Self-Finding
Most birders will probably admit their birding is a fine line between a hobby and an obsession. The listing bug is so easy to catch! I've definitely strayed more towards twitching recently.
Lately though, I've tried to resist the urge and focus my listing temptations elsewhere. I've decided my favourite thing is self-finding birds - nothing can beat the excitement. I know, this is far easier said than done. Every twitcher would prefer to find the bird themselves!
It is so much harder, the rewards are so much more elusive and, perhaps most of all, the rules are so much greyer. I tried to make my own self-found list - something I could count and something I could try to improve. It wasn't easy. That is, until I found Punk Birder's rules.
I was late to the party, and these rules have been around for ages, but to me they were a revelation. If you haven't already, I would recommend checking out Punk Birder's Self-Found Rules here. They have tried to put to bed the question "What counts as a self-find?" and they've done so very definitively. To allow birders to form a self-found list and crucially, compare it with others. It brings the competitive listing aspect of twitching to self-finding.
The rules deal with the issues of location, time without a sighting, co-finds and sensitive and sedentary breeders.
All species which breed commonly in the UK can be ticked without the "genuine surprise" condition - because when is anyone ever surprised to see a House Sparrow? But the rules of finding the bird yourself still apply. For this reason, I would assume seeing Wood Warbler at Yarner Wood for example would count. At least, under Punk Birder's rules I think it would. But I suppose it is species like this that are the most contentious - being a known breeding site takes away the surprise but you are still finding the bird. I would be interested to know how others deal with species like this, but for now it's on my list.
For some particularly scarce breeding species, seeing them at known breeding sites would be a bit too much like seeing other people's birds to be a self-found tick. Punk Birder has made a list of these species and these must be found away from known sites. I like this rule and it removes a lot of the grey area I talked about above. But as such, Bittern for example, is a tricky bird to tick. According to the rules, it is a rare breeder that cannot be ticked in a known breeding/wintering site and so is a tricky bird to find. Often, just seeing a Bittern is an accomplishment in itself!
Yesterday, I sat down with these rules and tried to compile my own self-found list on BUBO. I found it surprisingly easy! I didn't encounter as many grey areas as I expected, and came out with an overall figure of 196. Not bad, I suppose. I have followed the self-found rules very strictly and yet that's 78% of my British List. But it could be better!
This list was also very revealing. A lot of my 'ticks' were from my early days of birding when my constant news ignorance meant that finding birds (that in all likelihood had been seen by others first) counted under the "genuine surprise" clause in the rules. Birds such as Curlew Sandpiper, which these days I almost exclusively know about first.
It also revealed a lot of birds I can't yet technically tick - shamefully, it turns out I have never found Ring Ouzel, Scaup, Osprey or Jack Snipe! At least not according to Punk Birder rules. Adding to this list poses a really fun challenge, and some definition and rules have been put onto a list I've been trying to qualify for years.
I think this list might not be much harder to add to than my British list (for now), and maybe I could even get an addition during lockdown! I don't need to wait for the one time I stumble across an Isabelline Wheatear to get the rush of a new bird. I can get ticks from some reasonably easy birds.
Once I can get out, it will encourage me to bird my patch regularly, visit migration hotspots in autumn and study the key identification features of rarities so I can find them myself - all the parts of birding I already love.
Lately though, I've tried to resist the urge and focus my listing temptations elsewhere. I've decided my favourite thing is self-finding birds - nothing can beat the excitement. I know, this is far easier said than done. Every twitcher would prefer to find the bird themselves!
It is so much harder, the rewards are so much more elusive and, perhaps most of all, the rules are so much greyer. I tried to make my own self-found list - something I could count and something I could try to improve. It wasn't easy. That is, until I found Punk Birder's rules.
 |
| Self-finding always makes sightings so much better, such as this surprise Spoonbill on my patch in June 2017 |
The rules deal with the issues of location, time without a sighting, co-finds and sensitive and sedentary breeders.
All species which breed commonly in the UK can be ticked without the "genuine surprise" condition - because when is anyone ever surprised to see a House Sparrow? But the rules of finding the bird yourself still apply. For this reason, I would assume seeing Wood Warbler at Yarner Wood for example would count. At least, under Punk Birder's rules I think it would. But I suppose it is species like this that are the most contentious - being a known breeding site takes away the surprise but you are still finding the bird. I would be interested to know how others deal with species like this, but for now it's on my list.
For some particularly scarce breeding species, seeing them at known breeding sites would be a bit too much like seeing other people's birds to be a self-found tick. Punk Birder has made a list of these species and these must be found away from known sites. I like this rule and it removes a lot of the grey area I talked about above. But as such, Bittern for example, is a tricky bird to tick. According to the rules, it is a rare breeder that cannot be ticked in a known breeding/wintering site and so is a tricky bird to find. Often, just seeing a Bittern is an accomplishment in itself!
Yesterday, I sat down with these rules and tried to compile my own self-found list on BUBO. I found it surprisingly easy! I didn't encounter as many grey areas as I expected, and came out with an overall figure of 196. Not bad, I suppose. I have followed the self-found rules very strictly and yet that's 78% of my British List. But it could be better!
This list was also very revealing. A lot of my 'ticks' were from my early days of birding when my constant news ignorance meant that finding birds (that in all likelihood had been seen by others first) counted under the "genuine surprise" clause in the rules. Birds such as Curlew Sandpiper, which these days I almost exclusively know about first.
It also revealed a lot of birds I can't yet technically tick - shamefully, it turns out I have never found Ring Ouzel, Scaup, Osprey or Jack Snipe! At least not according to Punk Birder rules. Adding to this list poses a really fun challenge, and some definition and rules have been put onto a list I've been trying to qualify for years.
 |
| Sometimes the possibilities a site presents are too tempting! This Pectoral Sandpiper & a Red-Necked Phalarope at a wader-filled Frampton Marsh in late July 2017 had me convinced a rare wader was just waiting to be found |
Once I can get out, it will encourage me to bird my patch regularly, visit migration hotspots in autumn and study the key identification features of rarities so I can find them myself - all the parts of birding I already love.
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