The October island seasons that function as annual residencies, the August birding fair as the community's single trade gathering, and the international festival circuit. A twitch as a noun and a verb, a tick, a lifer, dipping and having dipped, being gripped off, the pager, a stringer, jizz, LBJ, the patch, a big year, a crippler.

Midsummer and midwinter are quiet for rarities, though winter has its own wildfowl and gull traffic and a dedicated following. Autumn migration produces the vagrants that generate twitches, and the island outposts fill with birders for a month.

April and May carry the spring migration peak. Island accommodation for the October season is booked a year ahead by the same people annually.

A twitch is decided in an hour, and the logistics are a car, a ferry, or a chartered light aircraft, arranged the same day. The second clock is where the companion earns its existence.