Twitter? this page is as close as I get...
Birding has encouraged me to the coast on cold winter mornings, through woods, fresh with the greens of spring, and across grassland and heath alive with stridulation... In short, birds have, and continue to provide me with hours of pleasure. I enjoy the challenge of identification, and the satisfaction of a positive ID from just a snatch of song, or glimpse of 'jizz'. There is always the chance that one might see something unusual, or something common doing something unusual. Why shouldn't a bird brighten, or even make your day?
My birding has not always been informal. I have been employed by the Game Conservancy Trust as a research assistant at Loddington on the Allerton Project (GCT Allerton Project enewsletter) and since 2000 I have annually surveyed for the RSPB's Volunteer and Farmer Alliance programme.
I've never really been into cobbling together lists and in the UK I am happy to just watch our native birds rather than trek to see a rarity blown off course. However, I have had the good fortune to get the binoculars into action in Africa, Asia and North America and I admit to making a bit of a India bird list, with observations from Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Black-crowned night heron, Kashmir.
In 2008 I was lucky enough to
spend some time in the Cariboo region of B.C., Canada. I
owe a lot of my bird exposure there to Phil, Sandy and
Kris, Williams Lake’s esteemed Sunday birding ‘club’.
Getting up to speed with identifying a raft of unfamiliar
species wasn’t too difficult; new world warblers providing
the greatest challenge. I spent many hours at Scout Island,
the local nature sanctuary and HQ for Williams Lake Field
Naturalists, but my most productive and
enjoyable classroom was a seat in the sunday birding
car. Birdwatching Canadian style was more like a safari,
driving out to the beautiful Mission Road, or down to
Alkali, or up to Becher’s Prairie and on to the Farwell
Road. I have fond memories of cool mornings listening to
sandhill cranes and colder mornings counting trumpeter
and tundra swans. Click here for my Cariboo list.
Boreal Owl, Williams Lake (Christmas Birdcount, 2008)