British Bird Observatories and BB
As a young birder growing up in rural Suffolk I dreamed of visiting a bird observatory. The first one I visited was Landguard on the Suffolk coast. I can’t remember what it was I was taken to see but I’m assuming it was a local rarity! At the same time, I started reading an older friends British Birds journal that he passed on to me once he’d finished reading it. In the 70’s rare bird news was hard to come by – no mobile phones and certainly no WhatsApp groups. I used to ring the famous Nancy’s café from a local telephone box and to find out what birds were around but had to rely on older friends with cars to ferry me around. The rare bird section of British Birds was religiously pored over, and it didn’t take long to work out that a lot of the major rarities were being found at Bird Observatories. Places like Fair Isle and Spurn conjured up pictures of autumn days dripping with rare birds. Of course, the reality is much different.
Western Bonelli's Warbler - Dan Gornall - Fair Isle
Birding was a huge part of my life as a teenager and I started training to ring when I was fifteen with the Wicken Fen ringing group. By time I went to Manchester, to take a degree in biology, I was both a fully-fledged ringer and twitcher! Student grants didn’t extend to the luxury of being a British Birds subscriber, but the university library got a copy each month, so I used to sit and read it from cover to cover absorbing the write ups of species new to Britain that seemed to crop up at one or other of the famous UK Bird Observatories. I was at Manchester University that I made my first pilgrimage to stay at an Observatory when we spent a weekend on the east coast at Spurn. From those early days in Suffolk I now find myself a subscriber to British Birds and Secretary of Hilbre Bird Observatory situated on an island off the Wirral peninsula at the mouth of the rivers Mersey and Dee.
British Birds and the UK’s bird Observatories, of which there are now nineteen, have had a long symbiotic relationship. Many assistant wardens got their first chance to visit an Observatory through the British Birds Charitable Trust grant scheme where young birders can apply for funding to visit a Bird Observatory or bird camp. Bird Observatories have also benefited directly from the trust through applying for grants for infrastructure and educational equipment.
Written by Phil Woollen
Phil started birding age seven when his parents bought him his first pair of binoculars. A lifelong birder and reader of British Birds he used to eagerly await the latest edition to arrive in the library at Manchester University where he studied. After getting a degree in biology with a third-year specialisation in ornithology, he embarked on a career in industrial effluent treatment. After taking an open University Diploma in Business management he became a director and company secretary of the company he helped run for 33 years before taking early retirement in 2018. Work took him to many countries, and he always managed to combine some birding with work trips. A bird ringer with a training endorsement Phil is also secretary of Hilbre Bird Observatory.