Earlier this year I noticed that the sparrows that live outside my office window had become especially fat and hilarious – I couldn’t tell you the probable environmental reasons, but they had obviously spent the winter enjoying various snacks, and had all got so round they were bouncing rather than flying from branch to branch and yelling at each other. Every time they appeared for a round or two of bouncing and yelling, I stopped what I was doing to watch them from the window. I brought them up to other people. I got actively annoyed when I saw a total stranger tweeting about the harm they do to agriculture and was ready to kill when I saw an American calling them an invasive species. As I was signing up to take part in the RSPB’s annual garden bird audit (it’s just what it sounds like: you go to the nearest garden and you count the birds), I let myself acknowledge the truth, which is that at some point I had gone from being a regular bird enthusiast to a Bird Guy. Or, if you like, a Bird Bird.
I'm just a casual birder who likes to know more about birds because birds are cool, I took part in a BTO count once for tawny owls and I have only ever seen one in the wild during that time, and it was in Notting Hill, she was beautiful.
I'm just a casual birder who likes to know more about birds because birds are cool, I took part in a BTO count once for tawny owls and I have only ever seen one in the wild during that time, and it was in Notting Hill, she was beautiful.