Twitchers could kill it in the supernatural genre

I’ve spent a lot of time around twitchers because my dad is one (and also a butterfly enthusiast) and because I’m into aviation and let me tell you, the Venn diagram of those interests (at least in the U.K.) is just a circle.

They know their shit better than possibly anyone else. Like the volume of information and life experience these people have is frankly insane. Every time I went to sit in a field for 5+ hours or something with my dad and got chatting to a twitcher, they’d impart some kind of eldritch wisdom, compare their findings with the others there and then either go back to another hour of complete silence or start nerding out about their subject of choice.

I got more information about planes on a weekly butterfly-watching trip just by asking like one question a week than I have by doing anything else. One time a guy started eagerly gushing to me about his authentic Concord boarding pass he found on EBay, absolutely thrilled that he could share it. You do not get books like these people. They are another breed. (This of course goes mostly for twitchers encountered in the wild).

They also have insane dedication. Up at the crack of dawn and out until dark. Will spend 5+ hours unmoving in the same spot just to try and glimpse a new bird. AND they have good knowledge of wildlife and terrain, meaning they have the advantage when put in unknown (U.K.) surroundings.

I fully believe that they should be more prominent in the supernatural/modern fantasy/paranormal genre in Britain like it would be so good. They would be able to endear themselves to the fay, hide from monsters, document evidence of findings (because a. Christ, have you seen some of the equipment they use? and b. There is nothing twitchers hate more than not having proof of what they saw. It’s literally the word for an obsessive bird photographer).

If the main characters are ALL twitchers you could even centre it around a group of them. Or if one of the main characters is, you could pull a funny and be like “Oh, [supernatural phenomena]? I’ve known about that for months. Someone on bird Twitter reported it.” because who the fuck checks bird Twitter other than the people refreshing it every 2 minutes for updates on firecrest sightings.

Twitcher character gets distracted from main plotline to go chase a fuckin stonechat or something and the rest of the team have to try and stalk bird Twitter to find out where they’ve gone.Accidentally get the protection of any and all nature spirits encountered on the journey.

Hell, I’m tempted to find a D&D party and play as a twitcher now. I think that’d be a laugh. Maybe their goal is to see a super specific rare bird that only appears once a millennia under super specific conditions and the journey is too dangerous for them to make alone.

These guys are deffo the modern equivalent of druids is what I’m saying. More stories should feature them.

Also, in case you are unfamiliar with the sight:

This is what twitchers look like when they’re not in a bird hide (which to the unaware, is like a camouflaged shed with windows you can poke a camera/binoculars through to observe birds without being observed).