Bird watchers are tense, competitive, selfish, shifty, dishonest, distrusting, boorish, pedantic, unsentimental, arrogant and - above all - envious.

And I agree. We went with the local birder group to Gibraltar Point, on the Wash, yesterday. Great place, hides positioned perfectly and some great sightings. Never, in my life had I seen so many Little Egrets. Got my first views of Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Curlew Sandpiper and best ever views of Snipe. Fantastic viewing and as I say, a great place.

If it wasn't for certain members of the birding brigade. We left the first hide, and were heading to the next when a diminutive blue butterfly flitted past us. It then landed about 4 feet away. Brilliant. My partner reached into her camera bag to pass me her camera (I always have the 500mm for bird trips, she has a 300mm, but with decent macro facilities!). I bend down, pointing my lens at the butterfly. Focus whirs and I hear a noise. Four birders leaving the hide head our way. There's plenty of room behind me on the path. No problem. Except two of the selfish bleeders decide to stomp in front of me and the lens, almost treading on the butterfly. Of course, when I look up, it's gone. Never to be seen again.

It could have been a Holly Blue, and quite common. It could also have been the considerably rare Small Blue. We'll never know, because some arrogant toerags who only care about their bird lists, did not have the common decency to pass behind me on the path. I felt like shoving their spotting scopes where the sun doesn't shine, but I didn't. I'd like to think I'm above that.

For the two that spoiled that moment for me, let me wish you the sighting of a lifetime, a bird never before spotted on British soil. And I hope that before you can identify it, you trip over your tripod and end up covered in cow dung....