by Nathan Rare
Twitchers throughout the country are
set to spend tens of thousands of pounds EACH to charter planes,
boats and helicopters after experts predicted that this autumn could
be the best EVER for rare birds in the UK.
A boat similar to one which might be
chartered by twitchers
Eric Twatt, of Forecast-A-Rare
Technology Ltd, made his startling prediction after studying ancient
manuscripts, the movements of eels, sunspot activity and conducting
lengthy conversations with Princess Diana via a medium.
Mr Twatt, 52, said “All the portents
are in place for a mega rare autumn. According to my calculations,
MILLIONS of birds never seen before in Britain are poised to make
epic journeys in a bid to claim their place on the British List.
One of the many birds never seen before
in Britain
“Birds from all over the globe will
descend on the country between now and the end of November, bringing
CHAOS to the roads and long delays at all major airports. Twitchers
literally won’t know which way to turn.”
Mr Twatt’s exciting predictions were
immediately confirmed by The Reverend John Vague, a fundamentalist
Baptist preacher from Wisbech, who said “This has long been
foretold in the Bible, for example Wallace ch.14, v.12: And
lo!, the winds shall rise mightily and blow from the eastern lands of
Dauria, and yet further east thereof, and from the west also shall
they come (but not at the same time). Great shall be the accompanying
precipitation, and a plague of Locustellas shall fall from the sky.
“And I’m sure there was something
about the Moon as well. You always get rare birds when there’s a
Moon.”
The Moon. It’s a Sign...
Avid twitcher Ross Franklin, 52, said
“I can’t wait. It’s about time we had a decent autumn, and
hopefully it won’t all be on Shetland, because I can’t afford to
go there. Or Scilly. And Ireland doesn’t count, of course.
Something like a mainland Canada Warbler would be nice, but not a
gull please. I fucking hate gulls.”
Adult Scruttock’s Gull, showing the
diagnostic flange coverts, or something
But others in the birding world sought
to play down Mr Twatt’s sensational forecasts. Len Savee, 52,
President of the IQ40 Club®
said “Eric Twatt is absolutely clueless. Easily in the bottom 6.73%
of birders ranked according to ability. He once claimed to have seen
a Pacific Swift when everyone knew he was miles away at the time. He
just wants to get his name in the papers and be on the telly.”
A spokesman from information service
Birders’ Rarity Alerts who insisted on remaining anonymous agreed.
“He might be right. He might not. Who cares really? I’ll still be
raking it in from subscriptions and app sales whether there’s
actually anything to go and look at or not!”
He later retracted this statement when
he realised how many customers he was losing to the growing number of
free Twitter news services.
