Page 12 - Out Birding Winter 2024

View From the Chair
It’s funny how my birding has changed as I mature.
As a younger ‘tyro’ birder, I’d spend the autumn try-
ing to see rare birds, preferably my own ‘self-finds’
but I’d happily go and see any rare bird that might
appear either in the local area or further afield if
sufficiently unusual. But events today have made me
realise how much I’ve changed, and my long close
associa􏰀on with the Gay Birders’ Club has been im-
portant in that. I’ve learned to enjoy the birds I am
seeing and not worrying about whether they are rare
or not. Don’t get me wrong, I s􏰀ll take a keen inter-
est in unusual sigh􏰀ngs and like to challenge my
iden􏰀fica􏰀on skills. Events of the last two days have exemplified my transforma􏰀on.
We spent a week just outside York celebra􏰀ng George’s birthday and managed to meet up with some GBC friends: Pat, Kerry and Debs, and enjoyed a bit of birding, including seeing Pat’s self-found Hoopoe on her patch. We informed them that on our journey home, we were considering a leisurely drive up the east coast of England, taking in migrant hotspots such as Flamborough Head. When it came to it, there didn’t seem to be much being reported, so we came straight home instead. At home, I got a message from Pat, hoping I had managed to see the Pale-legged Leaf Warbler at Bempton, the first live sigh􏰀ng for Europe. I hadn’t seen it, of course, and was highly unlikely to drive all the way south again to do so, but I was surprisingly calm.
The next morning, looking into our wild back garden, I spo􏰁ed some movement in a tree and hey-presto, there was a beau􏰀ful Yellow-browed Warbler picking insects from the vegeta􏰀on. These were insects I had provided in abundance by careful avoid- ance of chemicals, building a wildlife pond, compost bays and encouraging na􏰀ve plants. To have an unusual (though increasingly common) vagrant from the East benefi􏰀ng from our bounty gave me immense pleasure and I realised that this was far greater than I would have had from seeing a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler elsewhere. If only my younger self could hear me now.
We held our AGM earlier this month and, as has been a feature of our switch to the Zoom pla􏰂orm for these, it was reasonably well a􏰁ended. Although we don’t hold cons􏰀tu􏰀onal elec􏰀ons and mo􏰀ons at the AGM, it remains a very useful opportunity for members to hear what the Commi􏰁ee has been doing on their behalf and for members to feed back to us on what we could be doing differently. The Club is in rude health with stable membership numbers, secure financial posi􏰀on and plenty of ac􏰀vi􏰀es for the members. When I returned as Chair, I wanted to make improvements to offer more facili􏰀es for our membership and make the administra􏰀on of the Club easier. To this end, we are pu􏰃ng a lot of 􏰀me into a new membership system, which will also make it easier for Club members to communicate with each other. I am keen
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