An introduction certainly - four weeks is nowhere near enough for this huge subject.

The four week course introduced participants to garden, woodland and reservoir birds and a number of bird songs. One week there was an interesting session on migration and in the bird topography session we learned words such as mantle, supercillium and scapula – all useful to know when trying to identify birds. Guidance was given on purchasing binoculars and information provided on how to find out more through recommended books, websites, magazines, organisations and clubs. Weekly homework and quizzes helped reinforce what we’d learned and we were encouraged to keep a field notebook. The opportunity of follow up field trips and to have an expert point out so many birds is an excellent bonus to this course.

One couple told me that a walk they regularly did in 40 minutes was now taking twice as long as they were taking time to look properly at the birds they had previously ignored.  The course was most enjoyable and has inspired me to take a greater interest in the behaviour of the birds I see regularly and to look out for and identify birds when I am out and about.