Birdwatching

***General Background*** ---------------------------------- Confused by the title? Well I am not being clever making up words, but of course i'm talking about our feathered friends. It is probably fair to say that when I was at school some 10 years ago, twitchers (the name for bird watchers) were still viewed in an almost similar regards as train spotters. Yes, you know the types. An quite frankly the lessons when Ornithology (the study of birds) was mentioned, well they were just not taken seriously. Not since finding out that my Grandad enjoyed a rough shag (tobacco) in his pipe, have I laughed so much as in those classes. All to ...  Read the complete review

I must confess until 1996 I never even noticed birds, not really, as to me they were just something in the background, not interesting and certainly something I associated with anorak clad spotters, who would race round the country in search of the elusive rarity that had been spotted moments before. This all changed when I caught an enterovirus related to polio, and having a scary diagnosis of pericarditis, which is where the virus had infected the outer lining of the heart, I was too ill to do anything after being discharged from hospital. Sadly for me this virus is also the most common culprit to cause ME and this is what I ended up with after that. So ...  Read the complete review

*** Types of Birdwatcher *** Birdwatchers fall into two main groups. Some race around the country, burning up lots of fuel which contributes to spoiling the habitat of many of the birds they want to see. Others including myself, usually spend much of their leisure time enjoying the birds in, or near, their own home. *** Information Sources *** There have been many books written on the subject. If you are a beginner or on a tight budget, borrowing books from the library may be the best way for you. Then gradually acquire for yourself the literature that you will have the most long term use for. For ...  Read the complete review

Birdwatching makes for a fantastic hobby, with exactly the same principles behind it as Fancy Car spotting, Plane spotting or Train spotting. It's a little bit different than those though because it gives the hobbiest the chance to learn a little bit more about the natural world around us. A serious birdwatcher is a "twitcher" and many twitchers have lists of every species they have ever watched. By the time a twitcher reaches retirement, these lists often contains hundreds and hundreds of species. Bird watching is not too hard, you simple buy a good bird book to educate you about the species, you get yourself a good pair of binoculars and you get ...  Read the complete review

I am writing this review because I have just found my best ever Easter present - a nest of Robin chicks in my garden! Over the past few years I have had a pair of Robins visit every winter and a few weeks ago I noticed one of them sitting on my fence with some grass in its mouth. Watching from my kitchen window I spent ages trying to find out where it was going, without success. Then the other day I cut my lawn for the first time this year and saw a couple of robins darting backwards and forwards towards a conifer next to the garden wall. I decided this must be where they are nesting so when they flew off I took a peep, expecting to see perhaps the ...  Read the complete review