I have been interested in animals,
wildlife & birds for as long as I can remember, heading away off to
Scotland on holiday each summer since I was wee lad to walk and enjoy the
wildlife. But, I must admit, it’s only
in the past year and a half or so that I feel I’ve really started to progress in my
birding. By that I mean I’ve progressed
in my identification skills, my general bird knowledge and I have started
keeping a life and year list. I have
always been an enthusiastic bird watcher, but I wasn’t a birder. My enthusiasm for birds and everything to do
with them has grown exponentially. Why
the sudden change in my outlook on birds you may ask. Well several factors play a part I
think.
Firstly, I took on a role as intern at
Aigas Field Centre in the Highlands, in August 2012. A small part of this role was helping out the
rangers in guiding and looking for awesome wildlife. As part of this identification skills were
paramount in quickly spotting and putting a name to the things we were seeing. This encouraged me to brush up on species I
had not encountered very often, or at all, and also to broaden my general
knowledge so I could answer any questions our guests may have had.
Secondly, through NGB, I have found a
group of like-minded young people who encourage a love of all things ornithological. In school and college, kids of a similar age thought I was a bit odd for being so interested in birds and even in wildlife
in general. While this is still an
attitude I encounter on a regular basis it’s amazing knowing how many young
birders there are out there. While I
have yet to meet any fellow NGB'ers, the group on Facebook is a fantastic hub
of knowledge and banter!
Finally, I thought I’d include a quick
note on my recent uptake of Birdtrack.
As part of A Focus On Nature’s University BIrdwatch Competition, I
decided to set up a team for Manchester and get to grips with Birdtrack. I can say without a shadow of a doubt using Birdtrack and recording as much as I can is making me a better birder. Where before I might have shrugged off something
I didn't immediately recognise as I was walking to lectures with my music
pumping in my ears I now stop and take a look... and also turn the music off!
In fact I now find it impossible to walk to campus with music on, fearful of
what I may miss singing in the treetops of twittering in the undergrowth. While some may frown upon the fact that it
takes a bit of competition to get me going even more, I don’t see anything
wrong with that. It’s getting me out
more, I’m trying to record everything I see and hear and more importantly I’m
contributing to great citizen science for the BTO (even if it is only my daily
count of the magpies and feral pigeons outside my lecture theatre).
I've rediscovered my love of birds this
past year and a bit, and if I thought I had an obsession before... I don’t what
on earth you call this as now! I have a
lot to learn, particularly identification wise but the challenge is all part of
it, in fact it’s one of the things that make birds so great.
-Harry Martin
Originally from Essex Harry, 21 is now
studying for a BSc in Zoology at the University of Manchester. A long standing
passion for birds, wildlife and photography has seen him jet out to South
Africa, Ecuador and later this year Canada, but always returning to the UK
where all the good stuff really is.
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