The idea behind travel twitching is unsurprisingly to birdwatch when travelling! I'm quite strict in what I consider as travel twitching, so if I'm walking with the sole purpose of birdwatching then it's not travel twitching whereas if I'm walking from A to B and I see birds on the way then it is travel twitching. Similarly if I'm standing at a bus stop and see birds it is travel twitching.
Anyway today I saw the following birds either from the bus stop or while I was on the bus or walking from A to B:
a dunnock hopping from branch to branch in the tree near the bus stop
swifts flying high above the bus stop
herring gull, carrion crow and woodpigeon sitting on various streetlights
three herring gulls fighting over a bread roll
a pied wagtail on a lawn
a lesser black backed gull on a chimney pot
lots of herring gulls and lesser black backed gulls flying around
I also heard a lot of house sparrows in one of the streets I walked down, though didn't see any of them.
The bird below is a blue tit, which I saw while walking through London Road Park on the way from one place to another.
I suppose virtually all my birding is done on the move - cycling or running - apart from my specific trips to places like RSPB Langford Lowfields. It trains me to keep my eyes always open!
ReplyDeleteGreat post and bird sightings. I tend to look for birds wherever I happen to be. Have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteYeah, both of you are ringht, I've always got my eyes open for birds, but travel Twitching is one of those things to encourage people to look out for birds at times they might not and 30 Days is a time to encourage people to notice nature and the two fit together really well.....
ReplyDeleteI can't even tell you how much I love this. I have called what I often do 'accidental birding' but travel twitching is SO much better. (I did know about twitchers, from other blogs and from when we visited England). I love this.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking it was a "twitching to travel!" But observing birds is a good way to appreciate nature.
ReplyDeleteBunch of us in a meeting today - suddenly somebody said "Look" and pointed out the window. An American Kestrel fluttering wings and staying in place watching below - suddenly - blam - lunch! Pretty good "twitching" for us!
ReplyDeleteSallie - I forget how much twitching is a British word!
ReplyDeleterabbits Guy - excellent twitching there! Reminds me of when I was in a job interview and got distracted by a sparrowhawk flying past. i didn't get the job, but it was good twitching!
A good random act of wildness and a nice way of killing time too.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, Juliet - am seeing a lot of dunnocks in garden just now - non-travel twitching!
ReplyDeleteVery nice, so green!
ReplyDelete