In the Spring 2003 edition
of the RSPB magazine ‘Birds’ an article by Simon Barnes encouraged
people to watch birds regardless of whether or not they could positively
identify them. The enjoyment of seeing and watching them should be
sufficient. If that means you are thought of by others, as a ‘bad
birdwatcher’ then so be it.
The article brought back
memories of when, as a very fit 20 something; I was on an exercise in
the Scottish Highlands with the RAF. Nearing the top of one of the
Cairngorm Mountains I noticed some wee plump birds running around. I
mentioned to my party leader that ‘these pigeons won’t find much to
eat up here in the snow’ the result, a howl of derision. ‘They’re
not Pigeons you fool, they’re Ptarmigan’ Suitably humiliated, and
not allowed to forget it for weeks, I determined to become a bit more
knowledgeable so off I went and bought a bird book. Equipped with my
book and a pair of the team’s binoculars I was ready for battle.
During our next few training weekends I positively identified two Andean
Condor, three Elanora’s Falcons, four Wandering Albatross roosting in
a tree on Ben Alder and a Partridge in a pear tree - that was near Xmas.
The point is, despite the
fact that I got it all so horribly wrong, it was something new and quite
exciting. As I improved, albeit, very slowly, I could watch and enjoy
for ages a circling Golden Eagle, a cock Red Grouse crowing his head off
in the early morning, or a Dipper dashing through the streams. Of course
I still made mistakes but so what, they were unlikely to appear as
headlines in The Scotsman and the mistakes were still worth watching.
Now to the land Down Under
where one of our first purchases was a copy of ‘What Bird is That’
This is going to be even more difficult, I thought, all the birds here
are roughly the same size. Funny that, I always thought that an Emu
would be bigger than a Magpie and a Kookaburra bigger than a Wren
considering the noise it makes. Confusion reigned supreme. I still get
confused but that’s not unusual when one is on the wrong side of
thirty! Eventually, Slater’s guidebooks became available and now there
are many others to choose from, making life much easier.
Most birdwatchers make
mistakes in identification but does it really matter? Certainly not to
the bird which will go on living quite happily as a Red-eared Firetail
while you call it a Forty spotted Pardalote. We have a lady across the
road that has Ground Parrots in her garden. I find that odd because I
have never noticed her garden consisting of thousands of acres of heath.
Last week she also saw some Tropic Birds down at Rushy Point. When we
queried the Ground Parrots she responded quite forcefully ‘I know my
birds’ Why should we disillusion her, as someone once said ‘when
ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise’ Let her enjoy her birds,
in fact, let us all enjoy our birds, grab your book and bins, get out
there and let me know about the Graceful Prinia you see.
PS. You won’t find it in
Slater.
Alex Morrison
