Here's what the writer of that book I wrote about last time has to say about his progress towards being a reasonably skilled birder ... he makes his point very well with a telling analogy ........ You're probably aware of a TV programme on Channel 4 called Faking It. Even Duncton's heard of it, and he only really watches programmes featuring David Attenborough or Tottenham. If you haven't, it's like a shortened version of my "Big Year". As the pithy pitch on the show's website explains, " Our faker is plucked from their natural habitat and given four weeks to master a skill well enough to fool a group of expert judges." So in just a month a chess player must become a football manager, a management consultant has to master dog training , and a choir girl is asked to morph into a rock chick. It's good TV. But I don't think Channel 4 could ever do a Faking It on bird-watching.There's too much to learn. Even after my first ten weeks of birding , there was absolutely no way I could have persuaded some genuine bird experts that I knew what I was doing. There are too many nuances, too many calls, too many brown, speckled birds. A Faking It on birdwatching would be like doing a Faking It on Being a Mouse. It would be that pointless.You'd have four weeks of training on How to Walk Like a Mouse, How to Squeak Correctly and Which Cheese to Eat. Then the day of the test would arrive and you'd have to line up next to three actual mice and the judges would take one look at the line-up, point at you and say , " Well, he's not a mouse, clearly, he's far too big." After ten weeks I was nowhere near to being a mouse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think he's dead right there. There's so much to learn, and most of it has to be learned the hard way, making drastic and embarrassing mistakes, getting totally shown up by your ignorance, often creeping home and hiding under the bed for 5 weeks.... that sort of thing. And remember .. most of the "General Public" thing that bird watching is for drips, dopes and softies ! I don't think so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So ..what music goes with that ? I suppose all you can do is look on the bright side ......
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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