Now, I'm the sunniest of Sunny Jims, but I can't stand people, by which mostly I mean dog-walkers , trying to talk to me while I'm out birding. Trouble is I always feel like you have to be polite, otherwise they go away thinking birders are a bunch of surly misanthropes. Like cyclists. Don't get me wrong... I'm a cyclist too. Well, I've got a bike. But I associate Lycra-clad cyclists with the sort of bad attitude I got off a testosterone-fuelled bike demon about 15 years ago. SO people generalise, and if they meet me, a surly birder, they think birders are surly. And I don't want that. Today, I was out enjoying the Yellowhammers, and this old bloke with a pack of Jack Russells walks up behind me, letting his dogs pee on my legs (sort of - not really) and he asked if I was a twitcher, and then wanted to talk about the big black panther his wife keeps seeing. I had to pretend to be manically making notes on these Yellowhammers (they must have been doing something really interesting) to excuse my monosyllabic responses. Eventually he got the hint and went away. Sorry mate, but your wife is seeing a DOMESTIC CAT. She just has a vivid imagination.