0:00:07 > 0:00:09Twitching, it's like warfare.
0:00:09 > 0:00:15It's 95% boredom, hanging around,
0:00:15 > 0:00:19Thousands of people around the UK
0:00:19 > 0:00:22trying to see as many species
0:00:22 > 0:00:27Somebody always wants to be and it's one-upmanship all the time.
0:00:27 > 0:00:33It's the equivalent of, like,
0:00:35 > 0:00:41People would love me to miss a bird,
0:00:44 > 0:00:49and totally dedicated to it.
0:00:54 > 0:01:05to monitor their every move.
0:01:05 > 0:01:16Birding is my fulfilment, but the extreme, at any cost, to anybody.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The person who's seen the most
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Like a league table, an online record called the Life List
0:01:49 > 0:01:52ranks each twitcher by the number of different species of birds
0:01:52 > 0:01:55that they've seen in the UK
0:01:55 > 0:02:00This is the ranking, so there's number one, Steve Gantlett.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05There are no prizes or medals,
0:02:05 > 0:02:12in Britain. So there's 259 people that have seen more birds than me.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16This hobby isn't just about birds, it's about birds and people,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18This guy's green, and in italics.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20That mean's he's dead. He's died.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35species of birds on his list.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I seem to feel that you get a different class of bird-watcher.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43and a Championship twitcher.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Are you in the Premiership?
0:02:49 > 0:02:53I don't think I've achieved anything in birding until I've hit 500 birds.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01Twitchers start their lists with the most common birds,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04but to climb the rankings they need to chase the real rarities,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11I feel like I'm failing myself
0:03:11 > 0:03:14It eats up at me. If there's a bird in the country I haven't seen,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18I am in a completely crappy mood until I've actually made plans to go.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25A migrating bird can fly off to it immediately is crucial.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29When these birds just turn up,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33These birds are lost individuals,
0:03:35 > 0:03:40This is a film about some of the most driven twitchers in Britain, as they race to get to rare birds
0:03:40 > 0:03:43during the autumn migration.
0:03:44 > 0:03:50I can feel an ache in my chest and my throat when I'm going there,
0:03:50 > 0:03:52I really feel a need for it.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59Unlike Gary, Brett's already
0:03:59 > 0:04:03In fact, he's got 528 on his list.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08then you'll never get a big list,
0:04:08 > 0:04:10But Brett's about to retire,
0:04:10 > 0:04:18so he's on a quest to increase his score whilst he still has
0:04:18 > 0:04:21murdered anybody yet, but...
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Yeah, almost any length, yeah.
0:04:35 > 0:05:07And the Craig family are facing
0:05:07 > 0:05:12It's a chance for Gary to add to his list and climb the rankings.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21and it's come into Britain.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26the other end of the country.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39It just makes me so excited thinking about it. A sandhill bloody crane!
0:05:42 > 0:05:46It's unbelievable, isn't it?
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Gary's place on the Life List other twitchers see the bird.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Keen to find out who else is going, he checks in with Lee Evans,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Many people going for this,
0:06:01 > 0:06:05'About 30 or 40.' Is that all?
0:06:10 > 0:06:11'Yeah, he's on his way, yeah.'
0:06:12 > 0:06:14OK. Batty. Bonza needs it, I take it?
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Does anybody know that I'm going? 'Er, yeah, they know you're going.'
0:06:36 > 0:06:40And who's he, then? He wants everything as accurate as possible.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47individual. He doesn't trust people.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55don't like authority, do they?
0:07:01 > 0:07:06as judge, jury and executioner
0:07:06 > 0:07:09which birds are seen where,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12and exactly who's seen them.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It's made him a controversial figure
0:07:16 > 0:07:19I'm the equivalent of George Michael
0:07:19 > 0:07:24his life, is exactly the same way
0:07:24 > 0:07:28My name is always mentioned
0:07:28 > 0:07:33My name will be put forward.
0:07:33 > 0:07:4030% of British birders are cheats,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44And then you've got quite a few
0:07:44 > 0:07:48the male collecting instinct.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Listing for them is just that, just an extension of train spotting.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55It's just numbers, isn't it?
0:08:28 > 0:08:51Two cans of Red Bull, and two packs of Hula Hoops and a sandwich.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56"Breeding birds acquire rusty tones
0:08:58 > 0:09:01The difficult journey hasn't
0:09:04 > 0:09:0960 twitchers I reckon, approximately.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Today you've got big listers here.
0:09:16 > 0:09:22You've got people off sick, so you won't get the most friendliest
0:09:22 > 0:09:24But everybody's in the same boat.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Life jackets are located in the saloon and on the boat deck.
0:09:34 > 0:09:39The usual suspects are here. There are a few faces I don't recognise.
0:09:54 > 0:09:5726 miles? That'll be the day!
0:10:08 > 0:10:12There's a lot of people watching, hopefully the birds are over there.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Absolutely marvellous. The red panel on the face is really good, actually.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Distant, but you could see the bird.
0:10:42 > 0:10:48Now he's seen the bird, Gary needs to be sure that Lee, twitching's
0:10:48 > 0:10:50'Hi, Gary.' Hi, Lee, you all right?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59'60 people?' 60 people connected,
0:11:01 > 0:11:06Gary's made the long trip to Orkney to get an extra bird for his list.
0:11:06 > 0:11:13But with 60 other twitchers seeing it too, Gary's overall place in the rankings won't have changed.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17Every year people are getting
0:11:24 > 0:11:29It's just a bit of a shame, that you can't have it to yourself.
0:11:29 > 0:11:41It's not an exclusive club like it used to be, the sandhill crane.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07The major rare birds, the rarest of all, are nicknamed "megas".
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Do you know which way it went?
0:12:37 > 0:12:39He only heard it? He heard it!
0:12:49 > 0:12:52You never know how long these birds
0:12:52 > 0:12:58any twitcher is always on the alert
0:12:58 > 0:13:02or at the other end of the country.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15of the UK's top 20 twitchers.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19He used to work as a North Sea trawler man, and today he's come
0:13:19 > 0:13:23to Flamborough Head on the Yorkshire coast to search for rare sea birds.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49You just never know what's going
0:13:49 > 0:13:51What's the point of making a list
0:13:51 > 0:13:53There's no point in anything,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56We're all here by accident, there's no point to anything.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59It's just whatever point you want to make for yourself in life.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03If you ask most people what they'd want most in the world,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07they'd probably say something like world peace. But, I mean,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11People want world peace so they can live their lives the way
0:14:11 > 0:14:15And in my case that's seeing as many birds in Britain as I can.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Sandhill crane is still there.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Fantailed warbler's still in Kent.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25What else have you been into,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38I've always been interested in nature, and then I packed
0:14:47 > 0:14:49When I first met him, I was told
0:14:49 > 0:14:53he was the maddest birder in the country. And I said, "I know that!"
0:15:00 > 0:15:04because March is the worst month
0:15:04 > 0:15:08so it was the least likely month
0:15:08 > 0:15:10because of needing to rush off
0:15:10 > 0:15:14We got married in the morning and then went birding in the afternoon.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Do you remember Alice at work?
0:15:16 > 0:15:28She was always saying to me, "You ought to take Cynthia for a proper
0:15:30 > 0:15:41I wasn't expecting anything more,
0:15:41 > 0:15:46At 64, he's just months away from retirement and, with few savings,
0:16:01 > 0:16:07I know it will hurt me a lot.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27It's a very, very weird experience.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31from the time that pager goes off and there's a rare bird somewhere,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35this world of make-believe.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38It's a very weird sensation, and you just feel so happy.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43It's an adventure, it's a journey, it's everything. You don't know
0:16:43 > 0:16:45So you forget about problems?
0:16:45 > 0:16:48I tell you what, I've got no problems when a bird turns up.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54unfortunately. And I've got a child.
0:16:57 > 0:17:04The autumn twitching season is in full swing, with rare birds
0:17:04 > 0:17:08PHONE: 'In Oxon, the Azorean
0:17:08 > 0:17:12But whilst twitchers are focused on the birds, one man is obsessed with
0:17:12 > 0:17:16checking if the twitchers really
0:17:23 > 0:17:28There's no-one that polarises
0:17:28 > 0:17:32I've always been the policeman
0:17:32 > 0:17:35You can't have a free-for-all.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43I love what I do, but it's the people around it that make it sad.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49A lot of the birding is all
0:17:49 > 0:17:55You have to get inside the brains of birders, and the psyche of them,
0:17:55 > 0:17:57And I've spent a whole career
0:17:57 > 0:18:01And I can identify these strange bods that are going to commit
0:18:09 > 0:18:16He's also one of the UK's keenest twitchers, and has ranked himself as seventh on the Life List.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33It's like one member of one
0:18:39 > 0:18:43I think it's something to do
0:18:45 > 0:18:47He wants to feel important.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54..maybe, you know, big fishes in small pools or something.
0:19:03 > 0:19:11it can become quite a problem.
0:19:13 > 0:19:21Who's he trying to catch, anyway?
0:19:21 > 0:19:23Lee's always looking for a cheat.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26He's obsessed about cheats.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58And also there's big numbers, so I think we've got a good chance.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03See what we're looking for.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08The important thing is P10 on this bird is still growing. Right. OK.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13Even for the most experienced twitchers, identifying birds
0:20:13 > 0:20:19And this gull is somewhere amongst 2,000 others of different species.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I'm pretty sure I won't find him,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25I'm pretty useless at catching gulls.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57Really dark. Yeah, on its own.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Well done, thank you. That's great.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Hang on. Lee, we got it at the pool.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29Lee Evans is on his way down
0:21:29 > 0:21:32He's just half a mile away.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37But 15 minutes after the group first spot the gull, it disappears.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41We've lost it at the moment.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Who's actually got it at the moment? It's been lost at the moment.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57so I presume it's gone, yeah.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01but I'm a little bit annoyed
0:22:01 > 0:22:03get all the features on it.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09because nobody would believe us
0:22:09 > 0:22:13would believe you? I bloody well saw it and identified it.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17You know, when Lee gets here,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19I've got two eyes. At least
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Yeah. That's what I'm saying.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Well, no, it's raining at the moment,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56But how do you know you're looking
0:23:41 > 0:23:45They're not going all that way
0:23:52 > 0:23:57You know, when I turn up at a rarity, you can almost feel that
0:23:57 > 0:24:01all the voices talking about you.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05You can see the little crowds
0:24:05 > 0:24:08"Oh, there's Lee Evans over there", and all that sort of stuff.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15I think he's a bit deranged myself.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17You don't associate with Mr Evans?
0:24:17 > 0:24:22God, no. No. I think there's
0:24:22 > 0:24:25It's an obsession, but it's more
0:24:26 > 0:24:30Finally, the gull reappears
0:24:30 > 0:24:33This time, Lee's there to see it,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38I just want to see it well if I can.
0:24:46 > 0:24:47I saw it, yeah. You seen it?
0:24:47 > 0:24:52Yeah. I saw it earlier. It was the primaries, Lee. It is the right bird.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28I don't want to fall out with him.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34We're never going to fall out,
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Cheers, Lee. Take care, mate.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Gary's one of my closest associates in birding, and I really like him,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54but I will still never let him into my inner circle as such.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Because I don't trust Gary.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59I guess he's probably loyal, yeah,
0:26:08 > 0:26:10because they don't like him.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13This is what happens in this hobby.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21but I can't sleep because of birds.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26This thing caused me difficulties
0:26:37 > 0:26:41The Life List isn't the only one that twitchers take seriously.
0:26:41 > 0:27:10There's also the year list, spotting as many different species as possible in a single year.
0:27:12 > 0:27:18To do a year list, a twitcher must spend huge amounts of time and money travelling the country,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21most common to the most rare.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25You need absolute dedication for that, because it's really hard work.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29It really takes a lot out of you,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32You've got to have incredible
0:27:32 > 0:27:35I do a bare minimum of 68,000 miles.
0:27:47 > 0:27:53Chris Craig is also devoting all of his spare time to year listing.
0:27:53 > 0:27:58So far he's seen 310 birds,
0:28:00 > 0:28:03It's just part of the way of life,
0:28:03 > 0:28:09You're not focused on anything else for the weekend, so everything else drops away and this is the focus.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17seven-year-old daughter Mya-Rose.
0:28:27 > 0:28:34The year listing is a way of, I suppose, re-inspiring ourselves, and motivating ourselves to go out
0:28:34 > 0:28:38and see birds every weekend.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42The target at the beginning of the year was to see 300,
0:28:42 > 0:28:48which is kind of a landmark in the UK, so we all managed
0:28:48 > 0:28:53So it's like we might as well carry on going, really, to see what we can get to. Isn't it?
0:28:53 > 0:28:59When we got together, I remember someone pointing him out and saying, "He's a twitcher, you know".
0:28:59 > 0:29:02And I didn't even really know
0:29:02 > 0:29:05"Oh, there's something a bit odd."
0:29:05 > 0:29:09Helena famously said to me, "If you think I'm ever going
0:29:09 > 0:29:12"in the middle of the night to go and see a bird, you must be joking!"
0:29:12 > 0:29:16And look at her now. Everyone
0:29:17 > 0:29:21The Craigs have been taking
0:29:21 > 0:29:26Her fourth word was birdie, and she was actually pointing at a black lark at the time.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30And this year, she's also made
0:29:30 > 0:29:32Do you want to show your list?
0:29:32 > 0:29:34Do I have to? No, you don't have to,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49I'm second. Were you first before?
0:29:58 > 0:30:10But competition from such a young recruit has ruffled a few feathers.
0:30:10 > 0:30:16That we're just putting random should have my list taken off.
0:30:16 > 0:30:33Did they not believe that you'd seen a black-browed albatross?
0:30:33 > 0:30:42their home in Somerset to see
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Yeah, it's usually a surprise.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24What do you need to be a twitcher?
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Have you got good eyesight?
0:31:44 > 0:31:50I'm hopeful on quite a few birds,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23There's definitely no sign of it.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25Look, the sun's come out, Mya.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44I think it probably went, erm,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55It gets a bit boring, doesn't it?
0:32:59 > 0:33:04ever hopeful of finding new
0:33:10 > 0:33:16In just one day, they've travelled from Somerset to Warwickshire, Lancashire and the Lake District.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21'The yellow-billed cuckoo is not, vegetation where it roosted.'
0:33:24 > 0:33:29they arrive in Scotland, 450 miles from where they started off.
0:33:29 > 0:33:35but then we actually can get away from it, because there's this other
0:33:35 > 0:33:41passion in your life that takes
0:33:41 > 0:33:43It just feels like another world.
0:33:43 > 0:33:49The family are aiming to see a flock of Taiga bean geese that have just arrived in the UK.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09at a bean goose in this book.
0:34:18 > 0:34:32One of OUR favourite books.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45A bit of black on it as well.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Can I have my breakfast now?
0:35:01 > 0:35:05is spending a day with his family.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14What's going to happen? I'm 42 now.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22her husband, when she gets married, is going to drive me to the birds.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Do you tell your friends about your dad and his birds? Yeah.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43No. Why isn't it very good?
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and bird when it's something good.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53That is true. I do go quite a lot.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07It's interesting. She thinks that I'm never here for the family.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18I suppose the family think that
0:36:18 > 0:36:22Kim isn't, I can't blame her, really.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24She sees what it's done to me.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39We should do this more often,
0:36:53 > 0:36:55The hobbies sort of do come first.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58I've always been a collector.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03registration plates of Rolls-Royces.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10The serious hobby was plane spotting. An 18-year spell of my life,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13I was obsessed with planes. I've never had any money, probably
0:37:13 > 0:37:16never will have any money, because I love spending money on my hobbies.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19it was a very expensive year.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35spend £600 on a bird? Yeah.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41It's the price you've got to pay.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43If you want that bird that badly,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12There's just a couple of weeks of the bird migration left,
0:38:12 > 0:38:17but top twitcher Brett still hasn't got a new tick for his life list.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22So he's blown £600 of his savings on a trip to the Isles of Scilly,
0:38:53 > 0:38:59warblers before, so this bird doesn't count for his list.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02there are fewer birds you need
0:39:02 > 0:39:07to see, so it gets harder and harder
0:39:07 > 0:39:11I'm at the point now where maybe three a year would be a good average.
0:39:14 > 0:39:20And a lot of them will be birds that
0:39:20 > 0:39:26it doesn't advance you any, doesn't put you ahead of your rivals, because they'll all see it, you know.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36It's lovely weather, but I've
0:39:36 > 0:39:39come here for the birds, and I'm really not seeing much.
0:39:47 > 0:39:51Brett is only a few birds short of being top of the life list.
0:39:58 > 0:40:03so it does hurt me that I'm
0:40:12 > 0:40:15And it hurts me that I haven't
0:40:18 > 0:40:21But, you know, I'd love to be
0:40:28 > 0:40:32heavyweight boxing champion of the world and I certainly do have daydreams about it, yeah.
0:40:36 > 0:40:41Hmm. It's sort of the ultimate heavyweight champion of the world?
0:40:53 > 0:40:56the autumn, and hundreds of
0:40:56 > 0:41:00on a quarry in South Shields.
0:41:01 > 0:41:10A bird has been spotted that
0:41:10 > 0:41:13The eastern crowned warbler normally spends its winters in Malaysia
0:41:18 > 0:41:52spotted it said it was like
0:41:57 > 0:42:02Garry's dropped everything at work and raced the 350 miles from Sussex.
0:42:02 > 0:42:08the bird has become jittery
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Right at the top of the ash.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15Yeah, it's come out. It's in view.
0:42:15 > 0:42:19What, down there? No, no, no.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21Look, still in the same place.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25Oh, yeah, right out. Higher.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Are you looking? I can't find it.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33I saw it. I see it flying across.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36It's actually a lifer for my father.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40It's a British tick but it's a British tick for everyone because
0:42:40 > 0:42:42been seen in Britain. I know.
0:42:59 > 0:43:03This is no way for Britain's most famous lister to behave.
0:43:10 > 0:43:11Sunderland? Oh, you're almost here.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Oh, 200 plus. All right, Lee.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49Almost every serious twitcher has managed to see the bird.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54But Brett still hasn't had a tick for his list this autumn
0:43:58 > 0:44:01Scillies when the news broke.
0:44:01 > 0:44:08Brett's had to fly to Penzance and drive up to South Shields.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37I'm thinking I'm not going to see it tonight and probably won't see it tomorrow either.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40I haven't had anything to eat all day, I'm shaking like a leaf.
0:44:51 > 0:44:58I had about an hour's sleep last night, I just couldn't stop
0:45:06 > 0:45:15Brett travelled all the way to South Shields from the Isles of Scilly.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57kicking around in the bracken.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03Mya and her parents are still second
0:46:05 > 0:46:08He's stayed on the mainland
0:46:08 > 0:46:14any individual seriously under the age of sort of ten, really.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19you know, whether or not they're
0:46:19 > 0:46:23taking any interest in what they're seeing is debatable.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27Now, whether or not my Rose will
0:46:30 > 0:46:35She's a very nice young girl, but you find with keen birding parents,
0:46:35 > 0:46:39their children into the hobby.
0:46:43 > 0:46:49the whole family's a birding family and then when the children grow up,
0:46:49 > 0:46:56If you force something upon someone,
0:47:02 > 0:47:06interested in bird-watching
0:47:06 > 0:47:12It's not about getting Mya's list to some sort of high number so that
0:47:14 > 0:47:20Because the chances are, when she gets a bit older and she starts wanting to go to parties and things,
0:47:20 > 0:47:27it'll slow down a bit and, you know, the aim is really for her to have an interest so that it stays with her.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30Have you seen this goldfinch,
0:47:30 > 0:47:34Yeah. A really nice view of that. Have you looked through your
0:47:39 > 0:47:41the Craigs are twitching on the
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Scillies with their older daughter, and even their granddaughter.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51your list ready, haven't you?
0:47:58 > 0:48:01So do you think you'll like it, doing it as a family for a while together?
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Yeah, I think we will. Well...
0:48:14 > 0:48:16What do you mean, you don't want to?
0:48:16 > 0:48:20You enjoy it once you're out.
0:48:20 > 0:48:25Well, I'm not enjoying it now!
0:49:03 > 0:49:05I'm surprised he ever sees any birds.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16Let me put them in the car.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20car because I don't want to spend
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Have you got your passport?
0:49:22 > 0:49:28Garry's off to Ireland. But this is one twitch that Lee doesn't feel the need to keep tabs on.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31Garry's manic. As soon as he hears about the bird or reads it on his
0:49:31 > 0:49:37pager, he's off, and doesn't think about the possibilities of it being there or not. He just goes.
0:49:47 > 0:49:52They saw it flying in from the sea, saw it and it's gone again.
0:49:52 > 0:49:58He said my chance of seeing the bird was less than 41%.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02I don't know why he does it though. "I'm not going, therefore I'll
0:50:05 > 0:50:07Well, I feel it's such a rare bird...
0:50:09 > 0:50:11..the third record ever for Britain,
0:50:11 > 0:50:15we've just got to go and have a look.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17I'm really hopeful it'll be there.
0:50:30 > 0:50:34It's 6am, and Garry's made it all the way from Sussex to Dublin.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37Oh, gentlemen, start your engines!
0:50:39 > 0:50:42But he's still got to drive another four and a half hours
0:50:42 > 0:50:46to reach the bird, all the way to the west coast of Ireland.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52So the basic route goes from
0:50:52 > 0:51:00to Athlone, to Loughrea, to Galway, to Clifden, and then the boat to Inishbofin and back again.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05Garry hasn't had confirmation that
0:51:05 > 0:51:11spending over £200 and driving a
0:51:11 > 0:51:13really, is the bird perishing.
0:51:13 > 0:51:18It might just be absolutely exhausted
0:51:40 > 0:51:43you went for it'd be boring.
0:51:43 > 0:51:44The chase would be too easy.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49You need the chase to be hard
0:51:56 > 0:52:01Right, let's go and find out
0:52:28 > 0:52:31from where it was yesterday.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34It hasn't been seen since this morning by some Irish boys.
0:52:58 > 0:53:01Let's go across and have a laugh.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16eat I'll settle for that now.
0:53:31 > 0:53:36I just didn't see the point
0:53:37 > 0:53:42It's such a small island, it's not
0:53:42 > 0:53:47But I'd look for it if they needed help, but you've done the whole island anyway, haven't you?
0:53:47 > 0:53:52Don't know. I'm off. You off again?
0:53:54 > 0:53:56So you're not going to go and help?
0:54:06 > 0:54:08I might go on to that stool later.
0:54:23 > 0:54:27Whenever I think of the birds I've missed that I should have
0:54:27 > 0:54:31and it will hurt until either I see that bird or until the day I die.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Although he arrived too late for the eastern crowned warbler that
0:54:34 > 0:54:40made the national news, Brett managed to see it the next morning, just hours before it flew off.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44As soon as you see it the next morning, as soon as it's on your list, then you're happy, then you can
0:54:53 > 0:54:59pensioner, and is facing a future with less money for twitching.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03cope once he's not able to twitch
0:55:05 > 0:55:09He's going to be miserable every time anything comes on. Desperate.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13Yeah, yeah. Will you give up?
0:55:21 > 0:55:25What if you had an injury or couldn't get out and about?
0:55:30 > 0:55:35I mean, I can't just envisage sitting in the house doing nothing.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40easy for me. I think it would
0:55:45 > 0:55:57and for twitchers it's time to take a break from their lists.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07been spending less time twitching.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13I'll have a few more days off.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58doubt about that, honestly.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02As far as I know, their whole
0:57:04 > 0:57:08but I guess it is just luck.
0:57:11 > 0:57:13I'm very difficult to get on with,
0:57:13 > 0:57:16but birds are my salvation.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20and I can fall back to them.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25birds than I do about people.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31shirt's getting on my back.
0:57:31 > 0:57:37Garry's now seen 498 different
0:57:41 > 0:57:45Because I'm so close to getting I just thought it would be a
0:57:48 > 0:57:53the top goalscorer at Arsenal, when he ripped off his shirt, it was "143 goals", I think,
0:57:53 > 0:57:56or whatever the T-shirt said, and I just think that the day I get
0:57:56 > 0:58:02my 500th bird in Britain I want to put this on, and say, "Look, I've done it, I've seen 500 birds."
0:58:02 > 0:58:05The harder the bird, the more
0:58:05 > 0:58:08I can't explain how it feels from the day that pager goes off,
0:58:12 > 0:58:19Just the whole adventure to get to that bird is something that no other hobby will ever give me.
0:58:19 > 0:58:21Grey phalarope at Werewood!
0:58:24 > 0:58:27I've had one of those before,
0:58:27 > 0:58:30# A-well everybody's heard about
0:58:32 > 0:58:41# A-well-a bird, bird, bird
0:58:44 > 0:58:49# A-well-a bird, bird, bird
0:58:51 > 0:58:53Don't you know about the bird?
0:58:53 > 0:58:56that the bird is a word... #