I'm not normally a twitcher although I do note the unusual species from looking at Bird Guides on a regular basis. Recently, crowds of bird watchers flocked to see a 'mega' bird species, a long tailed shrike in Scotland, some driving from as far away as Cornwall I believe.
Whilst amazed at the lengths people will go for another 'lifer' , I was even more amazed when another ( or the same?) long tailed shrike turned up at Eastleach Martin, only 20 minutes away from my home! With no excuse not to go and see it, I read the instructions for parking and turned up in the allocated field around 9.30 am. I reckon at least 70 cars were already in situe, and a short walk back up the lane found me amongst a line of birders, mostly with long lenses, scopes and tripods all pointing towards one spot along the hedgerow, some distance away. With my binoculars I could only make out the shape of the shrike, but a kind person allowed me to take a look through their scope which was set up next to me. From time to time the bird would make a short flight to another perch, either on a teasel, on the branch of a tree or at the front of a bush. Each allowed for good sightings, particularly those with the more expensive gear.
I learned afterwards that the bird's preferred locations were actually along the Gloucestershire/Oxfordshire border, thus causing some interesting dilemmas for county birdwatchers, anxious to add a tick to their own patch birds.
With the bird being so distant, I could only get a blurry shot on my own camera, but if opportunity allows, I might have another go and pay an additional £5 charity donation, for the privilege of parking in the farmer's field. Altogether, I would agree with the general opinion that the kindness and co-operation of the local farmer, made for a well-organised and friendly 'twitch.'
Next day, I had a pre-booked walk at Slimbridge WWT with writer and broadcaster David Lindo. I had been surprised when I managed to secure one of only 20 free tickets for the event which was one of a series of free walks at the WWT Centres of which he is vice-president, organised to celebrate 20 years of his work as 'The Urban Birder'. The walk was actually led by chief warden, Martin McGill , with David Lindo providing interesting facts about his life and birding in general along the way. Although we only visited four of the centre's hides, I managed to add another four bird species to my own year list, ( spotted redshank, yellow wagtail, green and common sandpipers.) and a couple of new dragonfly species.
It was an enjoyable walk with other like minded birders and ended with book signing by the author.
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