Ladybirders

As in most walks of life the sexes are different, despite attempts to force equality on us. I'm all for equality, it's essential in the job market. But whatever the law says, lady birders are viewed differently in many countries, although the situation has improved considerably over the years. At one time birders, or collectors as they were then, were almost exclusively male, but seemingly the few females involved were accepted readily, indeed, early conservation bodies were instigated by ladies. Quite right, given that they arose to prevent the slaughter of birds to provide feathers for millinery. Different countries had/have different attitudes, when I began birding a lady birder was a rare thing in the UK, but they have always been in a majority in the USA, due to a perceived lack of "macho" in the pastime.  (Obviously most are not aware of some of the dangerous situations that extreme listing can lead to, but that's another issue). Thankfully things are continually improving in most countries, although in most men are still in the majority when it comes to birding. There have been numerous theories, and even research, as to why that should be, most seem to be based on the old myth about men being the hunters, when in fact roles attributed to both sexes have changed over the centuries. At one time most publicans in England were female, and there were many leaders before society "decided" to differentiate (Buddica, Jean d'Arc, several queens before we had a parliament). Was it because we had a queen that Victorian times were one of the worst for women in terms of equality, a sort of male backlash?

I'm not advocating any view here, it is a fact that male and female are different, that applies in birding but it's not a bad thing, it's just that I'm not sure some male birders appreciate lady birders.

I have been lucky to have been married to two birders, Ann has always had an interest in wildlife, and this blog is a sort of tribute to her (it's her birthday this week), but it is interesting to note the changes of attitude. At one time there really were few ladies in the sport, and all except a handful were wives of birders. Of course, Ann was, but unlike some, she was never a "hanger-on". When calling up a Firecrest on Gramborough Hill she was universally ignored, even to the extent of somebody whispering "oh it'll be a Goldcrest, (it's a woman).  I'm sure the same attitude still exists to a small extent, but we have to be politically correct. We'd miss the fun of seeing the guy with egg on his face when the Firecrest popped out to show well. As for the very well known birder who complained that Ann's perfume would put off the Arctic Warbler we were looking for, he obviously knew more about the olfactory powers of songbirds than we do. (That means they have no sense of smell, for any friends for whom English is not their first language).

There are always those who are better birders than others for various reasons, but where Ann comes to the fore is in her powers of observation. When we were both twitchers we went to see a Little Bittern north of Snettisham, and were informed that it hadn't shown for four hours. The whole twitch had degenerated into a social gathering, with few people actually looking. I have to confess to some of that myself, until Ann said quietly "I think I've got it" I replied, "what do you mean?, there's nothing showing" Her reply, "I think I've got its eye", led me to look through her scope, where I could see little at first. Then it moved its head and I could see a bill, in addition to the aforementioned eye. We then spent the next half hour trying to get everyone on it, but many still had to wait until it moved forward a few feet and the upper half of its body came out of the reeds. She repeated the feat when we arrived in a car park in Nottingham one afternoon to look for a Cedar Waxwing, near the end of its stay when it had become quite elusive. We arrived to the familiar cry "hasn't been seen since early morning!" I put the scope up and Ann looked through it whilst I proceeded to get my camera equipment out of the car. Again "I think I've got it". Unable to quite believe that a bird that hadn't been seen for several hours was in the scope, I checked. Ann had struck again! Other birders in the car park then got on it, but by the time the camera was ready it had flown off again. Ignoring cries of "tell your wife I want to kiss her" we left, as the twitch was just an add-on to Britain's first Redhead, and wasn't our first visit.

 However, my favourite "put-downs by proxy" have been abroad. We did a whale-watching trip to Baja, and had a day's birding in the San Diego area. The guide was already upset because I was calling birds from the bus that he hadn't noticed, when we arrived at a park to see Great-tailed Grackle. "There's supposed to be a Great Horned Owl here but I've been here four times and not seen it." were his opening words. I don't recall his words when ten minutes later I caught up with the group and took them back to see the owl, which Ann was watching. I have to say the majority of guides we have used are much better than that, in terms of attitude as well as ability. We did have a lady guide in Brazil, who was excellent, and when we were on Christmas Island a girl from the visitor centre took a group of us out one evening to see the Christmas Island Boobook, which many miss. There was no sign of it, but we heard a very distant call. She then managed to call it in, using her voice rather than a tape, so eventually it sat about thirty yards away! 

Ann does the putting-down" thing to me as well. I spend an hour or more processing moths in the trap, and Ann saunters out and finds something on the wall, or a plant tub. Our first Large Thorn was such a find. There have been a few birds on Ann's list over the years that I haven't seen, but there's currently only one. It happens to be Resplendent Quetzal, but it did fly across the front of our car whilst I was concentrating on avoiding potholes! Previously she gripped me off with Red-flanked Bluetail, but only for ten minutes, and we're not sure who saw the Kent Golden-winged Warbler first, as we approached from different directions. A few birds have eluded me for a couple of years, but the only one that really might have been a problem was the Crested Lark at Landguard. I was at work, so we both arrived independently, but were too late. It wasn't until years after, when we'd seen the one at Dungeness, that Ann revealed she'd seen it, albeit only flying off, but didn't want to upset me by saying so.

These days ladies are very much more involved in birding in many ways, but I think some see themselves as being not as confident or as good at birding as men. Not you Sue, nor the other Sue, or a third Sue, nor Kate, nor Jacquie nor Tania nor........ (I know a lot of birders called Sue, perhaps it's to do with the old Johnny Cash song). We've come a long way since the "twitching widows" of the last century. Full circle, in fact, when Mike and I were in Arizona we met a lady of about our age whom we discussed sightings with. As we were leaving there were concerns about her being alone, but a few yards away sat her dutiful non-birding husband reading a book in a car!