This could be fun!!

[Dave Williams]

I was sent this by a friend and I think we could make our own "grievances" to add too! 

https://www.10000birds.com/ten-things-i-hate-most-about-birding.htm?doing_wp_cron=1724908181.2168989181518554687500

 

@Galana@Soukous@xelas@michael-ibk @Tdgraves@PeterHG @Zim Girl @Hads@JimS @BRACQUENE @pedro maia  @mvecht @lmSA84 @shazdwn @Peter Connan@Treepol. plus anyone else that might have some interesting experiences to share!!

[JimS]

Being very much a novice when it comes to birding, I haven't really learned enough to have pet hates yet. I'm definitely not a morning person though, which probably explains why I haven't seen any owls.

[offshorebirder]

I have grown to loathe competitive listing as a practice - in the USA it is so out of hand.  Many birders conflate birding and listing to the extent that they no longer seem to realize there is a difference. 

[Dave Williams]

I think listing is actually an instinct from our hunter gatherer days. The hunting now hopefully done with a camera!  The BY is a manifestation of both!!  Breaking records and joining exclusive clubs based on sightings isn't for me but it doesn't actually interfere with what I'm doing so I don't care.

Second thoughts, it does, and so does the internet and web sites that publish sightings. Hundreds often gather just to claim the sighting for their list. The places get overcrowded as a result and it's cheating really. Find your own birds!!

.

[Dave Williams]

My dislike is definitely hide behaviour by so many people who have no idea of etiquette or consideration for others. Loud talking that continues even when something interesting has just arrived in front of your hide. Machine gunning photographers who either don't have or don't use silent shutter. People who walk in to a hide, make a noise, drag furniture about , open blinds noisily then declare there's nothing worth looking at and leave after 60 seconds. The list goes on.

[offshorebirder]

9 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

Second thoughts, it does, and so does the internet and web sites that publish sightings. Hundreds often gather just to claim the sighting for their list. The places get overcrowded as a result and it's cheating really. Find your own birds!!

 

I have seen these "eBird stampedes"  of obsessive + competitive listers trample delicate habitat, disturb birds so much they leave, anger land managers enough to close sensitive areas or to begin hating birders, and other bad outcomes. 

[AndrewB]

Camouflage clothing!

Middle of summer, tourist area with people around in shorts and T shirts, dogs, kids and a certain type of birdwatcher is fully kitted out in sniper gear!

[Dave Williams]

1 hour ago, AndrewB said:

Camouflage clothing!

Middle of summer, tourist area with people around in shorts and T shirts, dogs, kids and a certain type of birdwatcher is fully kitted out in sniper gear!

 

I do have an ex army camouflage jacket which I bought, along with the matching trousers for a trip to Iceland where extra padding and waterproof clothing were essential as it was freezing cold.. They were a bargain price but I won't wear them together in a public place as I feel a prat! Brilliant for lying in wet boggy ground and the mud doesn't stick either.

Jacket on it's own isn't too bad and it is very waterproof.

Dad's Army        Floi,Iceland by Dave Williams, on Flickr

[Galana]

On 8/29/2024 at 2:51 PM, Dave Williams said:

Machine gunning photographers who either don't have or don't use silent shutter. People who walk in to a hide, make a noise, drag furniture about , open blinds noisily then declare there's nothing worth looking at and leave after 60 seconds. The list goes on.

I knew I should not have clicked on this link.

1. "leave after 60 seconds".  You are far too patient. There again my list includes those who look up from their scope at an arriving birder like he was found on the sole of their boot, look back at their scope and don't say a bloody word about what they are looking at.

2. Machine gunners. Right! Silent shutter AND that bloody 'beep' buttons should be like mobile phones in restaurants.

3. "Experts" who treat other hide users as moronic beginners whose visit will not be complete without knowing their birding history and the Taxonomic name for the House Sparrow.

4. Those who giggle when they see a Shag.

5. E Bird!

[janzin]

wow, I think everyone has missed the humor in the article which was very tongue-in-cheek! I thought it was quite funny, and for the most part, accurate.  (I do have a local birder who insists on showing us his bird photos on his phone when we are trying to bird!)

[Dave Williams]

6 hours ago, janzin said:

wow, I think everyone has missed the humor in the article which was very tongue-in-cheek! I thought it was quite funny, and for the most part, accurate.  (I do have a local birder who insists on showing us his bird photos on his phone when we are trying to bird!)

Many a true word said in jest!!

If you can laugh about it afterwards it helps.

[Peter Connan]

I'm probably one of the people on the list...

Silent shutter? No idea how to activate it or if my camera even has it. And I perpetrate several of the other mentioned behaviours too, afraid to say.

[offshorebirder]

Camouflage clothing has gotten me many a closer photo opportunity and amazing wildlife encounter than I would otherwise have had.   Period.

 

The name of the game in terms of fieldcraft is BLENDING IN.  Camo matched to surrounding habitat is how you accomplish that.  

 

I refuse to cede the field of camo to hunters.   Why in the world should I?

 

Edited August 31 by offshorebirder

[AndrewB]

8 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

 Camo matched to surrounding habitat is how you accomplish that. 

Exactly! Which is why camo clothing on a sea wall in high summer with kids in shorts, on bikes, people walking along in Hawaiian shirts and KissMeQuick hats rather negates the need for camo!

No issues with "blending in clothing", it is the "serious birder" uniform I laugh at. I was at a UK major birding site on a sea wall when I came upon a gaggle of camo clad, telescope wielding birders intently getting excited at a distant wader. Along pops this girl, very brightly dressed, mini skirt and all, she paused, had a listen to the excitement, whips out a top of the range pair of bins, states "No, juvenile Godwit not a Dowitcher", and then walks on chatting to her friends. Jaws dropped, discussion ensued, I overheard someone say "yes, I thought a juvenile too".

Location is key, I wear discreet clothing in appropriate (to me) places.

[offshorebirder]

@AndrewB - perhaps the camo-clad birders had been somewhere else before the beach wall (or were going somewhere else afterwards) where camp clothing would be helpful.

 

I often stop by urban stores or places after a morning outing wearing camo clothes - and I don’t give enough of a fig what people may think of my attire to change into something else.

[John M.]

   Amusing discussion. Are travellers still told not to wear camo in Africa, like we were in our time, to avoid problems with local authorities? I can remember our vehicle being stopped by an army patrol in Harare, on my first arrival in Africa. Glad I wasn't wearing camo.

   Do some still wear bright colours to go with loud voices?  Are they also told to avoid very dark clothing like black or navy (which attract tsetse flies and mozzies), and to favour neutral shades? 

   Just curious.

[Galana]

@John M.No and yes.

Cammo gear, or more likely something similar from Millets, seems to be de rigour in Africa and 'the beach' these days.

Sadly the loud colours and louder voices seem to be still with us and multiplying well.

I do avoid Blue Spectrum clothes in Tsetse land but I was never into Denim anyway. Simple 'Bush neutral' Beige or Tan as per Army Service uniforms or that developed over decades by the Colonial Service works well enough for me.

 

@AndrewBDon't keep us in suspense. Did you get that girl's number and where was she carrying the bins?

[Atravelynn]

On 8/29/2024 at 4:42 AM, JimS said:

Being very much a novice when it comes to birding, I haven't really learned enough to have pet hates yet. I'm definitely not a morning person though, which probably explains why I haven't seen any owls.

That's very funny.