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Lee Evans Retired from Twitching (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Periwinkle
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lostinjapan
Well-known member
Leave Lee alone!
My favorite story about Lee and I never had the gumption to ask him if it is true is the one where another certain now Millionaire twitcher asked him to pull over as he was doing over 100mph on narrow country lanes in pursuit of a (later to be relegated to Category D) Mugimaki Flycatcher. Lee happilly obliged..leaving the budding millionaire by the side of the road and continued on to the lovely area of scrubby wood it was frequenting near the Humber.....to tick a bird he couldn't actually count.
Of course there is the other good one about him being so keen to see the (I guess last twitchable UK..if you don't include the Isle of Wight ) Wallcreeper in the Cheddar Gorge.
He was so determined to see the bird that he climbed the gorge, forgetting he was afraid of heights and had be later rescued by the local fire brigade!
Myth or truth..it doesn't matter..you gotta hand it to the man he is a twitching star..if a little too obsessed with seeing more species than any other birder in the UK and unfortunately pooh-poohing others birds when they are not seen by him.
Love him or hate him..mistakes, car crashes, wrecked relationships, missing body parts and all he is an essential part of the British birding scene.
Maybe there is a need in our hobby to have a villain, someone you can villify or ridicule for his foibles, but you can't knock his passion and commitment to his craze/hobby. Call him the John Mcenroe bad boy of the British birding scene if you like.
But as others have said, he has given plenty back to the birding community, such as his books and making arrangements for access to birds.. and I am sure he gives money to conservation/birding groups as well.
Finally, as I was trying to illustrate with my little stories he makes our dull little hobby (second only to dare I say it train*****ers in the public's eye) a little brighter..especially if we are having a 'dipping' day.
My favorite story about Lee and I never had the gumption to ask him if it is true is the one where another certain now Millionaire twitcher asked him to pull over as he was doing over 100mph on narrow country lanes in pursuit of a (later to be relegated to Category D) Mugimaki Flycatcher. Lee happilly obliged..leaving the budding millionaire by the side of the road and continued on to the lovely area of scrubby wood it was frequenting near the Humber.....to tick a bird he couldn't actually count.
Of course there is the other good one about him being so keen to see the (I guess last twitchable UK..if you don't include the Isle of Wight ) Wallcreeper in the Cheddar Gorge.
He was so determined to see the bird that he climbed the gorge, forgetting he was afraid of heights and had be later rescued by the local fire brigade!
Myth or truth..it doesn't matter..you gotta hand it to the man he is a twitching star..if a little too obsessed with seeing more species than any other birder in the UK and unfortunately pooh-poohing others birds when they are not seen by him.
Love him or hate him..mistakes, car crashes, wrecked relationships, missing body parts and all he is an essential part of the British birding scene.
Maybe there is a need in our hobby to have a villain, someone you can villify or ridicule for his foibles, but you can't knock his passion and commitment to his craze/hobby. Call him the John Mcenroe bad boy of the British birding scene if you like.
But as others have said, he has given plenty back to the birding community, such as his books and making arrangements for access to birds.. and I am sure he gives money to conservation/birding groups as well.
Finally, as I was trying to illustrate with my little stories he makes our dull little hobby (second only to dare I say it train*****ers in the public's eye) a little brighter..especially if we are having a 'dipping' day.
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Farnboro John
Well-known member
lostinjapan said:
I think there is some confusion here, my understanding was that Megaman lost a game of Chicken Ticker in fog on the way out of East Anglia and as you say was dumped at the roadside and left to make his own way home.
John
rokermartin
Well-known member
Well i dont think you have made our dull hobby as you called it brighter by telling people what Lee Evans has done in the past.If ordinary people were to read all the things Lee Evans have done in the past they would think he was a mad man.lostinjapan said:My favorite story about Lee and I never had the gumption to ask him if it is true is the one where another certain now Millionaire twitcher asked him to pull over as he was doing over 100mph on narrow country lanes in pursuit of a (later to be relegated to Category D) Mugimaki Flycatcher. Lee happilly obliged..leaving the budding millionaire by the side of the road and continued on to the lovely area of scrubby wood it was frequenting near the Humber.....to tick a bird he couldn't actually count.
Of course there is the other good one about him being so keen to see the (I guess last twitchable UK..if you don't include the Isle of Wight ) Wallcreeper in the Cheddar Gorge.
He was so determined to see the bird that he climbed the gorge, forgetting he was afraid of heights and had be later rescued by the local fire brigade!
Myth or truth..it doesn't matter..you gotta hand it to the man he is a twitching star..if a little too obsessed with seeing more species than any other birder in the UK and unfortunately pooh-poohing others birds when they are not seen by him.
Love him or hate him..mistakes, car crashes, wrecked relationships, missing body parts and all he is an essential part of the British birding scene.
Maybe there is a need in our hobby to have a villain, someone you can villify or ridicule for his foibles, but you can't knock his passion and commitment to his craze/hobby. Call him the John Mcenroe bad boy of the British birding scene if you like.
But as others have said, he has given plenty back to the birding community, such as his books and making arrangements for access to birds.. and I am sure he gives money to conservation/birding groups as well.
Finally, as I was trying to illustrate with my little stories he makes our dull little hobby (second only to dare I say it train*****ers in the public's eye) a little brighter..especially if we are having a 'dipping' day.
Gavin Haig
Well-known member
....then you weren't reliably informed!Reader said:
Another fun thread. Some balanced input from the likes of Jos, bitterntwisted, lostinJapan & co, plus an AWFUL lot of hearsay.
I can just imagine it - there's the crowd at the twitch, young birder spots LGRE and whispers to his mate:
"see that bloke in the white shoes? Lee Evans"
"Really? But he's OLD!"
"Yeah - I know. But he's a right nutter. Have you heard about when.....etc."
Ah. The stuff of legend. 'My mate said that he'd been told by someone who was there....blah, blah'.
Since the early 80s I've met Lee many times (though not since I've ceased to be a travelling birder) and have invariably found him friendly, helpful, and selfless. I've been in crowds that he's organised (or helped to organise) etc etc. I'm not eulogising the chap - after all, there are lots of friendly, helpful and selfless birders out there.
But I would suspect that Lee's most vocal detractors are probably not among them.
Poet For Sale
Dirty Twitcher
craigaholden said:
I was there, also. With me old man, as usual.
I can't say either of us had a problem with anyone entering the land to have a kick about, and if I recall correctly, Lee wasn't the only member of the "crowd" to suggest such action.
In my 15 or so years birding, I've encountered and conversed with Lee on a few occassions. In my earlier years as a true youngster he was always more than willing to lend a hand and enthuse me (though I never needed it of course). One occassion especially prominent in my mind was a good chat I had with the man at the Ferrybridge Semi-P Sand (which wasn't present) about the clinching ID features whilst me old man was off doing something or other else.
Of course, what he says has to be taken with a pinch of salt, as it does with everyone else.
But that's just life.
Probably won't check this thread for a while, so any comments, giz a PM or something.
X
dantheman
Bah humbug
There's just this flip side matter of the uk listing scene (which I don't take part in), seems a downright shame that in the 'premier league' of this 'sport', we can't trust the top lists. Twitching at those levels is highly competetive and requires a huge level of commitment. Shame that the results from year to year competition end up being fabricated or dissed to the extent they are. It would be a bit like in Premiership Football, during the course of the season the referees get bought off along the way, results get altered and the eventual winner doesn't receive the recognition they deserve. Would be a dreadful state of affairs. . .
Pete Mella
Getting there...
Is it wrong that for ages when I heard people going on about Lee Evans I thought they meant the rubber-faced Norman Wisdom wannabe "comedian"?
*Gets coat*
*Gets coat*
Woodchatshrike
Registered User
More to the point has anyone seen him in the field? Has he quit twitching? He'll be out there somewhere. Its practically spring for gawds sake.....
Woodchatshrike said:
I have rather nearer to my house than his but still well under 10 miles from his. Our homes are separated by barely one 10K tetrad. As to whether it was birding or twitching rather depends how you define those terms. It was certainly birding and the rarest bird involved was a LSW.
Pie Face
Well-known member
lostinjapan said:
Just shows how rumours spread. That was actually the 'Millionaire' Twitcher (not sure he is though) who was driving and it was his business partner (not LGRE) in the passenger seat who apparently got out. Nothing to do with Lee that one. Furthermore I'm sure he's still got it on his list as I have
Mark
lostinjapan
Well-known member
rokermartin said:
I stand corrected by Farnboro John and Deja-vu about the Mugimaki story, sorry these things often get lost in translation.
As to your comment Roker.. my comment was meant to be tongue in cheek..when I called birding a 'dull hobby'...I wasn't being serious. I have been doing it over 20 years and don't actually find it dull.
What I do find dull is people misunderstanding what has been said or done by people in the past..
I don't think telling a couple of little anecdotes about Lee's previous birding encounters is gonna make joe public (who incidentally are largely not on this forum) think any less of the man. if you read my post, I think you will find that I was suggesting that despite the craziness of some of his past birding exploits, he is for the most part a good thing for the birding community in the UK.
Still I am sorry if I caused you anger or discomfort with what I wrote..it wasn't intended to do that.
To be honest I don't really care two hoots either way if he retires, or thinks the Glaucous-winged Gull in Wales is a hybrid because I am no longer part of the UK twitching scene.
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Edward woodwood
Member
there are many more proper birding stories of people getting into scrapes that are the stuff of legend. Mainly from the 80s and early 90s. Tales of mild nerdiness don't really cut it. Unfortunatley, to most people, the top listers ARE the birding scene.
Still, as i said before he's very obviously well-intentioned, has put imeasurable time into birding, produced a lot and he goes out of his way to help people like most other folks wouldn't even consider. And it would be very wrong to judge anyone by what you've heard, probably wrongly, from others.
Still, as i said before he's very obviously well-intentioned, has put imeasurable time into birding, produced a lot and he goes out of his way to help people like most other folks wouldn't even consider. And it would be very wrong to judge anyone by what you've heard, probably wrongly, from others.
Quacker
Well-known member
Deja-vu said:
Concurred!
Can I please add that Roker Martin's opinions do not represent Roker, Sunderland or indeed the north east of England. Might I also add that I like a lot of these anecdotes and stories about the man (who I have never met).
To me at least he is a someone, and as a footy fan, the birding equivalent of a Cloughie, or Shankly - loved and hated by many, and everyone has a story about them. For a "quaint English hobby" it is good to have someone who creates so much passion and debate.
There seem to be a lot of vindictive people around.
Poet For Sale
Dirty Twitcher
Deja-vu said:
From what I've heard, by way of the 'Millionaire' Twitcher himself I hasten to add, I'd've got out too!!!
He went from a Morris Minor who's window's iced up when he got over 50mph to a Merc very quickly! And obviously enjoyed the increase in engine power a bit too much
X
rokermartin
Well-known member
You have stated a stupid thing here on your post saying that my opinions do not represent Roker ,Sunderland or indeed north east of England,how on earth do you know what the people of Roker,Sunderland,and the north east of england think .You dont EVEN come from Roker,Sunderland.Should get your facts right before you make a statement like that.Never read such utter rubbishQuacker said:
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Farnboro John
Well-known member
Probably the best advert for Lee's effect on British twitching is the way we can't resist going on about him.
Personally I think for all his foibles (and who hasn't got them?) he mostly has a positive effect, and on any given occasion he is likely to be helpful, e.g. organising queueing against the clock (sunset) for Yellow-billed Cuckoo on Tresco - five seconds to tick it then next please - and any number of other queues on Scilly.
However, some of the anecdotes are also amusing - here are two more, quotes from other birders, anonymised:
After his dreadful overdone blond dye-job: "Best view I've ever had of a female Marsh Harrier"
After his divorce, a copy of the Page 3 article in the Snu sent to me in the Falklands, with the comment "a Stun first - three tits on Page 3!"
It'd be a more boring place without Cyclops.
John
Personally I think for all his foibles (and who hasn't got them?) he mostly has a positive effect, and on any given occasion he is likely to be helpful, e.g. organising queueing against the clock (sunset) for Yellow-billed Cuckoo on Tresco - five seconds to tick it then next please - and any number of other queues on Scilly.
However, some of the anecdotes are also amusing - here are two more, quotes from other birders, anonymised:
After his dreadful overdone blond dye-job: "Best view I've ever had of a female Marsh Harrier"
After his divorce, a copy of the Page 3 article in the Snu sent to me in the Falklands, with the comment "a Stun first - three tits on Page 3!"
It'd be a more boring place without Cyclops.
John
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