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AS A bird watching destination, Leeton is set to gain even more kudos after becoming the site for the record breaking “biggest twitch”.The self-proclaimed hardcore twitchers, Ian Davies and Ruth Miller set out determined to break the bird watching world record for the number of species seen in a year.
Ten months and thousands of kilometres later their efforts were rewarded.
Their commitment to the cause was such that they sold their homes, quit their jobs and packed their lives up to take off around the world, beginning in Arizona.
The magic number, 3663, one more species than spotted in 1989 by an American twitcher, was reached in Griffith on Friday with a blue bonnet spotted at the golf course.
The trip was always about bird watching, but only became competitive when spurred on by fellow twitchers and soon escalated into dedicated note taking, blurry eyed 3.30am starts and fierce determination to “smash the record.”
“We have been totally dedicated every single day since January 1st,” Mr Davies said.
“We have been back to the UK, but only really to change planes.”
Mr Davies said the couple have not been out to spot rare birds, but any bird to add to the ever-growing compilation of species.
“Every bird counts the same,” Ms Miller said.
As both have to see and identify each bird, the couple have spent little more than minutes apart, which both agree has been a challenge.
Their only other steady companion has been a stuffed Toucan, Tocu, who has been a constant feature in Ms Miller’s daily blog.
Ms Miller, a freelance marketing executive and Mr Davies, a site manager for the Royal Society of Protection of Birds, met through their shared passion for bird watching and are aiming to raise awareness of conservation.
The ambitious birders now have their sights on co-writing a book on their adventures, a challenge, they agree could be far more difficult.
“We know there will be some interest as we have had around 600 hits a day on our site,” Ms Miller said.
