Young Birders

THE NEXT 

GENERATION 

blickwinkel / Alamy 

MEET THE YOUNG BIRDERS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

THE NEXT GENERATION 

Living the dream 

Think making a career of watching birds in a uniquely remote location is an 

impossible dream? Young naturalist Nicola Boulton has done just that… 

BY NICOLA BOULTON 

Nicola Boulton is a 27-year-old 

zoo biologist, and works as a 

wildlife guide and 

photographer on the western 

coast of Scotland. 

Follow her on Facebook: 

Nicola Boulton Photography 

FROM A VERY young age, I was lucky enough to know what I 

wanted to do with my life... see the world and all the awesome 

wildlife it had to offer. After graduation with a degree in Zoo 

Biology four years ago, I decided the best way to do that would 

be to pursue a career in wildlife tourism. Guiding is not only a 

great way to see wildlife yourself, but it works as a fantastic 

platform to educate others. It gives me an opportunity to 

permanently extend my education, learn as much as I can about 

an ecosystem, then regurgitate it to whoever is willing to listen. 

Growing up in the countryside, surrounded by 

farming and conservation land, meant that birds 

were in no short supply, so, as you can imagine, 

birding came fairly naturally to me. During my 

degree, I remember writing an assignment on the 

reintroduction of the UK’s largest bird of prey, 

the White-tailed Eagle, something I felt very 

passionate about. 

Looking at the map of its territory on Scotland’s 

west coast, some 480 miles away from me in 

Nottingham, I felt disheartened and that I might 

not ever see one. But after months of applying for 

work, I finally got a phone call for my dream job, 

working as a wildlife guide on boats just south 

of Oban. 

“Can you be here in 10 days?” the owner of the 

12 February 2016

ONE TO WATCH... 

ALEX RHODES, 19 

BW: What first got you 

interested in birds and 

wildlife? 

AR: I’m confident that my 

parents’ decision to move out 

of the city when I was just a year old led to my love 

for the great outdoors. Pinpointing my interest for 

birds is more difficult. It may have been as simple as 

picking up a book and thinking “hey these look far 

more interesting” than, say, a bunch of plants, but 

you also need to consider as a kid, with a short 

attention span, the fact birds are so visible and easy 

to encounter meant they were more captivating 

than any other creature. 

BW: Which bird surveys/conservation projects 

are you involved in? 

AR: I am a C-permit bird ringer under the BTO and 

send in sightings via the BirdTrack app. I’m 

passionate about communicating the natural world 

through the use of media, such as film and 

photography, and am currently working on a project 

looking at this very subject; young naturalists. 

Could your passion for birds lead to a career that 

takes you to places such as St Kilda? 

St Kilda has one of 

the world’s largest 

Gannet colonies 

Nicola Boulton 


BW: What has been your most memorable 

birding moment? 

AR: During my gap year, I was 

employed as assistant warden at 

Falsterbo Bird Observatory, 

Sweden, during autumn migration. I’d 

heard about the site’s historic migration counts of 

hundreds of thousands of raptors, and even read 

about records of more than a million Chaffinches in 

a day. But I was not expecting to see the mass 

migration – yes, migration – of Blue Tits. Flocks of 

them, reminiscent of a swarm of locusts, all uttering 

their pe-pee-ing calls in a cacophony, like something 

out of The Birds. There were days we’d have the 

mist-nets open from 6am and not stop ringing 

1st-year females until dusk! 

BW: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give 

to other young birders? 

AR: Get a T-permit and learn to ring birds! Not only 

will you gain the satisfaction that you are providing 

valuable scientific data, but you’ll start to notice 

subtle features in birds that never would have caught 

your eye-previously. Not only that, but you will 

experience a whole new level of mentorship from 

your trainer/ringing group members. 


Nicola now guides groups 

of birders on boat trips 

BW: If you could make one change to the UK’s 

environmental policies, what would it be? 

AR: The Common Agricultural Policy, or CAP. The 

whole system needs an overhaul and simplification 

with more focus on its conservation elements than 

the current watered-down, blanket subsidies, which 

have very little benefit for our wildlife. 

@Alex_RhodesUK 

birdwatching.co.uk 13


company asked. I just about dropped the phone. 

Two weeks later I was on the boats exploring some 

of the most inaccessible places in Scotland. 

Watching as an adult female White-tailed Eagle 

blackened the sky over my head for the first time 

was a moment I will never forget, and I knew I’d 

made the right choice. 

In the years that followed, I found out just how 

much Scotland has to offer in terms of birding 

potential, but I realise I’m probably preaching to 

the converted. But there’s one place that I’ve been 

working at for the past two years that is a little 

different. 

This place is a bird paradise. It contains 

north-west Europe’s largest seabird colony, and I’m 

proud to say we have it right here in the UK. But it 

comes at a cost; it’s 100 miles out into the middle 

of the Atlantic Ocean. If you know your islands 

well then you will know straight away where I’m 

talking about – the volcanic archipelago of 

St Kilda, in the Outer Hebrides. 

It’s the UK’s only dual World Heritage site, 

putting it in the same category as Machu Picchu. It 

has the UK’s highest sea cliffs and largest sea 

stacks, but fewer than 5,000 people land on the 

island each year, making it a prime spot for 

birding (the last permanent residents were 

evacuated back in 1930). It’s also a designated 

Special Protection Area, National Nature Reserve, 

Site of Special Scientific Interest, and Special Area 

of Conservation! 

But hey, let’s get down to the cold, hard facts; 

what birds can you hope to see there? Well, if 

seeing over a million seabirds dotted across a 

landscape that looks like it’s come from the lost 

world isn’t enough to excite you, then some of the 

rarer species certainly will. 

First, let’s consider the breeding colonies, 

St Kilda has the UK’s largest colony of Puffins, 

with round about 155,000 pairs, one of the largest 

gannetries in the world, at 50,050 pairs, 94% of 

GB’s Leach’s Storm Petrels at 45,000 pairs, 5,000 

pairs of Manx Shearwaters, nearly 63,000 pairs of 

Fulmars, plus Great Skua, Arctic Skua, Snipe, 

Wheatear, and of course the St Kilda Wren. 

This wee bird is one you’ll definitely be wanting 

to tick off on your life list. The best way to find it 

is to walk through the old, abandoned village and 

listen for its unique song. The bird itself is a third 

larger than the mainland Wren, and its song is, 

too, to compete with the nearby by sound of 

crashing waves! Searching for this LBJ around the 

ruins of an ancient settlement is in itself a rare 

birding experience not to be missed. 

Some of the rarer finds on the islands include 

American Herring Gull, Bonaparte’s Gull, 

Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, White-tailed Eagle, 

Waxwing, Night Heron, Purple Heron, Surf Scoter, 

Bluethroat, Subalpine Warbler, Laughing Gull, 

Green-winged Teal, Yellow-browed Warbler, Hen 

Harrier, Baird’s Sandpiper, Buff-bellied Pipit, 

Buff-bellied Sandpiper, Common Rosefinch, 

Red-backed Shrike, Trumpeter Finch, American 

Wigeon, and Red-necked Phalarope. Chatting to 

the local seabird warden, Gina Prior, she reminded 

me that rare birds on the islands are often facing 

Watching as an adult female 

White-tailed Eagle blackened 

the sky over my head for the first 

time was a moment I will never 

forget, and I knew I’d made the 

right choice 

Jules Cox / FLPA 

14 February 2016

STEVE LINDRIDGE / Alamy 

their impending doom, as they’ve usually been 

blown off course and have been left in a weakened 

state. 

Although the bird colonies and rarer finds are 

enough to whet the appetite of any birder, 

we mustn’t forget the likes of other wildlife that 

can be seen, too. Sightings of huge pods of 

Common Dolphin are a frequent encounter for us 

coming through the Little Minch, and Minke 

Whale, too. Basking Sharks also love to feed on the 

plankton bloom around the islands, and if you’re 

really lucky you may be graced with a rare sighting 

of Orcas! 

Whatever takes your fancy, St Kilda is no longer 

an unobtainable birders’ dream. Go To St Kilda 

(gotostkilda.co.uk) travels there from the Isle of 

Skye, and with the bridge from Skye to the 

mainland, it’s easier than ever to visit this unique, 

other-worldly location. I’m glad I did. 

é IMPORTANT 

St Kilda is a vital site for many of our 

amazing seabirds, including... 

é PUFFIN 

There are more of these charming 

characters on St Kilda than 

anywhere else in the UK 

KEY BIRD 

White-tailed Eagle was the bird 

that really kicked everything off 

for Nicola 

ê RUGGED 

It’s no wonder the virtually 

untouched St Kilda is home to so 

many birds 


ELLIS LUCAS, 12 


interested in birds and wildlife? 

EL: Going out with my parents to 

the countryside/coast. I was 

absolutely amazed at the variety 

of wildlife we came across. 



EL: The Nest Record Scheme, bird ringing, Garden 

Birdwatch and the Breeding Bird Survey. I also help 

my Dad with a heronry census. 

BW: What was your most memorable birding 

moment? 

EL: After a year or so of having a very keen interest in 

birds, a flock of Waxwings took up residence on a 

Rowan tree right outside my house. The excitement 

of returning home from school and seeing them 

flocking on my doorstep was so exciting. 

BW: What would be the one piece of advice 

you’d give to other young birders? 

EL: Just enjoy it, and don’t be afraid to have different 

interests. 

Camillo Berenos / Alamy 



EL: To make environmental issues compulsory in 

schools, to help current and future generations 

understand the problems we face. 

@ellisethanfox and elliswildlife.blogspot.com 



Stand up and b 

Young birdwatchers are already playing a huge part in tackling the many threats facing the 

BY IEUAN EVANS 

nat 

DEVELOPING A PASSION for birdwatching at an early age is a great start, but 

how do you go about broadening and deepening your knowledge, meeting 

like-minded young people, and contributing to preserving the natural world in 

the face of multiple threats, all without breaking the bank or taking up every 

waking minute? Getting involved in the varied work of the British Trust for 

Ornithology (BTO) and other conservation organisations can help you to do all 

of that, and much more – read on for some brilliant ideas on how to improve 

your birdwatching, enjoy the best of Britain’s wildlife and landscapes, all while 

making a real difference to the natural world around us. 

BIRD RINGING 

Learning to ring birds (or band them, as US 

birders would say) is a fantastic way to develop 

your birding skills. 

By regularly handling and studying birds in the 

hand, you’ll not only learn to distinguish between 

different species, but also to age and sex birds of 

the same species. The information provided by the 

recovery of ringed birds can help track regular 

migration routes or more irregular bad weather 

movements, establish the life spans of wild birds, 

and indicate population trends. 

Get a feel for what ringing involves by attending 

a ringing demonstration or a ‘learning to ring’ 

training course – bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ 

ringing/ringing-scheme 

Herring Gull 

Arterra Picture Library / Alamy 

Great Tit 

being ringed 

BTO David Chapman/ Almay 

6 February 2016

e counted! 

he 

natural world – could you join them and help ensure Britain’s birds have a brighter future? 

BIRDTRACK 

Keep a record of whatever you see, wherever you are – not only will you be 

contributing to conservation, but you can also keep track of your own 

records. 

Just sign up at the BirdTrack website (app.bto.org/birdtrack/main/datahome.jsp) 

and start adding records. 

You can easily access these at a later date. If you wanted to check which 

species you saw at your local gravel pits on 5 February 2015, with a view to 

repeating a particularly memorable sighting, for 

example, it’s all there. There are also statistics and 

graphs on national trends, allowing you to 

predict when and where hard-to-find species 

might turn up, and there’s also a great 

BirdTrack app, 

allowing you to 

record sightings 

in the field. 

Kestrel 

UNIVERSITY 

BIRDWATCH 

CHALLENGE 

If you’re a student, get your university 

to take part in the University 

Birdwatch Challenge (afocusonnature. 

org/projects/university-birdwatch). 

There’s one team per university, but no 

limit to the number of people in each 

team, and you compete to collect bird 

records from university-owned land. 

It’s a great way to improve your ID 

skills while also contributing to 

conservation. 

Tom Bailey 

ONE TO WATCH 

TOBY CARTER, 14 



AR: When my grandparents took 

me to RSPB Titchwell Marsh for 

the first time and I saw all the birds 

close up – my favourite was the Oystercatcher. 



I’m involved in a few of the BTO’s surveys; Nest 

Record Scheme (NRS), Ringing Scheme – in which 

I’m part of Rutland Water Ringing Group (RWRG) 

and the Humber Wader Ringing Group (HWRG), in 

which we colour ring Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank 

and Curlew. I also enter my bird sightings onto 

Birdtrack and my local birding club, which is 

Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society 

(LROS), plus my dad and I have started a House 

Martin survey which links in with the BTO’s study on 

them, where we are looking at the whole nesting 

stage and ringing the birds to track if the same birds 

use the same nest each year. 



AR: Well, my most memorable birding moment 

expands over a period of a week. Back in October, 

for the first time I went to Scilly with my family, it was 

a brilliant experience, having 14 lifers while I was there, 

highlights being, Hudsonian Whimbrel, Blyth’s Pipit, 

Red-flanked Bluetail and finding my own Ortolan 

Bunting. 



AR: Just get outside and open your eyes and ears, 

and not to be afraid to admit to others that you’re a 

birder. 



AR: Make outdoor learning part of the national 

curriculum, so pupils can learn about everything 

around them. Instead of sitting down, playing their 

PlayStations, they are getting out and exploring the 

world outside their front door. 



Nuthatch 

BTO 

NEST RECORDING 

Until 30 or so years ago, pretty much any young 

birdwatcher would have been familiar with the 

nests and eggs of most common British birds. 

The reason, of course, was that many of them 

grew up collecting birds’ eggs. Birdwatching 

luminaries such as Bill Oddie have talked about 

how that activity, above all else, taught them all 

the basics of birding and fieldcraft. 

These days, egg collecting is a no-no – taking 

them from the wild was made illegal in 1954, but 

since 1982, it has also been illegal to simply 

possess the egg of any British wild bird. 

But finding and recording nests remains 

important for scientific study, especially in 

tracking the breeding success or failure of 

declining or threatened species. 

Only 87 Mistle Thrush nests 

were recorded in 2014, only 23 Jay 

nests and less than 20 Little Egret 

nests, so whatever contribution 

you make to nest recording, it will 

be a valuable one! 

It’s a fantastic activity that many birders never 

consider, yet it’s a challenge that can be enjoyed 

by everyone. 

From the simple task of monitoring a Blue Tit 

nestbox in your garden, to the thrills of finding a 

Nightjar nest camouflaged on the forest floor, nest 

recording is rewarding and makes a really 

valuable contribution to bird conservation. 

More than 230 species have been recorded for 

the BTO’s nest record scheme over the years, 

ranging from Goldcrests to Golden Eagles, but 

there’s always scope for a lot more, with some 

relatively common and widespread species badly 

underepresented. 

For example, only 87 Mistle Thrush nests 

were recorded in 2014, only 23 Jay nests and 

fewer than 20 Little Egret nests, so whatever 

contribution you make to nest recording, it will be 

a valuable one! 

Before you start, make sure you have read the 

BTO’s Code of Conduct for Nest Recorders at 

bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nrs/coc 

Next, download the ‘Nest Record Scheme Quick 

Start Guide’, which provides a simple introduction 

and a registration card so you can become an 

official nest recorder. 

The next step is to find a nest. It’s great to start 

practising on easier nests, such as those you may 

have in your garden or local park. 

Blue Tits may not be the most exciting species 

in the world, but monitoring their nests can be 

fascinating and it provides good training on what 

to record. 

The BTO’s book “A Fieldguide to Monitoring 

Nests” is an excellent guide which can help you 

learn how to tell the nests and eggs of different 

species apart. Patience is a key part of nest 

recording, so take your time and enjoy all the 

nests you find, even the common ones – after all, 

not many other people will have taken the time to 

notice even a House Sparrow nest! 

Once you’ve had a go at recording a few easier 

nests, you can begin to wander further afield and 

search in more challenging terrain. At this stage, 

it would be great if you could either attend one of 

BTO’s nest recording courses or hook up with a 

nest record scheme mentor. 

Nest Record Scheme (NRS) Mentors are 

experienced nest recorders who are available to be 

contacted for advice and training. 

Be warned, though – nest recording is highly 

addictive and if you get hooked you’ll soon be on 

the lookout for nests everywhere you go! 

Please bear in mind that mentors are 

volunteers themselves, so their availability may be 

limited. To find a mentor visit bto.org/volunteersurveys/nrs/taking-part/nrs-mentoring. 

Essential reading for 

nest recorders 

8 February 2016

VISIT A BIRD OBSERVATORY 

Situated in many of the best birdwatching locations in the British Isles, bird 

observatories are excellent places to visit – during peak migration periods, 

in particular, the sheer number of species and individual birds that you’ll 

see can be staggering, while at all times they’re good places to see rarer 

birds, both because they tend to be at good locations for vagrants making 

landfall, and because they’re well-watched by good birders. 

It’s also possible to stay at them cheaply, offering what can be unique 

opportunities to spend extended periods of time in a bird-rich environment, 

honing your skills while gaining valuable experience of volunteering. 

There are observatories at Bardsey, Gwynedd; Calf of Man, Isle of Man; 

Cape Clear, County Cork, Ireland; Copeland, County Down; Dungeness, 

Kent; Fair Isle; Filey, North Yorkshire; Flamborough, East Yorkshire; 

Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire; Hilbre, Merseyside; Isle of May, Fife; 

Landguard, Suffolk; North Ronaldsay, Orkney; Portland Bill, Dorset; Sanda, 

Argyll and Bute; Sandwich Bay, Kent; Skokholm, Pembrokeshire; Spurn, 

East Yorkshire; and Walney, Cumbria. 

Even better, every year, the BTO provides a number of grants of up to 

£200, to support 

young people 

looking to visit one 

of the accredited 

British and Irish 

Bird Observatories. 

Applications 

open in February: 

bto.org/volunteersurveys/takingpart/young-birdobs-volunteer-fund 

Dungeness 

ONE TO WATCH 

MATT WILLIAMS, 29 



MW: One of my first memories is 

from a family holiday in Poole, 

Dorset. As a treat, my brother and 

I would get taken to Burger King. As we exited the car 

park, I looked up and saw a flock of birds on the roof 

of the restaurant. Their feathers glistened purple and 

green in the sunset light and they were whirring and 

clicking like mechanical toys. Then, as if with a 

collective mind, they fell silent and all took off at once. 

Those Starlings forged an early connection with 

nature. And it was thanks to my parents and 

grandparents fostering that interest that it really took 

flight. They bought me a youth RSPB membership, 

bird guides and binoculars and took me on trips to 

places like Brownsea Island where I saw a Little Egret 

in the days when it was still a rarity. 



MW: Well, I work for the RSPB on climate change 

and energy policy as my day job. I’m also the 

Associate Director of A Focus on Nature, the youth 

nature network in the UK. So, I suppose through that 

I’m focused more on the people end of things: 

engaging young people in nature, helping those are 

engaged to connect with each other and forge 

careers in conservation, and building a youth nature 

movement – these are all crucial for securing nature’s 

future. I do the odd bit of writing, and there are a 

couple of projects I’m looking to kick off this year. I 

hope that one will focus on diversity in conservation. 



MW: I’m not sure anything beats a Starling 

murmuration for me. And watching millions of 

Starlings pour into reedbeds in Somerset, Otter cubs 

play in the water in front of me, a Peregrine have a go 

at them, with Great White Egrets flying past and 

being surrounded by great friends... that’s unbeatable. 



MW: Try your hand at everything. Even if you don’t 

think you’ll be good, have a go. And if you need to, 

ask for help, whether you need advice, equipment, or 

support. There are plenty of young people like myself 

happy to offer their pearls of wisdom. 

Portland 



MW: I’d like to see long-term change to the way we 

interact with nature. So I’d want outdoor time and 

learning about nature far more embedded into the 

national curriculums, particularly for teenagers – the 

age when we so often lose touch with nature. I’d also 

like to see London made a city national park, followed 

by nine more city national parks across the UK. 


Shelducks 


David Tipling / Almay 

THINK 500 YEARS AHEAD 

In September last year, I was invited to speak to a group of MPs 

at the RSPB Summer Reception held in Westminster. The 

theme of my talk was putting nature at the heart of every 

decision and asking the politicians to think 500 years ahead and 

not just a political term of five years. 

But it’s not just the politicians that need to think like this, we all 

do. It’s clear that our wildlife needs help. It’s clear that it isn’t 

enough just to care. It’s clear that we all need to work much harder to change things. 

So what is important? This question gets me thinking all the time, and no more so 

than recently while out birding off the Mersey Estuary. We were watching a flock of 

more than a thousand Teal bobbing about. Mixed in with them was a Green-winged 

Teal, a scare visitor to the UK from North America and a stunning bird. But for all the 

people that came to see the scarce visitor, which is more important; the thousand or 

so Teal or the single Green-winged Teal? 

As a teenager, passionate about birds and conservation, I worry about what the 

world will look like in the future. I see the natural world slowly diminishing in front of 

our eyes and I feel more and more the need to speak out about it. 

In 2014, the WWF published a report stating that Earth has lost more than 50% of 

its wildlife in the last 40 years, so move forward another 40 and what will be left? 

How many more species of insect, bird, you name it, will I see disappear off the 

face of this earth in my lifetime? British wildlife is getting more and more vulnerable 

to the modern world and its apparent needs, and there are lots of cases to prove this. 

For example, the 2012 B-Line report states that since the 1930s, Britain has lost more 

than 97% of its wildflower rich grassland. This obviously impacts our insect 

populations, and to the scale that if something isn’t done we could lose anywhere 

from 40-70% of British insect species. Some 76% of UK Butterflies are already in 

decline. What then happens to the birds that feed on a range of insect species? You 

can’t just remove part of a food chain without then seeing damage spread out across 

that ecosystem. 

We are a small, developed country with many environmental issues to tackle, so 

why aren’t we all tackling them? Why are more and more species falling onto the Red 

List? Why are we not taking responsibility for our natural world? 

Getting people and businesses to listen is challenging but it can be done. I 

managed to engage and persuade Ecotricity last year to get involved with 

funding satellite tagging for Hen Harriers, after I told them about 

their plight. They really wanted to help and are now partnering the 

RSPB. 

So, I urge you to have a long, long think about all living species, 

and think 500 years ahead. Don’t just talk about the issues among 

yourselves, either, get shouting about it to organisations, MPs and 

let’s have some deafening joint action that can’t be ignored. 

Findlay Wilde, 13 

10 February 2016 

David Tipling / Almay 

TAKE PART IN THE WETLAND BIRD 

SURVEY (WEBS). 

This involves visiting a local wetland site once a 

month throughout the winter and counting the 

waterfowl there – anyone can take part, even 

beginners to birdwatching. 

Unlike many bird surveys, to carry out WeBS 

Counts, you don’t have to know bird songs or 

calls, just the ability to identify common 

waterbirds, so if you already know your ducks, 

geese and swans, but would like to get to know 

them even better, this is for you! 

VOLUNTEER ON A RESERVE 

There’s no better way to improve as a naturalist 

than to get outside with your local wildlife. Most 

nature reserves, whether they’re run by the RSPB, 

WWT, Wildlife Trusts or small local groups, are 

always in desperate need of help. 

Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in – even 

when the work involved is of the rather 

unglamorous sort (clearing drainage ditches, or 

thinning out scrub, for example), you’ll be doing 

the one absolutely essential thing 

for every successful birdwatcher – 

spending time in the field.

Nightingale 

TAKE PART IN ANY 

BTO SURVEY 

It’s not just wetland birds, 

either! Take a look at 

bto.org/volunteer-surveys, and 

you’ll see that the BTO runs 

a wide variety of core 

surveys, including some of 

those mentioned already, 

plus others focusing on 

species as disparate as House 

Martin, Peregrine, 

Nightingale and Woodcock. 

It could be the start of an 

obsession for you. 

JOIN A NATURE NETWORK 

A Focus On Nature (AFON) is a network for young conservationists in the 

UK. As well as putting like-minded young naturalists in touch with each 

other, giving them the opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences, it 

offers mentoring from professional conservationists and help with getting 

started in a career in the sector. But it’s also open to absolutely anyone aged 

between 16-30, with an interest in and passion for the natural world – there 

are projects to get involved with (plus funding help for youngsters running 

their own projects, and prizes on offer, including optical equipment). The 

emphasis is on a holistic approach to nature and conservation, and including 

imaginative as well as scientific approaches to the subjects. 

You can find out more, and apply to join, at afocusonnature.org 

Next Generation Birders is a partner organization of AFON, and as the 

name suggests, focuses more exclusively on birding – again members are 

encouraged both to get involved with bird recording and other projects. 

You can find out more at nextgenerationbirders.blogspot.co.uk, at the 

group’s Facebook page, or through @NGBirders 

JOIN THE BTO AS A ‘YOUNG BIRDER’ MEMBER 

If you’re a really young birder (aged 11-18), you can join the BTO as a 

Young Birder member, for just £12 a year – you’ll get all the advantages 

of full membership. There are also joint membership deals available, for 

multiple members of the same family. 

Find out more at bto.org/support-us/join 

Lisa Geoghegan / Alamy 

ONE TO WATCH 

JOSIE HEWITT, 17 



JH: I have had an interest in the 

natural world for as long as I can 

remember, but as I’ve got older 

this vague interest has turned into a passion that I 

hope to turn into my career one day. 



JH: I started bird ringing in 2011, having been 

captivated by a ringing demonstration at Birdfair that 

August. I now have my C-permit and carry out 

ringing in my local area where the data I collect helps 

the landowners know whether their habitat 

management is working effectively. Last year, I also 

started nest recording – I’m not very good at it, as I 

only managed to find a couple of nests, but I hope to 

learn more and develop my skills in the spring when 

the breeding season kicks off again. As well as this, I 

am also a member of the Next Generation Birders 

(I’m Vice-chair) and A Focus on Nature. 



JH: My most memorable birding moment is one that 

I am lucky enough to get to repeat each summer. I 

live really close to lots of heathland, so, in my opinion, 

there is nothing better than heading up to the heaths 

on a warm summer’s evening to listen to the Nightjars 

churring as dusk falls. It is such an incredible 

experience and if you’re really lucky, you might see or 

hear a Woodcock, as well. 



JH: If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from talking to 

other young birders/nature enthusiasts it is that nature 

isn’t ‘cool’. And while this stigma may mean you get 

teased or even feel the need to hide it from your 

friends and peers, don’t. Please don’t. Instead, 

embrace it and be proud to have an interest that is as 

diverse as you want it to be and that you can take with 

you wherever you go and into whatever career you 

end up in. Maybe even try and show people at school 

what you find so interesting, whether it be birds, 

moths, mammals or insects and tell them some facts 

about it and you never know, you might just inspire 

them to take a bit more of an interest in nature. 



JH: Now that’s a tricky one, because there’s so much 

that could be changed in order to make things better! 

However, although it’s not strictly an environmental 

policy, I would revise the national curriculum to ensure 

that caring for the environment, and understanding 

its importance to our day-to-day lives, became an 

integral part of teaching for all age groups. 


Going back to h 


At the age of 24, photographer Luke Massey has accomplished a lot, but a trip to France took 

BY LUKE MASSEY 

him 

BEING A WILDLIFE photographer and cameraman is 

awesome. In my opinion, it is the best job in the world. 

Every time I meet up with old schoolmates or meet new 

people, they tell me how cool and amazing my job is. Apart 

from carrying a camera, and filming and taking photos of 

animals, there’s no difference between me and any other 

bird/nature watcher, yet a lot of the same people who tell me 

how cool my job is, will probably laugh at and ridicule 

regular birdwatchers. 

I recently spent a week in the south of France in 

a small town called Capestang. It sits on the edge 

of a vast expanse of reedbeds and pools. These 

pools seem to be magnets for birds. I saw White 

Storks, Bitterns, Great White Egrets, Shelducks, 

Marsh Harriers, Snipe, Penduline Tits and 

countless other feathered beings, as well as a few 

Wild Boar and Coypu to correct the mammalian 

balance. 

That week transported me back 10 years. The 

reason being, although those pools were fantastic, 

I struggled to photograph much. Surrounded by 

reedbeds, it was hard to approach them without 

flushing every living thing in sight. With more 

time, I’d have set up a few hides and hopefully 

That week in France 

reconnected me with what started 

it all off for me. Yes, when I take 

photos and film I still avidly watch 

animal behaviour and spot as 

many species as possible, but 

when forced to forget the camera, 

I took everything for what it is 

Great Crested Grebe 

Luke Massey 

reaped the rewards, but in the end I just enjoyed 

exploring and seeing what I could find. 

Alongside that, I was carless, with just a bicycle 

for transport. Before I even picked up a camera 

back home I’d spend most of my spare time on my 

bike, cycling to the local wildlife hotspots with my 

binoculars to see what I could find. No photos 

would be taken, but I am sure if my mates had 

known, I would have had the ‘geek’, ‘nerd’ and 

‘twitcher’ comments thrown at me quite readily. 

That week in France reconnected me with what 

started it all off for me. Yes, when I take photos 

and film I still avidly watch animal behaviour and 

spot as many species as possible, but when forced 

to forget the camera, I simply took everything for 

what it was. 

I turned off the part of my brain that tells me 

that the distant Black-winged Stilt is too far away 

and to keep cycling, and instead I watched it 

intently, elegantly wading through the water, 

dipping its beak in and out. The flock of Penduline 

Tits darting about the tops of the willow in the 

harsh midday light weren’t ignored as being 

unphotographable silhouettes. Instead I watched as 

they hung, completely inverted, snatching at 

whatever was embedded among the catkins, lifting 

off as one and disappearing into the reeds at the 

first sign of danger only to reappear minutes later, 

their soft pinging contact calls echoing around me. 

While I was in France, I tweeted the geekiest 

thing I think I’ve ever tweeted. The trigger was 

one of the best bird moments of 2015 for me, which 

is saying something since I’ve had the pleasure of 

watching an Osprey fishing over a coral reef and 

been feet from a Resplendent Quetzal. 

I’d taken my girlfriend Katie (read her blog at 

naturenibbles.com) down to the marshes to try and 

show her the Wild Boar (I know, what a 

romantic!), and had left her sitting waiting while I 

went and checked another spot. 

For some reason I looked above me, and 30 Black 

Kites were circling, clearly recently arrived from 

further south. The winds had changed and I’d 

2 February 2016

k 

his roots 

TOM 

him back to his youth – and reminded him birds are cool 

Luke Massey 


MASON, 22 



TM: I first became interested 

after moving house. My family 

and I relocated to a farm in the 

local countryside and suddenly I found myself 

surrounded by nature. I spent hours playing out in the 

fields and woodland around my new home, exploring, 

watching and discovering about my local wildlife and 

this was where I first started to get a keen interest, first 

in nature watching, and then wildlife photography. 



TM: In the past, I have worked photographing all 

kinds of wildlife, from Ptarmigan to Foxes, but 

currently I am focusing on photographing Little Owls 

close to my home in Hertfordshire. Additionally, I 

volunteer my time with the RSPB at my local nature 

reserve Rye Meads, delivering events and 

educational activities for young people, as well as 

guiding walks. 



TM: I was in Finland, photographing bears, but in the 

middle of the night, after all the bears had moved 

back into the woods, I was woken by a strange noise 

on top of the hide I was in. Peering out of the window 

into the gloom I couldn’t see anything until a bird flew 

from the top of our hide into the adjacent tree. On 

inspection through my binoculars it was a Hawk Owl, 

a bird I had wanted to see for many years, just 10 

metres away. A simple, amazing moment with nature. 

BW: What would be the one piece of advice you’d 

give to other young birders? 

TM: Get yourself a mentor. We all need to learn and 

often the best way is to have someone impart their 

knowledge on to us. Working at my local nature 

reserve as a volunteer I have been spoiled by the 

number of wonderful senior volunteers and staff who 

have taken me under their wing and taught me about 

birds, wildlife and conservation. Additionally, being 

part of the A Focus on Nature group (a great 

organisation set up to help young wildlife lovers) has 

put me in contact with other young people who are 

also mad about wildlife. 

Luke Massey 



TM: The biggest one in my mind is to have tighter 

rules around plastics and their sale. Supermarket 

shelves are stacked high with plastics that are rarely 

recyclable and end up as either landfill or worse, in our 

seas. They are causing huge problems for our sea life 

and birdlife, clogging up the oceans and filling the 

stomaches of poor creatures that mistake these 

throwaway items for food. 



already seen a number of flocks of Cranes arriving 

throughout the day. Once I returned to Katie, it 

was clear my attempts at telepathy telling her to 

look up hadn’t worked, when I asked her if she’d 

seen them and she answered no. The ones that got 

away, for now. 

However, just after sunset, I turned around and 

there, floating towards us, was the flock. I got very 

excited, and Katie got to see the Black Kites as 

they drifted past us looking for a spot to roost. 

My tweet? “It’s really geeky. Like, really really 

geeky but... I love migration. Time to get it 

trending? Birds are just so good. #ilovemigration” 

I know, I know. But I couldn’t contain my 

enthusiasm. 

This is where the geek-fest begins. Now, birds 

are already amazing. They come in all shapes and 

sizes, we can see them everywhere, they do 

incredibly different things, from elaborate dancing 

displays to woo a mate, to dramatic plunges into 

water to catch their dinner. Even the fastest 

creature on Earth is a bird. 

But what really amazes me about birds? 

Migration. I just can’t get my head around it. 

We’re luckier now than we’ve ever been. With 

advances in technology we can strap GPS trackers 

to birds and see where they’re going, what they’re 

doing, how they’re getting there and how fast 

they’re doing it. 

Take Bewick’s Swans for example. They spend 

the winter in the west of England, and head back 

of to Russia to breed in the spring. They all leave 

together, but then spread out across Europe. 

And it isn’t just swans on the go. The BTOtracked 

Cuckoo Chris spends his winters in the 

This is where the geek-fest begins. Now, birds are 

already amazing. They come in all shapes and sizes, we 

can see them everywhere, they do incredibly different 

things, from elaborate dancing displays to woo a mate, 

to dramatic plunges into water to catch their dinner. 

Even the fastest creature on Earth is a bird 

Congo (as you do) then heads back to Norfolk to 

breed, as he has done for the past five years. Don’t 

believe me? You can track Chris yourself here: 

bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/ 

cuckoo-tracking/chris 

Cuckoos and swans might be on the move but 

so, too, are Swallows, Woodcocks, Goldcrests 

(which only weigh six grams!), Ospreys and many 

more, either coming to Britain to breed or leaving 

Britain after surviving the winter to breed 

elsewhere. 

Migration is amazing. Imagine, next time you 

want to go on holiday, having to walk all the 

way there. Think of that Goldcrest, weighing the 

same as a 10p coin, battling its way across the 

North Sea. 

Grab some binoculars, and go and try to find a 

Peregrine, terrorising the local pigeon flock. Or, 

even closer to home, watch Coots scrapping it out 

on your local pond, or find some Starlings and be 

mesmerised by their glamorous plumage. But be 

reminded, birds are very, very cool. 

You can see more of Luke’s work at 

lmasseyimages.com 

4 February 2016

Bewick’s Swans 

Greater Flamingo 


OSCAR DEWHURST, 20 



OD: Growing up I always 

showed some interest in nature. 

There are photos of me feeding 

ducks in our local park, poring 

over my dad’s large hardback copy of an AA field 

guide to the birds of Britain, and one of me showing 

my grandma (for about the 1,000th time) my 

favourite photo in a wildlife photography book, which 

depicted a Grizzly Bear about to pluck a Salmon out 

of mid air from a North American river. I have been 

birding and watching wildlife since I was 10; in fact I 

still remember my first outing with a pair of 

binoculars. It was to Chiswick House Park with my 

dad, on Christmas Day 2004. Armed with his old pair 

of 8x25s and a book given to me two days earlier by 

my grandma, we clocked up a fairly paltry total of 16 

species. I was hooked. 

Buiten-Beeld / Alamy 

Starling 

Kevin Elsby FLPA 

Luke Massey 



OD: My photography takes more time now than 

pure birding, but that said, I enter most of my records 

into Birdtrack, and at university in Durham we are in 

University Birdwatch Challenge for the first time, so 

we’ll see how that goes! 



OD: The first morning I spent up a canopy tower in 

the Amazon rainforest, where I was spending two 

months staying at a research station photographing 

wildlife there. The sounds as the forest woke up were 

amazing: Forest Falcons, toucans dueting in the 

canopy, the unmistakable Screaming Pihas and many 

more, all to the background noise of a troop of howler 

monkeys in the distance. Add that to the view of 

almost uninterrupted forest for hundreds of miles in 

nearly all directions, and that’s why it’s my most 

memorable! 

BW: What’s the one piece of advice you’d give to 

other young birders? 

OD: Find a patch! It’s great to be able to follow it as 

the seasons change and you’ll start to notice things 

you wouldn’t otherwise. The thrill of finding your own 

birds is far greater than seeing ones others have 

found, and patching means the most mundane birds 

can be huge rarities! 



OD: I’d love to see a real commitment to tackling 

climate change. Things like reducing support for 

onshore wind and solar power, yet increasing 

subsidies for fossil fuels the UK’s oil and gas don’t fill 

me with hope. Nor does the reduction in incentives to 

buy more environmentally friendly cars and disposal 

of the green homes scheme. 


FP_BIRDWATC_BTOBirdWatid2135533.pgs 17.12.2015 16:52 

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