Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The Perils of Birdwatching...

But note the perfect aplomb with which the twitcher endures his embarrassing ordeal... Another caption contest?
Posted by Nige at 3:14 pm

8 comments:

  1. MarkNovember 07, 2007 3:34 pm

    Poor guy, a very frightening experience I'd imagine. And kudos to the folks from the RNLI - now that is a tough job. He might have been better off sticking to Autumnwatch with Kate, surely any twitcher's mega-tick. You can see that Bill Oddie is doing his best to goad her into a faux pas when talking about the beavers at Martin Mere.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 07, 2007 3:53 pm

    Why "twitcher"? When I see that word I think of someone with Tourette's Syndrome. Another English/American language difference I guess. (Philip W.: Want to comment? 'Twitcher' is a syllable shorter than 'bird-watcher,' which probably makes it a better word, eh?)

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  3. NigeNovember 07, 2007 4:15 pm

    Susan, twitchers are obsessional completists who have no real interest in birds beyond ticking them off their list. Birdwatchers watch birds. Bill Oddie is more-or-less a twitcher (and, if you haven't come across him, a man to severely challenge your Anglophilia).

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  4. AnonymousNovember 07, 2007 5:02 pm

    Ah, yes -- I know of him, but in a much earlier incarnation. He was one of Eric Idle's pals at Cambridge, in the Footlights Society. An almost Python, I believe.

    (Am I remembering this aright, or is he younger -- more in your and Bryan's cohort?)

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  5. NigeNovember 07, 2007 5:18 pm

    It seems he's 66, Susan - which is slightly surprising and a whole lot older than me and Bryan. As a comedian, he was distinguished by a total inability to be funny - no disqualification in that business, alas...

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  6. MarkNovember 07, 2007 5:28 pm

    I think Nige may be making a play for social status here. Birdwatchers, of which he is one perhaps, inherited their binoculars and rarely stray far from an especially large picnic hamper. Alas, they never watch all that many birds. Twitchers, on the other hand, have had to go out and buy their kit and make do with a bacon sandwich in one pocket and a Thermos in the other. They watch a lot of birds. Bill Oddie looks fairly well stocked round the middle though I'm not sure about up top, so I'd reckon he's a bit of both. Maybe the US compromise-term "birder" would be more appropriate in his case.

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  7. NigeNovember 07, 2007 6:40 pm

    Not me, squire - no bins, no hamper, no bacon sarnie even. No wonder I don't spot many birds.

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  8. GoneNovember 09, 2007 3:27 pm

    I'm convinced he's standing still so as not to disturb the bird he wandered out to try and watch. A good birder to the last.

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