Chesterfield - Crag Martin

It took three trips to see the Crag Martin, but ultimately it was worth the effort as this rare vagrant dashed around the Parish Church in Chesterfield.  The church itself provided a wonderful backdrop for a particularly bizarre sighting of this hirundine.

Having failed to see it on Monday and Wednesday, I was relieved to catch up with the turbo-charged Martin as it whizzed back, forth, and around the spire providing the onlookers with an impressive aerobatic display.

For me it was an agonising week having had two failures, but these are the obvious pitfalls of twitching which I have somehow been drawn into over the last couple of years.  I am enjoying seeing new things, but I still harbour a few questions inside me of why exactly I am doing this.

Numbers, lists, competition, credibility, position, all play a part.  I was once scathing of twitching in my youth, now look at me.  Three trips of three hour single journeys to see one bird.

I am not sure whether twitching is a mild form of mental illness, but I understand the draw and the obsession.  It's a slippery slope that I am on, it serves no real purpose, it's not really why I fundamentally enjoy birding and wildlife, but it is really quite addictive.