, the illustrations are all quite good, but not tip top. Found this blog from the year Leighton had a big anniversary year And this blog shows how you had to apply for permits. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.The Wryneck says: Mr Bagnell is unlikely to win any awards for chivalry, but, in fairness, he did not set out to be a role model for other birders.