I've been impressed by the message behind the RSPB's ongoing campaign to 'give birds a home.' Much of the debate surrounding it and the television adverts has polarised opinion, and I can see both sides of the argument.
But the campaign itself got me thinking, again, of what birding gives to me. I may be giving birds a home, but I also get a lot back. Maybe its some primordial instinct to be out in the wild, whilst there's some wild places left, but being outside increasingly seems to be my natural state- I grudge time spent in offices, in the city, and long for the sound of a river on a summer day, the noise and sight of the first warbler of the year, or the smell of spring blossom in your nose.
One of the ironies of birding is that birds feature heavily in our lives, but in general birds themselves are happily oblivious to us. Thats why I've enjoyed volunteering so much- by doing stuff at my local patch, to working with school kids creating bird- friendly schools, to doing surveys, I'm giving something back.
Its hardly the worst burden in the world- volunteering on a nature reserve, where there are birds, doing surveys for the BTO (making my birdwatching count) and telling schoolchildren how brilliant birds are (the kids themselves were surprisingly keen on birds, so maybe we have hope for the future.)
I would say that everyone, if they are able, should donate even some of their time to make their birding count. Whether its formal volunteering, or even logging sightings on birdtrack, there's something we can all do.
But the campaign itself got me thinking, again, of what birding gives to me. I may be giving birds a home, but I also get a lot back. Maybe its some primordial instinct to be out in the wild, whilst there's some wild places left, but being outside increasingly seems to be my natural state- I grudge time spent in offices, in the city, and long for the sound of a river on a summer day, the noise and sight of the first warbler of the year, or the smell of spring blossom in your nose.
One of the ironies of birding is that birds feature heavily in our lives, but in general birds themselves are happily oblivious to us. Thats why I've enjoyed volunteering so much- by doing stuff at my local patch, to working with school kids creating bird- friendly schools, to doing surveys, I'm giving something back.
Its hardly the worst burden in the world- volunteering on a nature reserve, where there are birds, doing surveys for the BTO (making my birdwatching count) and telling schoolchildren how brilliant birds are (the kids themselves were surprisingly keen on birds, so maybe we have hope for the future.)
I would say that everyone, if they are able, should donate even some of their time to make their birding count. Whether its formal volunteering, or even logging sightings on birdtrack, there's something we can all do.
