Technology and birding: thermals
My friend passed me his thermal imager on a survey of Jack Snipe on patch in the winter just gone, but I struggled to use it, finding the flares of white light too distracting and the sense of scale confusing. It had been a very successful survey. Between us we found 27 Jack Snipe and over 50 Common Snipe in one bog. He used the thermal, and I did a binocular scan. It wasn't even a close competition: he found all 27 Jacks and over 40 of the Commons. That thermal was a game changer, for someone with the ability to use it. When I was 14 I was part of a large and active group of birders of all ages which exposed me to two things that were good for my development as a birder: experience, and a broad church of opinion. All forms of birders were there, and I do mean all . Strict patchers, full-blown twitchers, bird racers, conservation experts, even former egg-collectors turned real birders were part of a patchwork of views and opinions that helped me...