[John]

Well I am leaving at 7pm to hopefully see the bird.

Before we get into this twitching frenzy again there are a few thingss that need to be clarified.

1st. There are very little negative reports coming from this site since the first day it had officially been reported.

2nd. From Phoenixs' opening of the thread it is obvious he doesn't know the habits of a Scops Owl. As I said I haven't been there yet so don't know what these lamps are like but if you have seen these birds abroad you may know that they can live in the busiest of places.

I was in Corfu one year and was staying at Kavos, which is a mecca for the young. Booze, nightlife, you name it, everything happens there. It is one heck of a noisy place. Right in the middle of this lot was a Scops Owl, illuminated by all the flashing lights, streetlights, you name it. Totally unconcerned. I don't think lamping, if done correctly, will have much effect but I stand corrected if I am wrong but don't forget this bird has now been under intense twitching for a week now and if it was unhappy with what was happening it would be long gone by now.

3rd. There is a charity box at the pub where coffee is being sold. That box is filling up quite nicely I am being told.

4th. Where loads of people gather it is not possible for them to behave 100% correctly. This goes in all forms of life.

5th. Yes there are some photographers that overstep the mark but that is very rare. The proper photographer has the welfare of the bird uppermost. I am equally amazed by how little respect the ordinary Jo public has with wildlife in general. More damage is done by those members of our society than all the photographers put together.

6th. I always find that when the subject of a twitch is talked about by those that don't understand really what it is all about the talk always goes on the negative side.

I remember late last year posting a thread about a twitch I went on for a Grey cheeked Thrush in Hertfordshire. The resulting rantings by people that never went there, or hadn't got a clue about the habits of the bird, were to be honest downright rediculous. So much so that I left this site for a short while. The reason for my decision was that i was so disappointed that members on this site seemed to falling into the same old trap that members of other forums frequently do. I was hoping things would change and WAB members would be above that.

I certainly hope we are not going down the twitching bashing route on this thread.

John