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In Pursuit of the Ridiculous

In Pursuit of the Ridiculous: Episode 2: Twitching

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Episode 2: Twitching

Twitching

BBC Radio 4 Extra - In Pursuit of the Ridiculous, Twitching

Ecologist Matthew Oates meets Rob Lambert to find out more about the benefits of twitching

To some, twitching can seem the most pointless of natural history activities. Ecologist Matthew Oates meets Rob Lambert to find out why he twitches. From November 2012.

All naturalists have personal obsessions with particular species or activities which may, to non-naturalists, seem ridiculous . In this five-part series Matthew Oates, naturalist and ecologist with the National Trust, meets the people for whom nothing in the natural world is out of bounds. Today he explores the world of twitching rare birds with Rob Lambert, from the University of Nottingham. Rob has travelled around the UK amassing a huge list of over 450 species of birds and he's keen to show Matthew a rare long-billed dowitcher at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. But Matthew wants to know if this is just trainspotting or are there other benefits to be gained from twitching. According to Rob Lambert, it's all about tribes, memories and experience. and birds too.

Presenter: Matthew Oates
Producer: Brett Westwood
Editor: Julian Hector.

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Matthew Oates presents a series about naturalists and their pursuits

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Episode 2: Twitching

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