Monday 20 August 2007

Back from Birdfair

Well, I wasn't swallowed up by the mud in the car-park, but yesterday's almost non-stop torrential rain (broken only by half an hour of very hot sunshine) added a bit of a damp squib to what had been a very enjoyable few days at Birdfair. Friday was, apparently, the busiest day there ever, and it felt like it. The Bird Watching stand was a constant hive of activity, and I only managed to slip away a couple of times to the Optics marquees (we're talking bins and scopes here, not measures of spirits). There was a quick glass of champers at Leica's launch of their new scope, fronted of course by Bill Oddie (that's about all the name-dropping you can do in birding circles), but it was good to meet readers and contributors face to face and have the chance to talk with them at length.
I did find myself getting struck by the digiscoping bug too - there are some very fine and very cheap cameras around, so I think my credit card will take a bit of stick later in the week, while I'm over in Norfolk.
Finally, you might want to take a look at this review of Mark Cocker's Crow Country, which I mentioned a while back. I like the point being made, and it made me think a bit about exactly where my own bird obsession comes from.

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