by Dr Robert Tansey
Once again, the Glastonbury of the Birding and Natural World has been and gone. What a fantastic three days it was. Held at a new venue close to its former home at Rutland Water, the Rutland Showground, in Oakham, in the East Midlands. It is an excellent venue. No longer having single line traffic through long lanes and fields, it’s much easier to find and access. The title Birdfair, was changed to the Global Birdfair after differing opinions arose that temporarily closed the Birdfair down amid the pandemic. It was good to find that Tim Appleton assisted by Penny Robinson was again in charge of the event he created with a few others so many years ago.
This year, I attended the event with a fellow trustee of the Society of Environmental Authors and Journalists Steve Shelley. As is not unusual the weather was pretty dreadful on the Friday and Saturday we attended. One minute warm and dry the next it was absolutely bucketing it down with almost monsoon type rainfall. As usual everywhere became muddy and sticky and out came the wellington boots. Like Glastonbury, the visitors kept smiling, but we were at least able to retreat into the many marquees on site.
The four largest marquees held dozens of individual stalls representing various wildlife stands where their staff were promoting their society or organisation, showing various products and recruiting new members. From butterfly conservation to the RSPB, almost every group was represented. With hundreds and hundreds of visitors, the stands at time became awash with people asking questions and chatting generally. Other stalls or stands were of a world-wide nature, offering tourist holidays to remote parts of the world, and Britain and Europe were there as well. Other smaller marquees were showing a whole range of optical equipment, suited to the birdwatcher or nature lover. Some of these optical suppliers are big sponsors of the Birdfair and of some of the individual naturalists and filmmakers attending.
Other marquees were where speakers had a stage to talk about all manner of things of interest to the amateur naturalist and general public. These events were as popular as usual, particularly when speakers such as Simon King, David Lindo, Johnathan and Angela Scott, Nigel Marvin, Mike Dilger, and Dominic Couzens, to name but a few, made their presentations.
Another great delight was the authors stage where authors talk about their lives and books, these included Patrick Barkham, Mary Colwell, Nick Owens, Dominic Couzens, Mark Avery, Mike Unwin and Nick Baker. These authors and a few others then signed their books and sold them to enthusiastic readers in the Nightingale marquee.
Catering facilities were on site offering fish and chips to ice creams, there was in indoor area and outdoor area, with tables and chairs for people to eat their packed lunches or bought food. There was also an alcoholic drinks outlet, for those of us who occasionally partake of a little refreshment.
Steve and I decided to make our base in the Osprey Marquee, where Steve planned use his Canon film camera equipment. He was keen to get some film on the subject of man versus wildlife. Johnathan Scott highlighted the difficulty of balancing the needs of local people against the needs of wildlife. I was particularly interested in meeting Johnathon and Angela since many years ago I started my zoological career as Head Keeper of Lions at Edinburgh Zoo.
This was followed by Simon King talking about the making of the ‘Wildlife Isles with Simon King’, the recent epic television series.
Later we went on walkabout through the site, encountering many really interesting amateur naturalists. It may be called a ‘Bird’ Fair but, in reality it covers all aspects of natural history. The diversity of interests was matched by the diverse nature of those individuals visiting, each with interesting tales to tell. At one point I was convinced I’d seen Bill Oddie, one character I have been keen to meet for years, but a second look convinced me it was not him. Whilst Steve and I got around to speaking to lots of people and chatting to a few old friends, we also made a few contacts for some of Steve’s future filming adventures in Europe and Africa. The problem was that there was so much on that it was impossible to see it all, so we had to rein in somewhat our active work as journalists for the Society of Environmental Authors and Journalists.
Mike Dilger presented a talk on plants, ‘Why a love of plants will make you a better birder’. Mike, in his normal charismatic way took his audience on his journey from Cornwall to Scotland. This was followed by a presentation by Mark Carwardine ‘On the trail of the whale’. It was the most popular talk we encountered. He described various species of whale, their habitat in the seas of the world, and the problems they faced. Following was Jonathan and Angela Scott’s ‘Big Cat Diary and Beyond (1977-2023)’ a fabulous amount of filming over many years, showing the trials and tribulations of the Marsh Pride.
A later quiz chaired by Dominic Couzens was titled, 2 Legs v 6 Legs, or birds or bugs, starring Mike Dilger, Mya Babrick, Alan Davies, Nick Baker, Gail Ashton and Tim Sexton, which produced some hilarious pantomime performances.
Dr Angela Brew, a fantastic artist we met, is trying to draw an image of every bird in the world, which will then be translated into a book, we wish her all the best for this formidable and daunting task, but one she faces with excitement and relish.
Nick Baker FBNA hosted the ZEISS Young Birders Awards, it was good to see so many young people being encouraged to engage with nature and the world around us.
A fantastic event with so many young people participating it gives us all a little hope for the future. Whilst we older ones tend to sit and moan, these young people are out there doing things to improve their world.
Our last assignment was to record in the Osprey Marquee the ‘This is Your Life’ event with a mystery guest.
As Tim led Mike up to the stage it soon became clear that it was Tim himself that chairman Stephen Moss, aka Eamon Andrews welcomed to sit in the only chair on stage. Tim was initially a little befuddled but looking to the front row of guests he saw many members of his family and friends. Stephen went onto outlining Tim’s life to date and spoke of his time spent as a young man at Slimbridge. I have published an account of Tim’s working life in the past so won’t recount it now. It was good to see a few of the many people who had helped Tim as he developed the Rutland Water Reserve from nothing to what it is now. Stephen also told the history of the Birdfair that Tim had created so many years ago.
David Attenborough sent Tim his best wishes through a video link, as did Dafila Scott, daughter of the great conservationist Sir Peter Scott. So many well-known and not so well-known figures piled accolade after accolade upon Tim. As Stephen pointed out, this was far from the first time people showed their appreciation of him. King Charles had met him several times, and the late Queen Elizabeth bestowed upon him an MBE.
We hope to attend next year’s Global Birdfair, and wish Tim and Penny all the best of our good wishes for their future. They will have a pretty tough job to do but as usual Tim and Penny will be to the fore in making the Global Birdfair a great force in uniting the world, to appreciate what we have and attempt to retain it.