British birders

Excellent post here by the digiscoping dynamo that is Dale Forbes, about what makes Britain and its birdwatchers so distinct from the rest of the world. The points he makes about class seem spot-on to me, and I think I'd go further. I have a theory that, because so much of our common land and open spaces was snatched at a relatively early stage in our history, birdwatching (and angling, probably) are an attempt by the dispossessed to stake a claim to the landscape. I should probably go away and find some eveidence to actually back that all up, though.