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  BBC 17 Nov 06
Birds of a feather: about birders and twitchers
By Sean Coughlan

When more than 1,500 people descended on a Devon coastal spot last weekend it was to catch a glimpse of a seabird that is more typically seen in parts of Asia.

Birdwatchers are a force to be reckoned with, but don't call them "twitchers". Like a flock descending unexpectedly from the skies, they appear in their thousands in out-of-the- way places, identifiable by long lenses, green-rainwear plumage and a steely determination to tick a name off a list.

The birdwatchers are in the news again, after descending on the seaside village of Dawlish in Devon, where a long-billed murrelet had been spotted for the first time in Britain. Some travelled from as far as Durham and Manchester - an awfully long trip just to spy a feathered creature that, on a murky day, might be mistaken by a non-expert for a sea gull.

"It's an amazing adrenaline rush. It's a bird you might have thought you'd never see. It's the sense of the rarity," says Howard Vaughan, who has been birdwatching since he was five years old.

Mr Vaughan works at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' latest venture - a wetland habitat at Rainham Marshes in Essex, reclaimed from the Ministry of Defence and officially opened this week.

It shouldn't be a surprise that when his mobile rings, it plays a recording of nightingale song.

But for starters, let's get the language right. Birdwatchers are not "twitchers", they're "birders". And there's much more to their lifestyle and natural habitat that isn't immediate visible.

Super-spotters

How do the birders all know to turn up at remote corners to look at a rare sighting?

They use pagers. Dedicated birders use messaging services about where and when birds are appearing - and for the super-league of spotters, this can mean scrambling like fighter pilots to get to the destination first.

This doesn't necessarily mean battered Ford Fiestas or bus passes. A wealthy elite would think nothing of hiring a helicopter to get to the other end of the country before the bird disappears.

As with train-spotting or stamp-collecting, this is the obsessive male collecting gene (and it is a predominantly male hobby) in action. Mr Vaughan says that he once travelled to the Orkneys on a day-trip to try to catch sight of a rare feathered visitor.

The battleground for this competitive side of birdwatching is the "list" - which is the catalogue of all the birds that someone has seen. Experienced birders could have more than 400 different types of bird on their lists.

'Tick and run brigade'

Such is the urgency for collecting more names, that Mr Vaughan talks of the "tick and run brigade" - those who spot the bird, tick the list and barely stop to eat their sandwiches.

"We've had people who have driven down from Northumberland, spent 15 minutes here, got back in the car and driven home. They didn't even walk around the site."

There is no "list police"; no way of verifying whether someone really has glimpsed all the creatures they claim. Although anyone suspected of over-stating their "conquests" is known in the trade as a "stringer".

Anyone who travels to see a bird which refuses to show itself, has been "dipping". Mr Vaughan once spent a fruitless eight hours, waiting for a "no show".

But walking around Rainham Marshes, it's hard not to be impressed by Howard Vaughan's passion for his subject, and his ability to spot them at a distance like they were old friends.

When he points out a kestrel, I can make out its elegant lines clearly enough. But when he starts reeling off the birds on a stretch of marshy water, they look like a blur of wings and feathers.

Climate change

How does he tell them apart? He says he has a sort of sixth-sense that tunes into not just shape and colour, but the way birds move and their behaviour. "It's almost instinctive," he says.

And this also means tuning into changes - and seeing the evidence of climate change. Little egrets, once a rarity, are "here every day now. It must be to do with the weather, there's no way round it".

This new reserve, a patch of green against a gritty industrial background, is a sign of the level of interest among birders. Mr Vaughan says that there were 11,000 people visiting the site before it had even officially opened.

It's certainly a popular hobby, with the RSPB estimating there are three million birdwatchers.

It's also a serious business proposition. Ian Dickie, senior economist at the RSPB, says 290,000 people travelled to see ospreys last year, spending £3.5m. Birdwatchers looking for the white-tailed eagle spent £1.5m. And he points to trends such as the growth of short-break holidays for birdwatchers.

The 'wow' factor

But it's not all optimistic news. There's always one fishpaste in the sandwich selection.

At 34, Mr Vaughan belies the image of the retired, time-to-burn birdwatcher. And he sees "worrying signs" of a lack of younger enthusiasts. In his formative days there were bird-spotting clubs for children, he says. But now there are few adult volunteers willing to run such groups and young people are not getting a chance to have such outdoor experiences.

What are they missing?

"There are those moments... like it's 5am and you're listening to a dawn chorus and it feels like you've got it all to yourself.

"Or you might have got up really early and been waiting for hours and then 40,000 birds fly overhead together. You get that same kick that means you just say 'wow' and start to laugh."

Readers respond...

Oh Dear, How sad why not leave the poor creatures alone. I mean the birds.
Brock Wood, Haywards Heath, West Sussex

Real "birders" are both male and female, have a passion for birds but probably enjoy wildlife in general, do not chase around like maniacs collecting "ticks" and appreciate the peace and tranquility of the countryside rather than moving in packs of thousands. Those described in the article are I'm afraid twitchers - I know the difference as I am a birder and once suffered the horror of the twitchers when a rare bird was sighted near my home and the area became a battlezone
EG, sussex

Nice try but again a non-birder gets the terminology wrong. The 1500 people who went to see the murrelet absolutely were twitchers. That's what the word means: they hear of a rare bird and twitch. It's those of us who prefer to just enjoy what's around who object to being termed twitchers.
Michael Daw, Washington DC, USA

I got into this hobby when I read on the BBC website about the decline of well known species like the House Sparrow. I decided to try and help, and have visibly grown the bird population around my garden in just a few months. In all I have seen about 30 species from my suburban garden, everything from a wren to a grey heron. I have been amazed by the variety of visitors. More people should take an active interest in this rewarding pastime.
Mat Dolphin, Solihull, UK
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