Why indeed ? In Bill Oddie's excellent book " Gripping Yarns" he has a whole chapter about it . Its an excellent book by the way.... as are his others. Yes, yes, I know some people don't think much of him, but I'm not one of them. I'm a fan. ( It's the one on the left, by the way ) Many years ago, at Wonderful Windy Whitley Bay, I was strolling along the tideline, and lo & behold, there , dead as a doornail, was a Little Auk. Crikey ! At that time I'd never seen one. And I bloody well ticked it. And I'm glad I did, because many many years went by before I saw another one. Bill has made up his own rules about TDB ... Ticking Dead Birds .... [1] He had to find them himself. [2] He draws the line at birds found in dustbins. [3] It's OK if you're the first to identify it. He was tempted at times ...such as ... [1] His first Sooty Shearwater was actually just one wing on a tideline. [2] He ticked a dead Gt. Reed Warbler in a rhubarb patch on Out Skerries. In both cases he had an excuse ... he was very young at the time. Anyway, as for me, I have to confess that I ticked a dead Tree Sparrow I found under a hedge by the underpass on the Low Road between Dalton-in-Furness and Barrow. And yes, I ticked it. It's OK though, it was only A "Local Patch" tick. A dilemma crops up if you're doing some sort of survey ...... if it is still warm, you can probably count it as a " bird within your survey area" ...but what if it is a Great Northern Diver deep inside a wood in Coventry ? Or a White's Thrush floating in a pond in Warrington ? Anyhow, I'd tick'em ! Meanwhile, a song ........ and a bit further down, something similar.... Here's a tiny selection of "dead birds wot I found/drew" ..... Here's a video to compare and contrast with the Dylan one ...
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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