Stephen delighted a packed audience on his return visit to WERFA on 23 November. He showed favourite clips from his many BBC TV series as a way to highlight stories about our amazing variety of British birds and how our nation’s special interest in and love for them connects us with the natural world.
Stephen showed us coast and garden, farmland and fen with an emphasis on how people and new activities play a part in helping or harming the birds.
However there are still many mysteries about how and why some bird behaviour occurs. A clip of starlings massing and moving in a huge flock was a particularly remarkable and moving case.
Stephen’s talk was both fascinating and humorous and he dealt with a range of questions from enthusiasts young and old.
In answer to one question Stephen suggests we feed our local birds in cold weather and the spring breeding season while letting the birds find their own supplies in the abundant time of late summer (and maybe in the process helping us with pest insects in the garden).
We went away marvelling at the stories about British birds and with renewed enthusiasm for bird watching at home or further afield. With the winter option of staying warm and reading one of Stephen’s beautiful books!