The Lincolnshire Bird Club

But surely lifes a twitch, then you die.

I stand corrected Phil, but when your 62 the twitch's are not so common any more. Then you die !!!

the twitches aren't so common at 48 either. The easy answer is to start a new list then you can start a whole new twitching scene e.g. Lincs, green listing or birds seen in the new millenium.

I was very tempted by the world list but then decided it would be bad for my already over inflated carbon footprint.......

One philosophical question has just struck me, how many twitches a year do you need for true birding contentment?

does it get fewer over 60? over 80? If it gets really low over 60 could it be that giving up twitching is fatal and a previously unrecorded cause of mortality?

Phil and Terence,
Hey, you guys - stop sounding so morbid. If you hadn't mentioned your ages (48 and 62 respectively), I would have guessed 80 something.
First, perhaps the "philosophical" question could be re-worded - ""How many SUCCESSFUL twitches a year do you need for true birding contentment?" I reckon a Spoon-billed Sandpiper at Gib Pt might reduce the number to one for some people.
Secondly,if by a twitch you mean a special trip to see a "good" bird (or butterfly) then I reckon (and I don't consider myself "special) that I have averaged one a week in the last 12 months (c50) with some 10 UK counties visited plus trips to Madeira,Croatia,Montenegro,Albania and with a 7day twitch booked for Mallorca next May(with my 77 year old brother-in-law),Punta Umbria Spain (7 days June) and Italy (11 days Sept), and I
have paid enough in taxes since 1952 to minimise my so-called carbon footprint.
Thirdly, at 74, I was really age-humbled on my recent trip based in Montenegro, seeing a number of 80 plus year-olds dashing around in all sorts of activities - and all were still alive at the return airport.
So, given reasonable health, don't even start thinking age-related twitch restrictions at least until that free TV licence stage is reached (75) -- and
then reduce it by,say, 5 or10% to show willing.

Regards,

Freddy

Well you guys i am ashamed to say that in the past my carbon footprint must have been rather large. I do not really go on twitchers in england with just the odd exception. The eagle owls plus plover at leighton moss this year and i turned it into a 3 day break.
You are quite correct, i am just as content as i was today watching whoopers fly by and twite on the salt marsh 1 mile from home.
My twitching or should i say trips abroad i have been rather naughty in the past having birded in 48 different countries i am ashamed to say.
During the last 5 years or so i have modified my trips and fly just the once but stay for a longer period.
I now only go abroad about every 15 months or so. This year i spent all February in Ecuador 30 DAYS to be accurate.
16 months before that i was in south africa for 28 days. 15 months before that peru for 4 wks. So i save to go on longer trips to cut down on flying a little. It is not much i know but a trip every 16 months is better than 2/3 trips per year.
I am planning another trip next summer-autumn time. Maybe argentina-bolivia-thailand-borneo or maybe the pacific oddesy with wildwings i am at present un-decided any of the above will do, so you see at 62 my twitchers are not so often as they used to be.


Terry Whalin (barely twiching at all but still breathing)

Hi Freddy, glad to hear you are still filling your boots. My point was its when you stop twitching that senescence sets in so glad to hear that is not the case with you.

Your point about Spoon billed Sand is a good one but lets hope that if it does turn up, you don't miss it with all that jetting around! Like Terence I'm trying to refocus back to Lincs/UK and keeping my foreign trips down as far as my desire to see stuff overseas can be reigned in.

Over the last 5 years I averaged 35t CO2 per annum. But this year I've brought it down to 7. My worst year was 39t (not just birding but all travel).

Has anyone else done the sums?

Phil
i have not worked out my carbon footprint because i do not know how to do it, but if you have any formulas or info of where to go to find out i will set about reducing my impact on our beautiful planet if i can.

Terry Whalin (still breathing tel )

Heres a site where you can do it. There are loads of them, just google carbon footprint calculator

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html