Twitching by numbers: A birder's account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland

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The child died and subsequently my friend has spent a lot of time dealing with mental health issues – that it wasn’t his fault makes no difference and it won’t be something his own kids will forget either he had just picked them up from school. And don't forget the output of TV comedians Benny Hill and Frankie Howerd, not to mention the photographs that have long appeared on Page 3 and elsewhere in many a red-top tabloid newspaper? He is clearly something of an obsessive, and his other past hobbies have included plane spotting and stamp collecting. I didn't see a copy to read, no idea if any other "unknowns" did, but I do know that he paid a considerable sum to someone who "edited it". No doubt some twitchers who started birdwatching long after me will have seen more different birds than myself and of course I’ve noticed the boasting by some and it’s not just me that’s noticed.

They are mostly very readable and highly worthy in their own ways, but there are so many of them that a certain staleness has set in. Not deeply, but I am certainly interested in this book because it is a very clear description of the fieldsport of twitching from the viewpoint of a keen exponent. The Wryneck says: Mr Bagnell is unlikely to win any awards for chivalry, but, in fairness, he did not set out to be a role model for other birders. Every day, we all encounter a myriad of things that cause personal irritation, inconvenience or even offence, but we shrug them off, look on the bright side and just get on with life - we don't all rush to Twitter to condemn.

In that time, you must have seen numerous changes in attitudes to how we approach birdwatching, habitat protection/creation and conservation. I offered to proof read it for him and suggested that he get people who don't know him to read it, mainly for typos and content. The human fallout and carnage from this reverence for the supposed personal freedom brought by a car (often to sit in a traffic jam with all the others enjoying their ‘freedom’ of the road) is horrendous and really deserves to be brought up alongside the environmental cost. You would have been at the top of the list in 1987, aside Ron Johns, if you had seen a paltry (I jest!

He just sought to put down in words and pictures some of the highlights of almost quarter of a century of twitching, these accompanied by reflections on other aspects of his career and outlook on life. I'm a 55 year old accountant who lives in Southwater, West Sussex with my wife Kim, daughter Georgie and our pets Barney, Pepper, Midge and Poppy. It would still be possible to be offended by some parts of this book as rare birds are, one could say, objectified as mere numbers to be added to the author’s list, and the carbon emissions from chasing around these isles are pretty high and yes, there are some comments on some (unnamed) womens’ appearance. Our reliance on personal transport because of underfunded public transport (and many people’s preference for the former) means an utterly savage proportion of the population have been involved in serious accidents – I’ve known people who’ve been killed in car crashes, who doesn’t? However, racing round the country to spot a rare bird is pushing it a bit not just for resource use/carbon emission reasons.Luckily at Leighton Moss no charge for permits for members, but member had for admission at lots of reserves. The book is illustrated by the author and, although infinitely better than I could do myself, the illustrations are all quite good, but not tip top.