Twitchers on the lookout for a robin

Jan 30 2008 by Rhodri Clark, Western Mail

A PAIR of ornithologists aiming to break the bird-spotting world record have seen more than 1,000 bird species in four weeks.

But although their 2008 list features such exotic delights as the Andean condor and the Chocó toucan, it doesn’t include the robin or blackbird.

To rectify the deficiency, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller – who started their record attempt in Arizona on January 1 – will spend today watching birds on the North Wales coast.

They sold their house in Llandudno to fund their year-long odyssey and yesterday returned to their home patch to spot local birds.

Tomorrow they depart for Africa, where their plans to spot 400 species could be derailed by the unrest in Kenya.

They hope to visit the Rift Valley – where more than 250,000 people have been displaced in tribal violence – to see birds found nowhere else.

“We need to go to Lake Naivasha, where there were some murders yesterday,” said Mr Davies.

“We might have to change our plans if it doesn’t settle down by late February. That would be a real blow.”

The couple – who need to see more than 3,662 species this year to break the record – will spend most of February in Ethiopia. But they have been advised by the Foreign Office to avoid one dangerous area where vehicles have been hijacked.

Today’s bird-watching stint in Wales will be safer but intense. Their quick tour will include Anglesey’s South Stack, one of the best places in the world to see choughs.

“There are snow buntings wintering at Pensarn, near Abergele,” said Mr Davies.

“If we see them it will save time trekking up mountains in the Arctic in the spring.”

The couple are using publicity surrounding their tour to highlight the tourism potential of nature conservation.

Last Saturday they visited a bird-rich forest in Ecuador which was being felled as they peered through their binoculars.

“That was a protected area but there’s illegal logging going on. It was appalling,” said Mr Davies.

“There’s hardly any of that lowland forest in Ecuador. We’ve been trying to make people aware that we’re spending tourist money because we want to see their fantastic birds – that eco-tourism is more sustainable than cutting down trees which will take hundreds of years to grow again.”

He said the trees were felled to make hardwood furniture for affluent western consumers.

“Don’t buy imported hardwood,” he urged Welsh shoppers.

“If you’re buying any wooden products, make sure the wood is from a sustainable forest.”