Drat....

Well, here I am, writing an afternoon post. I should be out seawatching, maybe even seeing a skua of some sort - I've got to come across one sooner or later this year... haven't I? - but instead I'm twiddling the thumbs. Yep, here comes yet another Tale of Woe [I'd just skip to the next paragraph, if I were you] What happened? I just turned my head sharply, 'Ping!' went one of the tendons in my neck, I went "Ow" but thought no more of it. But said ping didn't go away, despite painkillers, massage etc [no, not like that you dirty-minded pervert.. ;) ] - it instead got worse. I suffer with my neck a bit [legacy of being a Deranged Metalhead] but normally plentiful ibuprofen and a night's sleep works. These things happen, I know, but why do they have to happen when at last the weather's starting to behave? Hopefully [[he says, knocking on assorted wooden-type things]] it'll gradually sort itself out and I will be able to wear bins and carry scopes without suffering spasms of pain in time for the next front...?

Yesterday I went for the first amble for a while with the folks. Tilly [having met a dog behaviourist] is now much better with other dogs - we wandered about the Mamhead area of Haldon and she didn't so much as whine, let alone launch into her previous bark frenzy. Still pulls like a train, and had lots of fun with her extendo-lead and assorted trees and gorse bushes [I got to have fun pulling gorse prickles out of my knuckles after disentangling her, so everybody had a good day... ]. It was much pleasanter than that made it sound, though. Temperature was just nice, the sweet smell of summer conifers filled the air, and there were Siskins. I like Siskins.

Right then, time for a rant!

I don't really consider it to be a rant, maybe a preach, or maybe just an explanation of how I see things, but 'rant' is the accepted term, and it implies that this is opinion, not statement of fact. Which is accurate.

All this nonsense with the Yellow-fronted Houdini Finch [which is, I suppose, to be expected; this is birding Silly Season, after all] has me thinking of one of the topics I've always meant to inflict upon the world "If I do a blog"...

What do YOU count?

Birders keep Lists. Its what we do [other than the obvious, of course] but what goes on those lists? The accepted basic principle is wild birds, but what is wild? 'Living freely and by its own abilities' is one definition - but that would include anything that just got out of an aviary and hasn't starved / frozen / been catted yet, too... This also isn't taking account of the array of ferals - many of whom are doing quite well, thankyou, despite being on the far side of the world from where they evolved. Nor the issue of wild birds in captivity - a Yellow-nosed Albatross in or even just released from care, or an american flycatcher sp. you can only ID with a ruler - can you count them? They're in captivity, even if only temporarily...

The issue is further mixed by the competitive nature of many birders. I want to be clear that I'm not in any way saying there's anything wrong with competitive listing - though it adds to the stress it also adds to the fun - and if you're into that sort of thing, go for it. A competition needs rules, of course, and the BOU are the natural providers of impartial arbitration. [Other List Makers are available {No, no jokes here}] But what if you're not a competitive lister? Or, if you are, but want another - non-competitive - list. After all, even the briefest glance at any of the many online forums of a birding nature will show that a lot of people disagree with the Official Line.

What I'm saying here, is "If it's your list - use your rules. If it's everybody's list - do as the BOU / Mr Evans say and put up with it!"

That was definitely a rant...

Having re-said what many others have said far more eloquently before, I shall now go on to the interesting bit [well, maybe] namely what do I put on my list?

I'm not a competitive lister. If asked what my British List is, I say "300-ish". If pressed as to what that means, you get "More than 300, less than 350". That is going by the BOU's definition of what is a tickable bird, which I don't agree with, but to give other birders something fair to compare with I've totted it up anyway. ["...put up with it!" ]. Personally, on my private 'Record of What I've Seen for my Own Reference and as an Aid to Memory', I go by a less scientific, more holistic approach. I go by Bird Forms - if it's identifiably different in the field, then it counts. You might need a call or a really good view, but if you can tell it as being x, you can count it as x. Splitting by DNA doesn't count - at least until a handheld line-of-sight DNA scanning device comes on the market [I'm waiting for the app. ;) ]. This side is less relevant to my overall theme, but I've put in in for completeness.

The relevant part concerns 'what is a wild bird?' What is the line between an escape, which you can't count as a proper wild bird, and a feral bird, which you can? [Depending on your list criteria, of course - you might feel only category A will do, and fair enough] The simplest answer, I suppose, would be an 'anything that moves' list - ie the "Living Freely and By its Own Abilities' from the start of this rant. [Oh how long ago that was...] This can be justified; humans have affected the entire planet, and a wild bird may live only seconds, so what does wild really mean, but living outside a cage?

Personally, I think there should be a line. To me, I think an escape becomes a feral, and countable, if it proves it can live successfully in the wild - be a part of its new ecosystem. It does that by doing the one thing you have to do to be part of an ecosystem - breed successfully. There's also the issue of re-introductions to deal with - I think they're kosher; a former part of the ecosystem being put back counts, official or not. [[By that I mean Eagle Owls - which were [no matter what some uninformed people think] part of the ecosystem and, as they've proved in Lancashire, are viable even if you consider them escapes.]]

I don't keep a tick-by-tick tally of my personal list - its not a competition to me - so no asking for one [Joe, I'm talking to you, mate :) ]. It's an aid to help me see more kinds of birds - for example, I think that picking out the continental form of Coal Tit in a wintering band is worthwhile, interesting, and a good thing. I also keep sub-lists - most notably plumage lists; I have taken the time to find and see all the differing plumages of Long-tailed Duck, for example, because they're all pretty in their own ways, and because a bird that changes so much in a year is worthy of extra attention, I think. I keep a very informal Buzzard-a-like list - of all the birds whose plumage I've seen a Buzzard imitate - partly for amusement, and partly as a self-warning to be extra-vigilant in case I ever see what might be an original [Black Kite, Short-toed Eagle, Tawny Eagle [Atlas Mountains form], Golden Eagle, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Rough-legged Buzzard etc. {{Interestingly, I've not seen a good 'Booted Eagle' Buzzard yet..}} While some aren't even vaguely likely to crop up for real, some have...]

Back to the Finch - yes, its been living wild for a while now, and so it shouldn't be a surprise it's doing ok, and can dodge a Sprawk [most times they miss, remember?]. Why am I so sure it's an escape? From a photo, of all things! The wild ones moult in the early autumn, but the flight feathers on this bird are nowhere near worn enough for a bird that has had that amount of time in the wild, including battling the winds that blew it offshore and living on a ship for a week or so [if you believe the wild theory]... Those feathers were clean and fresh, still with their pale fringes on. I very much believe in the balance of evidence - if there's no clear evidence a bird is an escape it should be treated as wild. But to me, those feathers are just that.

Having given the matter some thought, I've decided it ought to go on a list [as there are so many people convinced it should be on theirs!] so I'm going to end this [["At last!" I hear you cry]] with a little list of mine [to go with the continuing Dip List]. This is just what I can remember, as I haven't listed escapes and can't be bothered to dig through all my records for the bracketed ones [[I put escapes, and other things of interest - like notable ships on a seawatch - in big square brackets in my notebook, to keep them separate]]. It includes birds that also occur as non-escapes [one way or another] but those here were all judged plastic when seen. I will come back to this, as with the Dip List, though.

Houdini List.

Black Swan

Hawaiian Goose

Bar-headed Goose

Snow Goose

Ruddy Shelduck

Cape Shelduck

Wood Duck

Harris Hawk

Lanner

Saker/Peregrine cross

Peregrine/Gyr cross

Reeves' Pheasant

African Grey Parrot

parrot sp.

Atlantic Canary

Azure-winged Magpie

House Finch

Some of those are very old - 20 years and more!

Having now formalised them by putting this together, I realise I ought to now make an effort to see the Chiloe Wigeon that hangs around Dawlish Warren most winters... But not very much of one - its still an escape list! ;)