Birding health check-up

Birding is, without doubt, a physical activity - admittedly more so for some than others. But even if you are a 'drive to chosen destination and sit in a hide' advocate you will use your body in several different ways. And all of these 'ways' are at the mercy to deterioration with age. It is about time that I visited my ornithological doctor and have a health check...

Dr. Bird: "Come in Mr. Gale, take a seat. I will ask you a series of questions and ask you to be as honest as you possibly can. The last birder that I saw claimed to have walked from Cley coastguards to Blakeney Point in 45 minutes. Needless to say I dismissed the rest of his answers as nonsense. Now, according to my records you are 64 years old, a non-smoker and can see from looking at you that although not worryingly overweight you could do with losing a few pounds. A fair assessment I think you'd agree. Now, to start with, please tell me about your eyesight."

Me: "I've just had my eyes tested actually. Long distance vision is excellent, but short distance needs a bit of help. Reading glasses used for 10-years now, 1.5 to 2.0 strength. Cannot look at an identification guide or seriously go through a moth trap without them - to do so would totally miss the smaller micros! When birding I can pick up dots miles away, excellent for vis-mig. However, in low light I can lose the flight of a bird with ease. So, I'm happy with my eyesight although my hearing does leave a lot to be desired."

Dr. Bird: "Pardon?" (chuckles) "Sorry, I couldn't resist that... please carry on."

Me: "Very first time that I realised that my hearing wasn't what it used to be was maybe 10 years ago, when I couldn't hear the noise that the grasshoppers were making whilst I was picnicking in a Surrey meadow with my family. I started to notice it with birds in 2015. I was at Dungeness during the autumn and other birders kept hearing Tree Pipits calling as they flew, unseen, overhead. I just wasn't picking them up. Then, in the company of DBO warden David Walker, he was calling them out and I just stood there scratching my head as to why I couldn't. I could hear other species calling as they flew past, but not the Tree Pipits. If I did hear one it was very low and very close. Then it was Redwings. Those lovely calm October and November nights when they call in their hundreds, if not thousands. I would sit out to listen and not pick anything up - I knew they were there as birders nearby were hearing them. The next to go were Swifts. If there was a high flock chasing each other, not a scream to be heard, even though my wife could hear them. Some consolation was had in that both they, and Redwings, if low down, were registering with me - I hadn't entirely lost the ability to hear them. I went and had a hearing test, which confirmed that I had a much reduced range in a certain frequency band."

Dr. Bird: "Grasshopper Warblers? Crests?"

Me: "I heard a reeling Grasshopper Warbler in July, and can still pick up crests  - both Gold and Fire - singing. But I do worry about crest calls. I don't pick them up as I regularly as I expect to. Maybe they too are dropping out of range."

Dr. Bird: "What about your mind, your birding personality and make-up if you will?"

Me: "That's definitely changed. The youthful need to be dashing about, trying to find rarity and make an impression on those around me fizzled out years ago. However, a drive is still there, based more on sheer enjoyment and an intellectual battle with the habitat to try and read where best to find the birds -  plus trying to understand the weather's effect on the birding, even after all these years. Mental tiredness does creep in earlier. If I'm out at dawn in the late-spring or summer then I'm ready to have a nap by 10.00hrs. In fact, this year, on a very slow day I did just that, lying flat out on some chalk downland. Lovely snooze..."

Dr Bird: "Mobility?"

Me: "Good thanks. I don't have the need, or inclination, to run for birds any longer, but I can still manage a good speed just in case I need to - cows stampeding towards me across a field or having to get to a shelter from approaching heavy rain. I still manage 20-25 miles on foot in a day without any problem. One thing I have stopped doing is climbing fences - not that I should do anyway - but I don't trust myself any longer not to rip clothing on barbed wire or come tumbling down from the balancing act needed to successfully clear such an obstacle."

Dr. Bird: "Well Mr. Gale, I think that I can pass you fit to continue birding. I would suggest that you don't try and claim anything too remarkable in the half-light and certainly do not, under any circumstances, claim a fly-by Red-throated Pipit - it would be hard enough for you to get a Tree Pipit accepted nowadays."