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

Product Information

This was my first book and I didn't expect to get complaints about my single life between 2000 to 2002 (Chapter 2 to 4). I decided to remove the offending passages and rewrite these early years and republish as "Twitching by numbers: A birder's hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland".

Though most twitchers are bird-lovers, the sport is mostly about the chase. Bagnell, for instance, drove 90 minutes and searched the ground for a half-hour before he spotted the coy shorelark in beach scrub. He eyed it for a few moments before tweeting his find, then moved on. "I've got another bird to get three hours away," he said. KEEN birder Gary Bagnell has pledged to rewrite sections of his first book after it came under fire on social media. In America, birdwatching is still mostly a pastime," said Evans, who is on his fourth marriage and blames his divorces partly on his obsession with twitching. "But in Britain, birdwatching can be bitter. It can be real nasty business." In the wake of the uproar, Mr Bagnell (55), an accountant, of Southwater in West Sussex, has both apologised for any upset he has caused and indicated that he now intends to rewrite his book, self-censoring the sections that have caused such offence. Twitching by numbers: a birder’s account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland(revised edition)

About Me

My main birding achievement was being featured in the hit BBC-4 documentary "Twitchers-A very British Obsession". It was broadcast 9 times and I loved the whole experience.

Britain isn't the only place that has hatched a culture of fierce birdwatching. In the United States, book-turned-Hollywood-film The Big Year chronicled the quest of three men vying in long-held American competitions to spot the most species in a single year. Nevertheless, observers say the intensity of the rivalries and the small size of the twitching community – in the thousands – have singled out British birders as some of the world's most relentless. Peter Just finished reading. This book provides a fascinating detailed insight into the life of one the UK's top Twitchers covering the years from 1999 upto the present date covering over 200 twitches over this period and the stories behind each one. The passion that Garry has for his love of his family and twitching are second to none. It also contains some fantastic illustrations all done by the author. An easy reading style that is hard to put down. A top read for anyone interestedin birds , and will certainly help to motivate aspiring list keepers. Fantastic. The book takes you through the various twitching adventures in the British Isles and aspects of my private life. But sections of soon came under the notice of feminist Lucy McRobert who, like him, is both a birder and a writer - but on a different wavelength and at the primmer end of the literary spectrum. During the story I get selected for a BBC documentary called " A very British Obsession" and formed a successful WhatsApp group called “Casual Twitchers”.I had never heard of a foam party until I read this book – maybe I should get out more, or maybe not. Years ago, British boys used to spend their childhoods collecting birds' eggs – now you wouldn't dream of doing such a thing," said Brian Egan, manager of the Rare Bird Alert. "But what they can do as adults is chase sightings of rare birds. So that's what they do." Garry's description of every Twitch he has done in the last 24 years and his illustrations of the best rare birds There have been several books about twitching in Britain in the past, some interesting and exciting, others so full of inaccuracies that they were better off in the fiction section. And, I must admit, I do like reading tales of twitching; as someone who used to be an active twitcher, I understand the thrill of seeing something new, the logistics of getting there and the obsession required to reach the far-flung corners of Britain (and, in this case, Ireland) at the drop of a hat. I am also fascinated by the characters involved – some are great bird-finders; some rely on the next piece of rare-bird news to plan their day; some are from well-paid jobs with understanding bosses; some have understanding partners and supportive friends; while for others there’s an element of ‘sneaking in’ the twitching between other aspects of their life. Many of the people and places named in this book are familiar to me from my days living in the UK. He hasn’t wasted a second of his life because he is also an authority on aircraft and a county standard chess player