The pure joy of bird watching....yeah really ...

To those of you not that 'into' nature, even those that are, bird watching/spotting may seem bit of an older mans hobby that you wouldn't think twice about, I myself was never THAT interested in wild birds until the last year or so. But now I realize I have been missing out and love nothing more than to get my camo gear on, fill my pockets with seed and hide ...even if it is just outside my back door. We had pet Indian runner ducks which i researched before hand, we hatched them ourselves they were amazing pets ! that was about my knowledge on feathered species. Until 2019 my partner bought home a ring necked dove that had flown into his van grill. It became my best friend for 2 weeks, was uninjured but had no interest in leaving! I would walk about with it sitting on my shoulder outside and it would watch the dogs and kids playing in the garden rather than make its escape! Loved to sit on my lap and be hand fed by the kids. So...we decided if my new weird friend was staying it needed a bird friend to talk to. Believe it or not i am not fluent in bird. So off we went and bought a budgie...turns out budgies can be little sh*ts and that we wouldn't be able to put them together. Coincidentally (or not) the dove decided this life was not for him, he didn't want to be a lap or shoulder bird anymore so I found a lovely lady that had loads of doves in her garden that she fed and was happy to help out and that was that...I was once again friendless, yet now had a psycho budgie to care for. We named him Jesse after the undesirable on Breaking Bad, because i imagine if he came back as an animal he would be an annoying budgie that bites and makes an unnecessary amount of noise for fun. (we love him really and yes he has a forever home with us with an open cage). Anyway, after all this i started noticing every bird when i was out and about, because actually, birds are fascinating! I am not quite the definition of a bird twitcher yet, but well on my way so watch this space. If I had more time for travelling I would have been on a mission to find a Puffin by now (on my ever growing list of photography goals). My first bird based photography goal was a Kingfisher , although I had taken photos of the obvious birds locally such as Robins, Swans and Red Kites, I had never even seen a #Kingfisher so it was like the holy grail of bird photos for me. Though I now realize it is a goal for most new wildlife photographers, so although I am ecstatic with my photos I realize unfortunately they are not that unique. But the whole experience was more than just getting a snap of a bird, I had help from a local finding the location and took my dad along , also an avid photographer. I dont get to spend much time with my dad so it was extra special. I learnt to be camera ready even more so than with squirrels. Yep, Kingfishers are even faster. We waited about 40 min and finally heard the kingfisher! (you usually hear them before seeing them) then it swooped down and grabbed a fish...unfortunately we were so excited to see it neither of us got our cameras up in time let alone actually press any buttons ! within 2 seconds it had gone. So we waited another hour with cameras in position ready, arms, legs and bums going numb in position and in the cold....then there was the noise again! this time we were ready, it landed for about a minute or 2 and we could snap away! then it was gone. Happy...but also wanting more...we waited longer to see if wed get lucky again but frozen toes told us to quit while we were able to bend our joints. Then comes another lock down courtesy of corona virus and this time it is winter. Its too cold to drag the kids outside for long walks, so the best I have to take photos of, aka keep my sanity, is garden birds. Snow makes them extra cute, we have an abundance of Blue tits and Robins which are very photogenic (see my Bird section on website for photos). Also even if you are not into taking photos, the kids LOVE counting and identifying birds ! #RSPB are great for guides and kids activities. I have bought a bird book or 7 off amazon too. Some are illustrated, some not, some have juvenile birds too, some dont, some have loads of info some have none, some have just UK breeds, some are worldwide. So my tip in hindsight is have a think what you want before ordering otherwise you will end up being able to stock Waterstones! heres one of the guides i use as it fits in camera bag and pocket. https://amzn.to/3oenSit Even if you have the stroppy kind of pre/teenager at home who are complaining about being stuck home, it could be a fun bonding session that gets their eyes away from screens for a bit to go out and see who can see the most different types of birds. Winner gets a reward of chocolate. Id do pretty much anything for a bar of Galaxy (easily pleased i know). Its also just really relaxing finding a spot in the garden to watch little birds come down and collect sticks for their nests, bugs for their hatchlings, see off birds not in their clique and personally I love that I am slowly learning to recognize a bird by its sound. If you need some entertainment I recommend asking the brilliant staff at your local bird reserve 'what does a jackdaw sound like? ok...what about a crow and a blackbird?' they are happy to help us novice bird watchers learn and are amazingly accurate at bird noises. Few thing make me smile but these people do. Anyway ....any questions feel free to message me ! Excuse the bad phone selfie but thought id show you the Dove I was talking about. happy bird watching!

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