John Gooders was something of a pioneer, and I'm sure, like me, he inspired many birders to take up birding with his "How To Watch Birds" and "Where To Watch Birds."
If he were around today, I'm sure he'd be involved in the new app, "How To Twitch Birds." I've thought about this in recent autumns but it really hit home over the last few days, where a decision to catch the Oban ferry to Barra, not realising the Uig to Barra journey was an option cost me the Kingbird, and only yesterday when attempting to twitch it again, establishing that the Glasgow flight to Barra and catching the ferry to Eriskay was considerably cheaper than flying direct to Benbecula - at least £100.
An app that pulled all this together, and kept abreast of summer and winter timetables; prices; car hire etc. would be a really useful tool. We are bombarded with info. about a birds' presence or otherwise, but if you are like me, you are often wondering how best to tackle a twitch.
Do I sail from Holyhead or Fishguard? What ferry companies are there - Stenaline / Irish Ferries, any more? Is one faster? Is there much of a price difference? I didn't know I could fly to Benbecula from Manchester until yesterday - is it only Flybe? Does that involve two planes? Can I hire a car on arriving at Eriskay? A rarity has just turned up on Lundy, who do I contact for a charter? You get the idea.
There'd be a past trips bit where people confirm the art of the possible. On paper, based on ferry times, route planner, and factoring in the time to secure a hire car it wasn't possible to do Uig to Lochmaddy, and get the 1pm Eriskay ferry, yet several crews ripped that up.
The information is out there on the web, but it's all over the place, isn't clear, and isn't geared towards birders. This app would pull all that together. It would cut through all the other crap they put on these sites, and if you asked for Manchester to Benbecula options, that's what you'd get, and not a search engine that promises that, but in reality shows you all destinations in Europe.
This is a plea to any modern day JGs out there to produce this app, which I see as a natural progression as birding grows ever popular. If it's ready in time for the next Kingbird, even better.
If he were around today, I'm sure he'd be involved in the new app, "How To Twitch Birds." I've thought about this in recent autumns but it really hit home over the last few days, where a decision to catch the Oban ferry to Barra, not realising the Uig to Barra journey was an option cost me the Kingbird, and only yesterday when attempting to twitch it again, establishing that the Glasgow flight to Barra and catching the ferry to Eriskay was considerably cheaper than flying direct to Benbecula - at least £100.
An app that pulled all this together, and kept abreast of summer and winter timetables; prices; car hire etc. would be a really useful tool. We are bombarded with info. about a birds' presence or otherwise, but if you are like me, you are often wondering how best to tackle a twitch.
Do I sail from Holyhead or Fishguard? What ferry companies are there - Stenaline / Irish Ferries, any more? Is one faster? Is there much of a price difference? I didn't know I could fly to Benbecula from Manchester until yesterday - is it only Flybe? Does that involve two planes? Can I hire a car on arriving at Eriskay? A rarity has just turned up on Lundy, who do I contact for a charter? You get the idea.
There'd be a past trips bit where people confirm the art of the possible. On paper, based on ferry times, route planner, and factoring in the time to secure a hire car it wasn't possible to do Uig to Lochmaddy, and get the 1pm Eriskay ferry, yet several crews ripped that up.
The information is out there on the web, but it's all over the place, isn't clear, and isn't geared towards birders. This app would pull all that together. It would cut through all the other crap they put on these sites, and if you asked for Manchester to Benbecula options, that's what you'd get, and not a search engine that promises that, but in reality shows you all destinations in Europe.
This is a plea to any modern day JGs out there to produce this app, which I see as a natural progression as birding grows ever popular. If it's ready in time for the next Kingbird, even better.
