All those reading this will be knowledgeable people and generally competitive by nature, and will naturally wish to hold their own in the company of "real" ornithologists. Looking the part is, of course, essential, and there is a wide variety of styles to choose from. The country squire look with tweeds, deerstalker, brown or green collar and tie, plus fours and green wellies, together with a shooting stick, is rarely met with these days, but tempered versions excluding the more flamboyant trimmings still occur frequently ,especially among founder members of the RSPB and suchlike. Pimply youths should note that considerable skill is required to carry off this act, and may well be advised to leave it to the most gifted eccentrics. At the other extreme is the rural labourer image, which I would strongly advise, consisting of odd assortments of woollies, canvas jacket, jeans and wellies, liberally covered with patches, tears and bird droppings. The main advantage of this get-up is that it is cheap and readily available from jumble sales and Oxfam shops. Green wellies could be added for a touch of class. There is considerable scope for personal improvisation in dress, but the image of the Sunday afternoon birdwatcher ( new handmade woolly jumper, bobble hat and brightly coloured cagoule ) should be avoided unless you wish to blend in with the crowd. The finishing touch - and indeed the focal point of the entire get-up - are the binos ; disregarding the trivial point of what can be seen through them, they should be as old and as worn as possible. Those who can't afford such treasures may try and make as much as they can of their new Japanese fully-coated optics, designed by computer etc - until some cynic points out that the computer was programmed to make them as cheaply as possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [A] Have an informed guess as to how many years ago that was written. [B] How old was the writer of all that ? [C] What clues in the text led to your answers ? That was only the first half or so of the full article ..... the second half will be appearing shortly. But before you do all that, why not listen to this ...
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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