Perhaps he ought to publish two editions - the revised sanitised version and the original, the latter to contain a warning on the cover that some of its content may cause offence to certain readers. What further marks out his book as special is that the illustrations are all by Garry himself - not photographs but exquisite colour artwork which beautifully captures the spirit as well as the plumage of such species as varied thrush, indigo bunting, American redstart, common nighthawk and song sparrow.

Twitching is a lifetime marathon and as the author points out you’ll have to spend a good four decades at it, and fairly obsessively at it, to stand any chance of a top 10 ranking. But mostly, and overwhelmingly, this is a book about twitching – the fieldsport of rushing around trying to see rare birds to add to your lifelong list of wild birds seen in Britain and Ireland. How refreshing, therefore, to come across Twitching By Numbers - a birder's account of his hectic life as he chases rare species across Britain and Ireland. All the same twitching is a far less damaging way to be obsessive about birds than standing in a butt and try to shoot as many as possible that have been driven towards you by a bored teenager looking for beer money.But instead of seeing something that’s wandered on to your local patch you travel hundreds of miles to see it then I feel that the experience is a bit devalued. Credit it to GB also, for his determination and enterprise in publishing the title at his own risk without the comfort of an advance payment or the prospect of royalties from an established publishing house. There is no brooding self-absorption from Sussex-based author Garry Bagnell, nor any preachy 'agenda' of any sort - just a celebration of the excitement of travelling the length and breadth of Britain for the thrill (and privilege) of seeing rare birds, some of which may never previously have occurred more than once or a few times on our shores. Driving an unnecessarily large and heavier car to keep up with the Jones’s isn’t just an added burden re inflated air pollution it means any accident involving them will be more serious than it would have been – especially for cyclists and pedestrians and obviously children – a bad situation being made even worse.

And don't forget the output of TV comedians Benny Hill and Frankie Howerd, not to mention the photographs that have long appeared on Page 3 and elsewhere in many a red-top tabloid newspaper?He comes across as a laddish character with flaws (we all have flaws) and perhaps his openness was what got him criticism for some of his remarks, and perhaps that criticism was well deserved. I offered to proof read it for him and suggested that he get people who don't know him to read it, mainly for typos and content. I am pleased that Garry has temporarily withdrawn the book and has committed to re-writing at least the first four chapters. And who cares that Garry Bagnell has seen 553 bird species in Britain and Ireland (which puts him way behind Steve Gantlett on an estimated 590 species)? Twitching by Numbers’ by Garry Bagnell, a memoir of his anecdotes about birdwatching, published in this very year 2022.