John Davis, Harry Pepper and I slipped across the border into England under cover of darkness
yesterday to "twitch" the Brown Shrike in Surrey. We had a very successful day and saw not only the shrike but Rose-ringed Parakeet, Green Woodpecker and Water Pipit as well. The purpose of this posting though is not to brag but to relate a rather sad and annoying aspect of "twitches".
Despite the obvious congregation of birders gathered by the river-side to view the bird at a reasonable distance from it's favoured territory, (we three from Wales were not the only ones who had come to see it) the bird, and our enjoyment of it was constantly disturbed by 3 idiots who were tramping around on the other side of the river in it's territory. They had binoculars and cameras and had obviously come specifically to get close to and photograph the bird without any regard for other birders or, more importantly, the bird's well being. They were too far away to shout at so we had to make do with cursing and muttering to ourselves.
I do hope their photographs are rubbish, and they become bored with birds and take up some other hobby and go to it and annoy someone else and their hair falls out.
Ahhh, I feel better now.