Hi Tweeters,

I have been corresponding with a birder from England who has included this
explanation of British birding terminology. I thought you all might be
interested. I had stated to him that I understood that when you chased a
rare bird that was called a "twitch" or "twitching". When you missed the
rarity, you "dipped". But I did not know the term for a successful twitch.
Here is his explanation:

>Twitching in this Country has spawned a bit of a vocabulary of its own.
>The two examples you give are correct but successfully twitching any bird is
>nothing more than "ticking" it or "getting a tick". An especially rare bird
>is often referred to as a "mega". Most keen birders in this country carry a
>Pager and all the up to the minute bird news is paged to them as it comes
>in. Megas are paged on a separate directory on the Pager so that it is
>possible to set the Mega directory to an audible alert whilst having other
>news come through siliently. This can be displayed with or without the light
>on the Pager flashing or simply stored to memory and checked from time to
>time when you get a minute.
>The birding Pagers most commonly in use here have seven directorys. In
>addition to 'Mega Alert', there is one for national bird news, three for
>regional news (each covering on average two English Counties - you can
>choose which you want), one for full personal message paging and one called
>"Earlybird". This is for out of hours news and is most often used for early
>morning reports on rarities during the summer months. It can be very useful
>before setting out on a long twitch to know that the bird was still present
>at 5.30 that morning.
>Another fairly common phrase in twitching is "gripped off". You have been
>gripped off by your friend if you dip on a twitch but he is successful in
>twitching the same bird.It can also be used in the active tense. He has
>gripped you off and you have been gripped off!
>No-one is really sure where the word "twitching" started. Probably the most
>widely accepted version is that birders on the English south coast,
>particularly in the Portland Bill and Beachy Head areas, became twitchy when
>the wind moved into a favourable quarter during migration in the hope or
>expectation of finding a real rarity. We have not had too many real rarities
>here in recent weeks although there was a Chimney Swift in Yorkshire last
>Sunday evening and as Sooty Tern close inshore off an Irish headland the
>same day. However, we are getting towards Autumn (or Fall!) and in an
>average year September/October is the best period for quantity and quality
>of rarities in this Country.
>
>Regards,
>
>Gerv

So, for those of you who twitched the Curlew Sandpiper on the Long Beach
peninsula and dipped, Ruth really gripped you off!

Denny
* * * * * * * * * * *
* Denny Granstrand *
* Yakima, WA *
* osprey at nwinfo.net *
* * * * * * * * * * *