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Twitching by numbers: A birder's account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland

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The author has a lot of anger in him and some people might find it offensive, but I thought it was great. How refreshing, therefore, to come across Twitching By Numbers - a birder's account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland. The pace of his fascinating narrative races on with barely a pause for breath, and, by the end of the book (which comes all too quickly), he has covered 25 glorious and super-eventful twitch-filled years.

While you all might take the piss (fair enough) I have got quite a bit of experience of writing and publishing books, one of which was about birdwatching, as I am sure you know. Encountering rare birds is amazing, I’ll never forget coming across a grounded little auk in a public park and if I ever look out at my mum’s bird table and see a rose coloured starling I’d probably be at serious risk of cardiac arrest from excitement.

I'm a 55 year old accountant who lives in Southwater, West Sussex with my wife Kim, daughter Georgie and our pets Barney, Pepper, Midge and Poppy. There is no brooding self-absorption from Sussex-based author Garry Bagnell, nor any preachy 'agenda' of any sort - just a celebration of the excitement of travelling the length and breadth of Britain for the thrill (and privilege) of seeing rare birds, some of which may never previously have occurred more than once or a few times on our shores. The idea of tanking it down the motorway and ultimately along iffy back roads when you’re probably tired just for the chance to catch a glimpse of a rare bird is not a good idea, if it was just your own life/health that might be acceptable, but in a fast moving heavy lump of metal it’s never just about you.

Twitching is a lifetime marathon and as the author points out you’ll have to spend a good four decades at it, and fairly obsessively at it, to stand any chance of a top 10 ranking. Our reliance on personal transport because of underfunded public transport (and many people’s preference for the former) means an utterly savage proportion of the population have been involved in serious accidents – I’ve known people who’ve been killed in car crashes, who doesn’t?The book details what happens during my twitch, credits finder and categorises each rarity (1-year, 2-year, 3-year, 4-year, 5-year, 10-year, 20-year and lifetime). The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. If you ever wanted to understand what twitching is, then this detailed account would be a good place to start. I didn't see a copy to read, no idea if any other "unknowns" did, but I do know that he paid a considerable sum to someone who "edited it".

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