Friday 4th March 2011 - a talk by Martin Garner

I travelled to Leicester this evening with my mate Pete to see a talk by Martin Garner. Martin is an inspirational birder who has taken bird identification to another level, his eye for detail and level of enthusiasm is a lesson to any birder. He started the talk with a bit about how he became interested in birds, and his gradual scholarship  into becoming one of this countries most expert birders. The talk was a fascinating insight into his techniques and its also refreshing to hear how "down to earth" he is. Some things of note that came out of the talk was the need to really study the commoner birds, and get to really understand them - the way they look, sound and behave! How can you really appreciate what is unusual if you have no idea what the norm is? Also he made a comment about not being too down hearted if you are lucky enough to find a rarity and the local rarities committee reject it, he says it has happened to him many times. A quick chat with him a half time enforced these comments and he stated that the best way of learning is to get out there and look for yourself.......and local patching is the way forward so long as you are aware of what could be out there and you are determined to find it. He was also good enough to sign his book for me too, it was just a shame when the talk had to come to an end as it was easily one of the most enjoyable talks I'd been to see. So if anyone reading this gets the chance to see one of this guys talks then go and see it as you will not be disappointed.