The Boddam Wildlife Sanctuary welcomes genuine nature lovers who are willing to respect the rules of the Sanctuary, but macho bully bird-brained twitchers are not welcome here. See the Legal Section.
This page is for those sufficiently ill-advised to think they have the right to persecute wildlife at Boddam. Introducing:
Hi, I'm the great Hugh Harrop, macho birder. I organise the bird-brained gang of witless twitchers besieging the Boddam Wildlife Sanctuary. I once testified that this woman had intimidated me. She went to jail - that was a great day.
April 7, 2025, Hugh Harrop says: "Sensational views of Shetland's seventh-ever Purple Heron at Boddam today. Great to see it catching a few eels in the burn and equally great to see folk of all ages and levels of interest coming for a look..."
Let's see how many people we can get to poke their telephoto lenses at it from as close as possible - that won't be too scary for it, will it?
We can do maximum damage with a nice big group. You can see in their faces, they're all looking forward to causing maximum havoc.
Great stuff.
Now we're talking! Here's a group to be proud of. A group like this was stomping over the land looking for an Eastern Crowned Warbler. It desperately needed the help of the twitcher gang and we came in force.
Tagline
We take small groups of 4-6, or 6-8, or 8-10, or 10-12 - or more. It just depends how much money we can make or how much damage we can cause. We don't care really.
At around £2,000 per head, we can make loads of money.
Ornithomania:
When Birdwatching Goes Off the Rails.
There are bird lovers, and then there are ornithomaniacs — not content with a pair of binoculars and a thermos of tea, these are the twitchers for whom life is merely a side quest between sightings of the lesser-spotted whatsit. Somewhere along the path from “keen birder” to “unhinged avian zealot,” something gets lost — possibly perspective, possibly hygiene.
🪶 Symptoms of Advanced Ornithomania:
Sleep deprivation due to 3 a.m. stakeouts in marshes for a glimpse of a Eurasian reed warbler that “shouldn’t even be in this hemisphere.”
A wardrobe consisting entirely of olive drab, earth tones, and hats with flaps.
The inability to hear a chirp, tweet, or distant screech without snapping to attention like a Cold War spy detecting Morse code.
An emergency fund not for retirement, but for last-minute Ryanair flights to obscure archipelagos because someone on a WhatsApp group typed: "Red-throated pipit at coordinates incoming!"
🐦 Ornithomania vs. Normal Nature-Loving
Genuine nature lovers enjoy birds. They notice them while hiking, they might even own a field guide. But they also enjoy trees, weather, and occasionally the company of other humans.
Ornithomaniacs, on the other hand, could spot a Siberian rubythroat in the middle of a wedding, shout “LIFER!” and sprint for their scope, leaving behind confused relatives and one very lonely wedding cake.
They speak in cryptic, cult-like language:
“Got the scoter ticked at Staines, dipped on the bluethroat, but I’m staking the hide for that mega shrike.”
Translation? Who knows. It could be a spell. Or a cry for help.
📸 The Telltale Twitch
Behold the "twitcher", camera lens the size of a medieval cannon, parked in a lay-by, whispering to no one:
"If that bloody ruddy turnstone doesn’t reappear by dusk, I swear I’ll lose it."
The ornithomaniac’s greatest enemy? Other ornithomaniacs. The competition is fierce. There are lists. Rankings. Records. Some have seen 600 species in Britain alone and will let you know this unprompted. Often loudly. In the queue at Tesco.
🐤 Rehabilitation?
There is no cure. Only containment.
I'm the great Hugh Harrop. I've got the money and the influence to do what I like. See my massive weapon? I can be really intimidating with this - get out of my way.
I'll poke this right at you if you don't move - and my friend will help me. He's got a big one too, but it's not as big as mine. His just dangles, but mine stands up.
I've got this drone. I can fly it anywhere I like. I don't have to take any notice of regulations.
Here I am at Boddam on 17 April 2025.
I can fly it over houses, or right down low to flush out wildlife for photographs.
I don't have to take any notice of the regulations for flying drones. I'm Hugh Harrop.
The CAA Drone and Model Aircraft Code:
6. Keep at least 150m away from residential, recreational, commercial and industrial sites.
8. Animals and wildlife: Do not fly where you’ll disturb or endanger animals and wildlife.
Hi, I'm James Rogerson. I'm a tour guide with Shetland Nature. I've got a cheery smile as I go about my business at Boddam.
Hi, I'm Roger Riddington, tour guide for Shetland Nature. Thinking about what I can do at Boddam today makes me smile.
Hi, I'm Simon Allan. Here I come with my all-terrain buggy. I love the outdoors.
and pinch some logs.
I didn't damage the verge - that was all the others.
Hi, I'm Billy Arthur. I like to leave my car on the Grass at Boddam while I go snorkelling to make money with my award winning pictures. I can go where I like.
This is how I like to park my car.
Boddam's a great place to let my dog loose - maybe flush out some birds or other wildlife.
Hi, I'm Nat Hall. I like to organise parties at Boddam.
We don't know the name of this man, but he let his dog loose on Thursday 17 April 2025, frightening the Purple heron, which flew away.
He lives at Dalsetter Wynd.
Let us know his name, so we can give him a proper entry.
Tagline
We do know the name of this man. He's, an Outdoor Access Officer of Shetland Islands Council, and he wants to remain anonymous.
He was responsible for removing signs at Boddam - aided by the police and is worried about personal bullying.
He obviously does not understand the irony of this in the face of the personal bullying of us by officials who cannot show a shred of evidence of their authority.
Here's our new sign, shortly to go up, together with new signs at every entrance to the Sanctuary.
This man represents an organisation that cannot show any shred of proof of its authority, and which has used every trick in the book to avoid answering Freedom of Information requests.
Explore this site: www.ourfois.com/SIC/ and you will find all the other organisations, from the UK government downwards, who are unable to show how Shetland is part of Scotland - they all admit they do not have the information.
He is just the same as all the other bullies on this site, exercising authority they do not have. Unless they can provide proof, they have no more authority than any man in the street and operate at their own personal liability.
Twitcher mating call.
Rogues Gallery (Click any one to enlarge)
Here are some that simply refused to come off the land. If you know their names , just let us know.
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