Also lots of reserves where no permits where needed such as the Inch marshes in Scotland was only open a few days a week and only for part of the year.

He talks about things that people might not see as important and makes a point of what he thinks is important. In that time, you must have seen numerous changes in attitudes to how we approach birdwatching, habitat protection/creation and conservation. Somehow in that quarter-of-a-century, he has managed to catch up with more than 550 bird species in Britain and Ireland while simultaneously holding down a happy family life, a full-time job in finance with a series of bluechip employers plus a range of sporting interests including playing chess (to county standard) and darts, not to mention following the fortunes of Arsenal FC.The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. 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. There were some reserves of course that were open every day such as the RSPB’s headquarters The Lodge Reserve but closed around 5. 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. He Tweeted many times asking for advice and just before publication provided an example of the introduction but it had none of the above in it.

The idea of tanking it down the motorway and ultimately along iffy back roads when you’re probably tired just for the chance to catch a glimpse of a rare bird is not a good idea, if it was just your own life/health that might be acceptable, but in a fast moving heavy lump of metal it’s never just about you. However, racing round the country to spot a rare bird is pushing it a bit not just for resource use/carbon emission reasons. Credit it to GB also, for his determination and enterprise in publishing the title at his own risk without the comfort of an advance payment or the prospect of royalties from an established publishing house.I didn't see a copy to read, no idea if any other "unknowns" did, but I do know that he paid a considerable sum to someone who "edited it". Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world.

I’m still bemused that the author felt compelled to water down/ delete certain sections just because a single magazine columnist condemned the book having identified what she deemed to be ‘sexism’. 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. He just sought to put down in words and pictures some of the highlights of almost quarter of a century of twitching, these accompanied by reflections on other aspects of his career and outlook on life.They are mostly very readable and highly worthy in their own ways, but there are so many of them that a certain staleness has set in.

Credit also to the author for having enough self-belief to produce, finance and market the finished project purely on his own initiative and thus minus the faffing about with agents and publishers. Insert joke about tits here, but seriously this is why women still feel so unwelcome in the birding community. Twitching by Numbers: twenty-four years of chasing rare birds around Britain and Ireland by Garry Bagnell is self published. I offered to proof read it for him and suggested that he get people who don't know him to read it, mainly for typos and content. Some of his comments might might strike a discordant note with certain readers, but credit to him for his endeavour - putting together an illustrated book takes a fair bit of sweat and toil.The legendary warden from the 1960’s and 1970’s at Minsmere, Bert Axel had the same strong feeling as well about this subject. Because this author is very open about sharing his thoughts and feelings, and a lot of details, you might get more of a handle on the ‘why? The child died and subsequently my friend has spent a lot of time dealing with mental health issues – that it wasn’t his fault makes no difference and it won’t be something his own kids will forget either he had just picked them up from school. I've just spent the last year writing a book about the last 24 years of twitching birds in Britain and Ireland. 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.