It’s easy to feel like we’re running out of time: we live in a fast-paced world, with so many things to do, places to see. As a 24-year-old Ecology, Evolution & Conservation master’s student at the beginning of my career, I find myself swept from one deadline to the next. Birdwatching is one of the few things that forces me to slow down and catch my breath. Rather than rushing between things, it helps me observe more and notice the everyday beauty which surrounds us. The flit of a wren across the ground, a sparrowhawk diving for the bushes, a robin’s song – these things are easily missed when we’re constantly on the go.
Perhaps this is also why I’ve become so fond of slow travel. In an age when we can cross continents in a matter of hours, today’s travel culture focuses on reaching the destination as quickly as possible, with little regard for the journey, let alone appreciation of it.
As experienced birdwatchers will know, birding requires patience. You need to take your time – sometimes to sit still for hours in order to catch a glimpse of a certain species. You observe the surrounding habitat, the weather conditions, the way wildlife in your vicinity reacts to things. Slowing down and paying attention is eventually rewarded with a sighting. In the process, it becomes about more than just the bird. So why not bring that same approach to the way we travel?
When Darwin and other early naturalists were making their discoveries a couple centuries ago, their expeditions were only possible by boat, horse and on foot. It may have taken them a long time to arrive at their destination, but there was value in the journey too, with unexpected findings and experiences along the way. Nowadays, we have lost this sense of journey. Choosing lower-carbon transport such as train, bus and ferry may take slightly longer than a flight, but they allow us to experience landscapes rather than simply passing over them.
I was recently hiking in the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway, where I completed the first few days of the archipelago crossing on foot. This was a self-supported trip, carrying my tent, kit, and all my food for several days. Despite being roughly 2000 kilometres from my university campus in London, travelling there by public transport was surprisingly straightforward. I travelled by Eurostar from London to Brussels, then continued north by train through Hamburg, Oslo, and Trondheim, followed by rail replacement buses to Bodø. From there, I took the ferry across to Moskenes – the southern gateway to the Lofoten Islands.
Taking my time to get there allowed me to appreciate new cities I otherwise wouldn’t have visited, including a pause in a park in Gothenburg en route to enjoy the fieldfares. I birded out the window of trains and buses. From the ferry, I watched in awe as razorbills skimmed low over the water and common terns plunge-dived for fish. Even an improvised lunch in the ferry car park delivered a white-tailed eagle overhead! These are all moments I would have missed had I flown directly to the islands.
Sustainable birding doesn’t have to involve travelling hundreds of kilometres, though. Adventure can also be had close to home: this year I’ve been thoroughly enjoying birding with my campus Conservation Club. Whether that’s taking the train to a nearby eBird hotspot, visiting our local SSSI, or simply walking around campus, there’s always something new to discover.
Wherever you choose to explore, having the right optics makes it easier to notice the details that might otherwise go unseen. In Lofoten, I was already carrying over a quarter of my bodyweight in essential supplies, so I tried to minimise gear as much as possible. The Leica NOCTIVID compact 10×25 binoculars were ideal for this, weighing just 379g without compromising much on brightness or image quality. Light and compact, they were easy to carry strung around my neck or shoulder, and always within reach – whether that was to catch a cuckoo dashing across the path, follow a drumming snipe, or identify a wheatear perched on distant rock.
While there were moments I missed the extra detail offered by my larger 10x42s, the portability of the NOCTIVID compact meant they were always with me – and binoculars you have on you are infinitely more useful than ones left at home!
As we draw to the end of another academic year, many of us are looking for the escape that a summer holiday provides. But you don’t need to jump on a flight to find it, nor to have a meaningful wildlife experience. Whether it’s your back garden, campus, a local nature reserve, or even abroad, there is always something worthwhile within reach of public transport. It may take a little longer to get there, but that time is not something that’s been lost. Quite the opposite. It’s precisely that extra time that allows us to drop the pace and be present enough to truly see and engage with what’s in front of us, whether that’s birds or something else. When we stop rushing, seeing becomes much more than passive looking – ultimately, it’s an experience.
Left, right & bottom: The author birding with the NOCTIVID compact 10×25 binoculars. © Jared de Silva