My Birding Life

My Birding Life is the podcast for anyone who's ever been stopped in their tracks by a bird. Every episode, host Chris Ducker sits down with a passionate birder for an honest, warm conversation about the hobby we love. From conservationists dedicating their lives to protecting species and habitats, to lifelong birders with decades of stories to tell, to everyday birders who found birds at just the right moment in their lives — every guest brings something different, but they all share one thing: a genuine love for the natural world. We go deep into the stories behind their journeys. The first sightings that sparked a lifelong obsession. The wild places that shaped them. The birds they'll never forget. The hard-earned tips that only come from real time in the field. And the conservation work being done to protect the birds that matter most. Whether you've been birding for fifty years or you've just started noticing the birds in your garden, My Birding Life is your show. Warm, personal, and full of the kind of conversations that make you want to grab your binoculars — this is birding through the eyes of the people who live it. Real birders, real stories, real advice!

My Birding Life is a leisure podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts My Birding Life, a leisure show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #12

  Dreaming Wild for 100 Years with Nick Acheson

  Aug 12, 202633 min

  Recorded live from the Winchat Podcasting Stage at Global Bird Fair 2026, sponsored by Swarovski Optik, this episode is the first of two shows Chris recorded in front of an audience at the fair. His guest is Nick Acheson, naturalist, writer, broadcaster, and a regular contributor to BBC Springwatch, known for pairing sharp field knowledge with a genuine gift for storytelling. Nick is based in North Norfolk, where he's a passionate advocate for conservation, and is the author of two books: The Meaning of Geese (2023 East Anglian Book of the Year) and This Wild Dream . The conversation centres on Norfolk Wildlife Trust's 100th anniversary, from its founding in 1926 to the ice-age ponds of Thompson Common, before turning to Nick's own birding life: a childhood that never really had a "before," a daily 5am ritual that's more about healing than ticking species, and a closing reflection on why birds should never be treated as a currency. Episode Takeaways: 100 years of Norfolk Wildlife Trust: The story starts in 1926, when Dr Sidney Long and 11 friends raised the money to buy Cley Marshes for around £5,000. Nick traces how the trust grew from a small, land-holding organisation into one managing more than 50 nature reserves across 5,500 hectares of Norfolk today. The pingos of Thompson Common: Nick explains these ice-age ponds, formed as the Devensian glaciation retreated 12,000 years ago, and how Norfolk Wildlife Trust has used LiDAR to find pingos filled in by farmers and restore them, with rare wetland seeds still viable in the silt and springing straight back to life. A Birding Life with No Beginning: Nick can't remember a time before birds. Growing up in North Norfolk, three school biology teachers filled his head with species and normalised birding trips that most people would consider extraordinary. The 5am Ritual: Nick walks the same route every morning in spring, summer, and autumn, not to chase species but to connect. He describes crying at the first willow warbler of the year and knowing exactly which week each returning bird will start singing. Episode Timestamps: 04:04 - Norfolk Trust Origins 06:49 - Land Advice And Habitats 09:05 - Reserve Success Stories 10:07 - 1976 Royal Milestone 12:26 - Nick Birding Beginnings 16:32 - Thompson Common Pingos 19:12 - Pond Restoration Wins 21:11 - Norfolk Roots and World Travel 21:55 - Stories Behind This Wild Dream 24:19 - Birding as a Doorway 26:39 - Finding Nature Again Important Links & Resources: Follow My Birding Life on Instagram Subscribe to My Birding Life on YouTube Follow Nick on Instagram Nick's Website

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  Episode #11

  How the Wildest Ones are Living Life with Simon Owen

  Aug 5, 202639 min

  Simon Owen is a Manchester-based filmmaker and photographer, the founder of Standby Productions, and the creative force behind Wildest Ones, a YouTube series that interviews people whose lives have been shaped by wildlife and the natural world. In this episode, Simon talks Chris through a childhood spent on RSPB stopovers with his dad, a detour through skateboard filmmaking that quietly taught him the patience wildlife photography demands, and the string of hard years, a business hit hard by COVID, a breakup, that sent him back outdoors and, eventually, into making Wildest Ones. The conversation covers the three-chapter structure behind every Wildest Ones episode, the moments that have caught Simon off guard while filming other people's stories, turning half an acre of garden into a nesting site for goldfinches and great tits, keeping a balcony bird list in the middle of Manchester, and how a business decision to give back during COVID turned into becoming Lancashire Wildlife Trust's first-ever ambassador. Episode Takeaways: Why Wildest Ones Exists: The series is built around three chapters for every guest: connection to the wild, mental wellbeing, and conservation, and it's deliberately open to anyone with that connection, not just birders. A Masterclass in a Hide From a Stranger: While struggling to find a little stint at Abberton Reservoir, Simon was helped by a birder in his 70s who found the bird in five minutes and stayed to chat for an hour, one of many reminders, Simon says, that he's never met an unfriendly birder. Building a Darden for Goldfinches: After moving to a half-acre plot eight years ago and noticing an odd lack of birdsong, Simon and his family deliberately built up feeders, boxes, and water, finally getting goldfinches to nest three years in, with great tits and great spotted woodpeckers nesting there for the first time this year. From Peatland Film to First-Ever Ambassador: A post-COVID decision to give back through Standby Productions led to a Save the Peatlands film for Lancashire Wildlife Trust that helped shift compost retail legislation, and two years later Simon became the Trust's first ambassador. Episode Timestamps: 02:21 - Photography Style Origins 03:22 - Childhood Birding Roots 09:38 - Wildest Ones 18:04 - Birding Passion and Raptors 20:26 - Garden Birds and Feeders 22:13 - Balcony Bird List 24:27 - What Makes a Great Outing 24:44 - Chasing the Perfect Shot 26:42 - Surprise Wildlife Encounters 28:40 - Wildlife Trust Ambassador 35:03 - Birding With the Kids Important Links & Resources: Follow My Birding Life on Instagram Subscribe to My Birding Life on YouTube Follow Simon on Instagram

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  Episode #10

  Embarking Upon a Great British Bird Quest with Beth Sheils

  Jul 29, 202646 min

  Beth Sheils has built a brilliant corner of the birding world on Instagram under the name Beth The Bird Nerd, helping people, whatever their experience level, get outside and fall in love with what's around them. In this episode, her first ever podcast interview, Beth talks Chris through a birding life that started on canal walks with her dad in Bootle, the British Bird Quest she's steadily working through, and why she'd rather watch the pigeons in her garden than chase something flashy. The conversation covers her Instagram journey, the mental health lift she gets from getting outside with a camera, her honest take on twitching and crowds at popular sites, her role as Northwest ambassador for Birds and the Belles, and how a pair of binoculars bought on Mull turned into a Viking Optical ambassadorship. Episode Takeaways: A birding life she can't remember starting: Beth grew up walking the canal from Bootle to the Dock Road in Liverpool with her dad, and was correcting classmates on mute swans by infant school. The British Bird Quest: An open-ended hunt for 256 regularly occurring British species, currently at 169, with a return to Mull in August for the eagles. Why she's not a twitcher: Beth explains her clear line on rarities: if it's not on her list, she's happy to leave it be, even when a rare bird turns up close to home. Birds and the Belles: Her role as Northwest ambassador for the all-female birding network and why it exists. Episode Timestamps: 03:47 - How Birding Began 05:51 - Teaching and Not Knowing 07:52 - Birding for Mental Health 11:37 - Learning Through Mistakes 15:19 - British Bird Quest Explained 23:48 - Favorite Birds and Raptors 25:44 - Quest Strategy Talk 26:15 - Seabird Trips Plans 27:21 - Not a Twitcher 30:32 - Birds and The Belles Important Links & Resources: Follow My Birding Life on Instagram Subscribe to My Birding Life on YouTube Follow Beth on Instagram Birds and the Belles

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  Episode #9

  One Family and a Lifetime of Birding with Becca Heywood

  Jul 22, 202644 min

  Becca Heywood is a third-generation birder. She learned to watch birds alongside both her father and her grandfather and today she's turning that inheritance into something new, sharing South London's urban wildlife with the world. By day she works in inclusion and equity at WWF-UK, and that same lens shows up throughout this conversation with Chris. Chris and Becca trace her path from childhood trips down the M5 spotting buzzards, through a teenage stretch of quietly shelving the hobby for fear of not being "cool," to relaunching her passion at the very end of 2025 as a way to build community after moving to London. From there they dig into the parts of birding culture that don't always get talked about — the "all or nothing" mentality, the stereotype of who a birdwatcher is supposed to be, and why nobody is born knowing how to ID a gull. They also swap notes on why kingfishers still feel mythical no matter how many you've seen, Becca's love affair with analog Field Notes notebooks and a pocket photo printer over yet another listing app, and a rapid-fire round that surfaces a proper nemesis bird. Episode Takeaways: A Third-Generation Birder: Buzzards spotted from the back seat with her dad and grandad, birding as shared curiosity, not expertise. Birds With Becca, Built for Belonging: Launched 30 December 2025 to build community after a move to London, no gear or right answers required. Knocking Down Birding's Barriers: On the "hardcore twitcher" stereotype and why "I don't have the kit" is the easiest barrier to knock down. Notebooks Over Apps: Why Becca traded digital life-lists for handwritten Field Notes notebooks, plus the WWT Barnes bittern that's become her nemesis! Episode Timestamps: 03:21 - Third Generation Birder 04:42 - Birding Shame to Joy 06:42 - Birding Gatekeeping 11:37 - Changing Birding Culture 15:55 - Kingfisher Magic Bird 23:44 - Analog Bird Notes 25:37 - Scrapbook Ritual 27:26 - eBird Backup System 28:04 - Keep Birding Fun 28:38 - Comfort and Inclusion 31:18 - Breaking Barriers Important Links & Resources: Follow My Birding Life on Instagram Subscribe to My Birding Life on YouTube Follow Becca on Instagram

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  Episode #8

  Living a Life in the Wild World with Simon McCabe

  Jul 15, 202643 min

  This week Chris is joined by wildlife filmmaker, presenter and storyteller Simon McCabe, who has spent over 30 years behind the camera bringing the natural world to life — from the British countryside to the wilds of Botswana. Simon writes, shoots, edits and narrates all of his own films, and his YouTube channel has become a go-to for anyone who wants their birding served up with genuine warmth and a great voice for it. Chris and Simon trace Simon's path from childhood fishing trips and watercolour painting, through photography and into filmmaking, before diving into stories from the field — a patient wait for a bullfinch at Lackford Lakes, a puffin-hunting boat trip under the cliffs at Bempton, luxury hide life while filming goshawks in the Estonian snow, and a documentary shoot in Taiwan that picked up a couple of awards along the way. They also swap notes on Botswana's Big Five, an unexpectedly brilliant morning of birding in Las Vegas, and what it's like attending the Global Bird Fair as a fan rather than a filmmaker! Episode Takeaways: From Fishing to Film: How a childhood love of fishing and watercolour painting — including being mentored by the illustrator behind the Collins guide books — set Simon on the path to photography and, eventually, filmmaking Botswana's Big Five (and a Lot of Birds): Filming alongside guides, getting IDs right roughly a third of the time at first, and coming home with 99.96% accuracy after review Goshawks and Luxury Hides in Estonia: Filming from a heated "Wildlife Dreams" hide complete with coffee, bacon sandwiches and a timely snowstorm Global Bird Fair, From the Other Side of the Camera: Why Simon would attend even if he weren't filming, and what struck him most about the passion of the speakers and exhibitors Episode Timestamps: 04:07 - Origins in Nature 04:41 - From Art to Film 09:27 - Bullfinch at Lackford 13:12 - Bempton Cliffs Tips 21:04 - Vegas Birding Story 24:53 - Next Birding Destinations 25:47 - Snowy Estonia Highlights 36:27 - Shot That Got Away 37:35 - Dream Spots And Lifers Important Links & Resources: Follow My Birding Life on Instagram Subscribe to My Birding Life on YouTube Follow Simon on Instagram Simon's Website

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