To tick a birder, you must fulfill certain criteria;
Firstly, in order for there to be an element of challenge, you must see the birder before he/she sees you.
Secondly, you must be able to identify the birder - though looking them up in a book after is allowable!
Thirdly, they must be birding when spotted; you can't ambush them on their way to the shops.
Fourth, you cannot be birding with them, or be about to go birding with them - it must be a genuine encounter in the field. This includes hides and seawatching - when you arrive at a site, all those there cannot be ticked. If, however, you can see another site, any birders there who have not seen you may be ticked.
In order to verify who saw who first, time indexed photographic evidence may be required.
Finally, the use of face paint, ghillie suits, suspicious false moustaches, and masks in the likeness of former political figures, in order to avoid being ticked is considered unsporting behaviour.
In other news, the Blackstart at Dawlish Warren was being very elusive today - evidently its tired of posing on the grass, and now prefers to be seen diving into big piles of brambles... The wader display was very good for such a low tide, and after a mere 2 hours or so of scanning, I can confirm that yes, there were 4 Great Northerns in the estuary. The Long-tailed Duck was, as I learn, over the Exmouth side again [to the frustration of the large visiting RSPB group], but Mrs. Surf Scoter proved more obliging for them. Die Hard Award went to a truly indefatigable Eel. Having been caught by a Shag, it successfully fought off repeated attempts to swallow it, only to be grabbed by another Shag, then 4 different 1w Herring Gulls, all of whom did their level best to get the poor eel down their necks. Eventually, after being flown around, dropped from a great height, used as a tug o' war rope, dropped some more, and 3/4 swallowed at least three times, it finally got away!
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