Beginner's luck

How do you p*** off the local birding fraternity? This is how...

Do not bird for weeks on end. Bowl up to the local patch with an air of nonchalance and without your telescope. Listen to them regale you with how much effort they have put in for not a lot of return. Wander off on your own and within an hour have a fly-over Honey Buzzard that is a patch first. Leave an hour later to go home for lunch.

I know, what a mean, jammy way of going about things. However, I could suggest that had I lucked into a Montagu's or Pallid Harrier then I might feel a tiny bit more guilty.

Sorry David and Ian, but over the course of the year you will both give me a good ornithological kicking! And you can always claim that I'm stringing...

Comments

David Campbell said…
And having your wits about you to check a presumably common species to make sure it's not something rarer instead or not giving it a second look/check to make sure it wasn't something special, as three people did.. or worse still not even bothering to look at it at all, as I did.

Now my initial fury has calmed I can congratulate and thank you for adding an excellent record to this year's record book. Hopefully next time you'll find something in a bush or field instead of being in the air, drifting steadily away :-)

all the best

David
26 August 2012 at 23:50
David Campbell said…
"...instead OF not..." ...rather
26 August 2012 at 23:51
Factor said…
Hardly a beginner. Has to be said, though - once again - bloody jammy or what! I very much doubt it's often you get a rare pan-frying or whatever it is species flying over when no-one else is looking.

Brilliant sighting!
27 August 2012 at 01:51
Andrew Cunningham said…
Here's another way of throwing a curve ball at them.

Say hello to someone you know who happens to be seawatching when you are carrying nothing but a fishing rod. Gamekeeper turned poacher?
2 September 2012 at 22:04
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