Twitching by numbers - Book only available on Amazon (2 Viewers)

[opisska]

Touche)

 

[Phil Andrews]

A revised edition is now available on Amazon; the original is also still on sale (4p more). The synopsis has been amended but no real clues as to the changes made to the content.

 

[Andy Lakin]

The daft thing is there probably would have been a few people happy to read his birding exploits if it wasn't for the parts that some people have a problem with! There is plenty of room for books about serious twitching. The books that I have read on the subject have been very engaging.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I think a book about twitching in the 80's could have been very entertaining. In the days when going for a bird might involving hitching, sleeping rough and sometimes other adventures that I won't go into here (and for people like me often did). I find it hard to see how lots of stories about getting in a car/ chartering a plane would be terribly interesting. Admittedly I don't twitch much these days, but most of my yarns are from the days when I had almost no money and a, now to me inexplicable, desire to be a 'top lister'.

If anyone produces a well-written one, I am happy to be proved wrong.

 

[Mike Crawley]

I have found only two books I recall find entertaining, which were written about twitching (and going for a Big Year) are Ken Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" and Sean Dooley's "The Big Twitch".
Both well written and enjoyable

 

[Steve Babbs]

I have found only two books I recall find entertaining, which were written about twitching (and going for a Big Year) are Ken Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" and Sean Dooley's "The Big Twitch".
Both well written and enjoyable

Yes. Kingbird Highway is an excellent book. I'm not sure why that had slipped my mind.

 

[Farnboro John]

I have found only two books I recall find entertaining, which were written about twitching (and going for a Big Year) are Ken Kaufman's "Kingbird Highway" and Sean Dooley's "The Big Twitch".
Both well written and enjoyable

Interesting. I agree about The Big Twitch but found Kingbird Highway tedious.

My brother and I have a test for celebrities: do they qualify to be invited to the pub for an evening? For me, Dooley yes, Kaufman absolutely not. (Bagnell never in a million years!)

John

 

[Andy Lakin]

Wasn't there a book by one of LGRE's big rivals revolving around the quest to break the U.K year record? The disagreements about who had seen what was very revealing about how serious it can get at the top level?

The fact that the book in this thread was initially nigh on £20 would automatically put a lot of people off. I buy quite a lot of books and that is a lot to pay for this kind of book..

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

I think that one was Twitcher’s Diary. I quite enjoyed that. And Rob’s book was an enjoyable read.

 

[McMadd]

You need to be less pedantic on a public messageboard...

Ahhh…that MurKan sensa humor…I even did a winkie thingy…and now I’ve deleted the second “u” that lives in humor…

MORE GENERALLY…surely this nonsense thread is better than Gagwell’s prose…why anyone is surprised a self-confessed “accountant” can’t write for shit baffles me…?

Wasn’t his Pied Crow 500 t-shirt enough of a clue for everyone…?

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

I think that one was Twitcher’s Diary. I quite enjoyed that. And Rob’s book was an enjoyable read.

I don't think that is A Twticher's Diary. It sounds more like Birding In The Fast Lane or Arrivals and Rivals.

 

[Phil Andrews]

On Twitter Garry clarifies (direct quotes):

• Some people returned the original book to Amazon and these are being sold by a company called Chiron publishing and still appear on Amazon at £18.99
• The revised book has got large sections of my single life removed, the areas that caused offence to women and men have also been reworded or removed
• This book has got no adult content and briefly mentions three medium term relationships after leaving Zainab and meeting my second wife Kim. The book is four pages shorter than the original.
• The book name has been changed to ‘Twitching by numbers: A birders account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain & Ireland’. It’s priced at £18.95 and has been labelled as a 2nd edition. Amazon have allocated it a different ISBN.

 

[West End Birder]

It was Arrivals and Rivals by Adrian Riley (?) published by Brambleby Books. I got their name when I was writing mine and submitted the early draft to them and they accepted it. A bad mistake I made there!

My book is out of print now, if anyone would like a pdf copy of it then please DM me. It has quite a bit from the 1980s.

 

[jogresh]

I don't think that is A Twticher's Diary. It sounds more like Birding In The Fast Lane or Arrivals and Rivals.

Twitchers Diary - Millington.
Fast Lane - O'Hanlon.

Best by a country mile for me was Kingbird Highway, superbly written, and a description of a bygone era when twitching was in its infancy.
Really took a shine to Kaufman. 🙂👍🐦🦜🕊🦢🦆

 

[dwatsonbirder]

I think a book about twitching in the 80's could have been very entertaining. In the days when going for a bird might involving hitching, sleeping rough and sometimes other adventures that I won't go into here (and for people like me often did). I find it hard to see how lots of stories about getting in a car/ chartering a plane would be terribly interesting. Admittedly I don't twitch much these days, but most of my yarns are from the days when I had almost no money and a, now to me inexplicable, desire to be a 'top lister'.

If anyone produces a well-written one, I am happy to be proved wrong.

Steve, I guess you have read Mark Cocker's "tales of a tribe"?
If not, there are some excellent chapters in there detailing the infancy of modern birding (Scilly, twitching pre-news services, advent of news services).
If such chapters were to be expanded upon by someone as eloquent as Mark (more tales of a tribe anyone?) then it would prove to be a popular book. I'd buy it for sure, and I've no interest in twitching or the associated scene.

 

[Prestdj]

richard millingtons 'a twitchers diary' is a good read though i think its hard to find now

 

[Owene]

richard millingtons 'a twitchers diary' is a good read though i think its hard to find now

I picked up a second hand copy on Amazon very cheaply last year. It was a nice look at a different era

 

[brian fielding]

My personal favourite is The Big Year, I have read Gary's book, wasn't really offended by it but feel it needed to keep more on subject than all the none relivant personal stuff

 

[Steve Babbs]

Steve, I guess you have read Mark Cocker's "tales of a tribe"?
If not, there are some excellent chapters in there detailing the infancy of modern birding (Scilly, twitching pre-news services, advent of news services).
If such chapters were to be expanded upon by someone as eloquent as Mark (more tales of a tribe anyone?) then it would prove to be a popular book. I'd buy it for sure, and I've no interest in twitching or the associated scene.

Yes I have read that and enjoyed it very much - well apart from the notebook chapter. My 'era' and it helped that I knew a lot of the people in the tales.

 

[Stephen Dunstan]

I haven't read Garry's book but I don't think it was meant to supersede Kingbird Highway in the literature pantheon.

In terms of good writing about British birding I've just finished Low Carbon Birding which comes from the other direction but several of the contributions are excellent.