A birder and proud of it

If this was the first time you had seen one of these birds, I think you'd be saying what a pretty bird with such great colours. The trouble is with nearly every bird feeder in the country attracting Blue Tits as one of the commonest birds (well not in the Western Isles I must add!) we take them for granted. Perhaps having lived in a tit free zone for a while, I now looked at them with fresh eyes.
Then of course we get into the word tit. The start of those dreadful comments "I like a bit of bird watching myself know what I mean, the two legged sort nudge nudge". Actually as a point of fact how many Blue Tits have you seen with one leg? I have never quite understood that particular comment
There is a sort of embarrassment in some circles to admit to being a birder - a sort of anorakness and an aberration from the norm that too many aspire to. In these days of eco-awareness I am never quite sure why this has persisted but I know I can still be all too apologetic when I say I am a birder.
And I never say I am a bird watcher - too many fnar fnar comments made in the past that I still cringe.