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

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Innuendo and/or explicit images were also a mainstay of the Carry On and Confessions of movies that were popular in the 1980s and before. It would still be possible to be offended by some parts of this book as rare birds are, one could say, objectified as mere numbers to be added to the author’s list, and the carbon emissions from chasing around these isles are pretty high and yes, there are some comments on some (unnamed) womens’ appearance. All the same twitching is a far less damaging way to be obsessive about birds than standing in a butt and try to shoot as many as possible that have been driven towards you by a bored teenager looking for beer money. What further marks out his book as special is that the illustrations are all by Garry himself - not photographs but exquisite colour artwork which beautifully captures the spirit as well as the plumage of such species as varied thrush, indigo bunting, American redstart, common nighthawk and song sparrow. She was evidently so appalled by the content and tone of some of the text that she put out a tweet (since deleted) highlighting extracts which included words such as 'knockers' and 'boobies'.He just sought to put down in words and pictures some of the highlights of almost quarter of a century of twitching, these accompanied by reflections on other aspects of his career and outlook on life. You would have been at the top of the list in 1987, aside Ron Johns, if you had seen a paltry (I jest! Also lots of reserves where no permits where needed such as the Inch marshes in Scotland was only open a few days a week and only for part of the year. 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 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). He Tweeted many times asking for advice and just before publication provided an example of the introduction but it had none of the above in it. And who cares that Garry Bagnell has seen 553 bird species in Britain and Ireland (which puts him way behind Steve Gantlett on an estimated 590 species)? 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. The human fallout and carnage from this reverence for the supposed personal freedom brought by a car (often to sit in a traffic jam with all the others enjoying their ‘freedom’ of the road) is horrendous and really deserves to be brought up alongside the environmental cost.He has spent tens of thousands of pounds and travelled tens of thousands of miles chasing rare birds. Just before Christmas, Garry Bagnell published Twitching by numbers: Twenty-four years of chasing rare birds around Britain and Ireland. I've just spent the last year writing a book about the last 24 years of twitching birds in Britain and Ireland. Luckily at Leighton Moss no charge for permits for members, but member had for admission at lots of reserves.

But instead of seeing something that’s wandered on to your local patch you travel hundreds of miles to see it then I feel that the experience is a bit devalued. Credit also to the author for having enough self-belief to produce, finance and market the finished project purely on his own initiative and thus minus the faffing about with agents and publishers.

The legendary warden from the 1960’s and 1970’s at Minsmere, Bert Axel had the same strong feeling as well about this subject.

Somehow in that quarter-of-a-century, he has managed to catch up with more than 550 bird species in Britain and Ireland while simultaneously holding down a happy family life, a full-time job in finance with a series of bluechip employers plus a range of sporting interests including playing chess (to county standard) and darts, not to mention following the fortunes of Arsenal FC. Garry is an accountant and that’s why the book has its title – it is not only the numbers of birds he has supplied but the numbers of many other things too. Perhaps he ought to publish two editions - the revised sanitised version and the original, the latter to contain a warning on the cover that some of its content may cause offence to certain readers. Any author who deviates from what is considered decorous and appropriate enjoys no licence - he (or she) risks being singled out and pilloried with opprobrium. Permits where needed for lots of RSPB reserves of which where only open a few days a week and not all year and even those RSPB reserves that didn't need advance permits, some of thos RSPB reserves onluy open a few days a week.The one where pictures of raptors in flight away from the camera in the near dark at the edges of tracks and forests allows their identification from memory of a two-second sighting when you weren’t expecting it so you didn’t have a pair of night-vision binoculars handy. However, the more rounded account contained in this book is of a man with some acts of considerable kindness to his name, who has suffered from depression in the past and who happily acknowledges that he might be ‘on the spectrum’. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it. Driving an unnecessarily large and heavier car to keep up with the Jones’s isn’t just an added burden re inflated air pollution it means any accident involving them will be more serious than it would have been – especially for cyclists and pedestrians and obviously children – a bad situation being made even worse.