I am a Bad Birdwatcher. According to Simon Barnes, this is okay -- I can enjoy and appreciate birds without needing to know the latin name, or anything else about it other than -- it's a bird. I like watching it.
Having been on the receiving end of some real put-down comments (It's an Indigo Bunting. In winter plumage. So it's not indigo! (Should I have known this? Do I care?) And: you can't have seen a flamingo, they aren't in this area!
well, this was later comfirmed by an independent birder, so ya boo sucks. I still get twitted about it, though...
I'm getting better. I can identify a whole raft of birds, some quite uncommon, and I can get quite excited about seeing them do their thing (known as 'observing' in ornithological circles) but I have to admit that I most enjoy birding when the weather is warm and dry and I'm in Florida.
Having said that, on one freezing outing a few days ago, I was thrilled to see a stoat. Can't see them in Florida...
