Some years back Linda and I decided to abandon long distance birding: there were several reasons (money, old age, the horror of dipping) but it is absolutely the case that wasting resources and burning gallons of diesel were part of our thinking.
Given that it is widely reported that each passenger's share of the CO2 emissions of a 747 travelling to Florida is about the same as a family car produces in a year, we long ago decided to restrict our holidays to the UK or destinations we could reach by train. In fact, apart from when I flew light aircraft in the Navy, I've only once been on a passenger jet: a quick hop to Charles de Gaulle forty years ago!
This is, sadly, not typical. I never cease to be amazed by the number of self-styled conservationists and eco-warriors who flaunt their frequent bird trips to remote destinations on Twitter. A couple of well-known examples actually work at UK reserves!
I'm a firm believer in personal freedom of choice, but I do find it a little difficult to get excited about Peter Kaestner 'achieving' a world list of 10,000 species: I can't help wondering why governments who claim to be concerned about CO2 emissions haven't considered restricting non-essential air travel...
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