My Birding Life – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

My Birding Life

Chris Ducker

Leisure

Science

Leisure

Frequency: 1 episode/6d. Total Eps: 12

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!

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - hobbies
17/08/2026
#69
🇬🇧 Great Britain - hobbies
16/08/2026
#37
🇬🇧 Great Britain - hobbies
15/08/2026
#24
🇬🇧 Great Britain - hobbies
14/08/2026
#38

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://www.instagram.com/mybirdinglife
6 shares
https://www.instagram.com/theurbanbirder
1 share
https://www.instagram.com/weekend.birder
1 share

https://www.gobirdingpodcast.com/
1 share
https://ebird.org/globalbigday
1 share

http://youtube.com/@mybirdinglife
5 shares
https://www.youtube.com/@mybirdinglife
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 63%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

How to Boost Your Birding Joy with Suzy Buttress

Episode 3

Thursday, June 11, 2026 • Duration 43:03

Suzy Buttress has been hosting the Casual Birder podcast for nearly nine years, built entirely around the idea that birding should be enjoyable, accessible, and welcoming to everyone.

In this episode, Chris sits down with a fellow podcaster to hear how a childhood dream of being Snow White with birds on her hand turned into a 1,085-species world list, a husband she's converted into a bigger birder than herself, and a gentle but very real competition over who gets to 191 first.

From a wooden spoon worm-feeding contraption to paradise riflebirds in Australia to a missed crane on Big Day that still stings, this is a conversation about finding your people, birding at your own pace, and why the casual approach might be the best one of all.

Episode Takeaways:

Nine years of Casual Birder — How Suzy built a solo podcast from scratch, doing everything herself, and why the community it created changed her life more than she ever expected.
The monster she created — Suzy started dragging her photographer husband along on birding trips. Now he's on 191 for the year and she's on 182. She calls it a monster of her own making.
Getting serious about listing — How a women's birding challenge introduced Suzy to eBird, and why she won't count a bird unless she could identify it herself.
The wooden spoon invention — Suzy's homemade worm-feeding contraption that got a robin coming in for slow-mo photography. Patented, apparently.
Paradise riflebirds in Australia — The trip where live mealworms in the hand were suddenly worth the wriggle, thanks to a magpie-sized bird of paradise landing on her palm.
The Big Day breakdown — How Suzy and her husband John approach the Global Big Day each year, why filming it adds chaos, and the crane she heard but couldn't bring herself to count.

Episode Timestamps:

03:00 — Nine years, 148 episodes, and doing everything solo
05:00 — How the podcast opened up Suzy's world and connected her to people globally
06:00 — Where the love of birds began
11:00 — Paradise riflebirds in Australia and the one time wriggly worms were worth it
13:00 — When birding got serious: binoculars at 15, a photographer husband, and the podcast
17:00 — Getting into listing, eBird, and an honesty rule that keeps the count clean
19:00 — 1,085 species worldwide and why it could be more if she wasn't so strict
21:00 — The black tern she missed while editing podcast episodes
25:00 — Binoculars, scopes, cameras, and who carries what
27:00 — Global Big Day: the logistics, the nightjar finish, and 79 vs 84
33:00 — 30 Days Wild, red kites in a thunderstorm, and mindful birding
39:00 — Target lifer: the crested eagle in Panama

Important Links & Resources:

Read moreCollapse

The Origin of the Global Birdfair with Tim Appleton MBE

Episode 2

Thursday, June 11, 2026 • Duration 47:40

Tim Appleton MBE has spent decades shaping British birding, from building Rutland Water Nature Reserve from green fields to international acclaim, to co-founding the Global Birdfair to leading one of the UK's greatest conservation success stories: bringing ospreys back to England for the first time since 1847.

In this episode, Chris sits down with Tim to hear the personal side of that remarkable journey — how the Bird Fair was born from a visit to the Game Fair at Belvoir Castle, what it was actually like to show up to a job where the reserve didn't exist yet, and what a life spent in service of nature really feels like from the inside.

Tim also opens up about the next generation of conservationists, his concerns about youth engagement in the hobby, and the rapid-fire birding questions that reveal a bogey bird missed in Cuba twice, a three-plane adventure in Colombia, and a forever happy place you can probably already guess.

Episode Takeaways:

The Birdfair origin story — A visit to the Game Fair at Belvoir Castle planted the seed. How the world's first bird fair launched in 1989 with £2,000 from Swarovski and 1,200 people and raised £3,000 in year one.
Why it still works — No committees, no public funding, no outside interference. Tim and Penny run the whole thing between two people, with 130+ volunteers who show up because they want to.
Day one at Rutland Water — The reserve didn't exist, the farmers hated him, and his only orientation was an OS map.
Building from scratch — 100,000 trees, deliberately wiggly lagoon edges, islands made from contractor spoil, and a close working relationship with landscape designer Dame Silvia Crowe.
Bringing ospreys back to England — Two male birds in 1994 sparked the idea. The translocation project that followed made Tim the first person to find an osprey with young in England since 1847.
The next generation problem — Why Tim believes organisations with millions of members still aren't doing enough to spark young people into conservation.

Episode Timestamps:

— Who is Tim Appleton MBE and why he matters to British birding

Welcome to My Birding Life

Episode 1

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 • Duration 09:00

Most people don't go looking for birding. It finds them.

In this first episode, host Chris shares how a period of serious burnout brought him outside and how watching birds quietly changed everything.

That's the story behind My Birding Life, a brand new podcast where real birders share the moments, places, and birds that shaped them.

Episode Takeaways:

Why Chris started birding and why it genuinely changed his life
What My Birding Life is all about and who it's for
The kinds of guests you'll hear from - conservationists, lifelong birders, content creators, and everyday people who found birds when they needed them most
What to expect in every episode: spark birds, favourite spots, the ones that got away, practical tips, and conservation
Chris's favourite UK woodland bird

Episode Timestamps:

01:00 — How burnout led him to spend more time outside and discover birding
02:00 — Realising others had their own version of his story and why that inspired the podcast
03:00 — What every episode will look like: spark birds, favourite places, and honest conversation
05:00 — Practical tips, identification, and conservation
06:00 — The guest lineup: conservationists, lifelong birders, content creators, and everyday birders

Important Links & Resources:

The Early Birder Catches the Worm with Jon Mason

Episode 4

Thursday, June 18, 2026 • Duration 49:26

Jon Mason has spent almost four decades as a geography teacher, an Opticron ambassador, and to a growing audience on Instagram, sharing early morning birding moments from Otmoor and beyond.

In this episode, Chris sits down with John to talk about a fascination with birds that started before he could walk, why he calls himself a birder rather than a birdwatcher, and how a heart attack a decade ago changed the way he spends his time. From spider's webs at sunrise to a nightingale nobody could see, this is a conversation about noticing more, rushing less, and why the simplest birds are often the best ones.

Episode Takeaways:

A lifetime with birds — Jon traces his love of birds back to a highchair full of sparrows, and explains why for him birding has never been a hobby, it's just always been there.
Birder, not birdwatcher — Why Jon relies on his ears as much as his eyes, and how an old LP called Bird Sounds in Close Up trained him to recognise calls as a boy.
You are the lesson — Forty years of teaching geography taught John that you can't fake passion in front of students — you have to live it, out loud, on a chalk hillside with a telescope.
The heart attack that changed everything — How a health scare ten years ago led Jon to step back from work, invest in time outdoors, and discover that nature does more for his blood pressure than medication.

Episode Timestamps:

03:00 — A lifetime of loving birds, starting with sparrows on a highchair
07:00 — Where "The Early Birder" name comes from, and a body clock tuned to the dawn chorus
11:00 — Sharing birding in the moment on Instagram, and the firecrest that stopped a photograph
13:00 — Forty years of teaching: "you are the lesson," not the one delivering it
24:00 — Titchwell RSPB and why it has everything
33:00 — Quality over quantity: spider's webs, nightingales, and not losing the point of the day
40:00 — The heart attack, the wake-up call, and why nature is better than medication

Celebrating 20 Years of the Urban Birder with David Lindo

Episode 6

Thursday, July 2, 2026 • Duration 50:10

He's one of the most recognisable names in birding and he's spent 20 years making the case that you don't need to travel to wild, remote places to find birds worth watching. You just need to look up.

Born and raised in Wembley, North London, David Lindo taught himself to bird as a child with no mentor and no one around him who shared the interest. That self-taught curiosity became a mission: get people living in urban areas connected to nature through birds, wherever they are in the world.

Along the way he's been named one of the seven most influential people in wildlife by BBC Wildlife Magazine, written books from The Urban Birder to Tales from Concrete Jungles, and birded in over 400 cities across the globe.

In this episode, recorded to mark the 20th anniversary of The Urban Birder brand, David joins Chris to talk about how a chance BBC Springwatch screen test in 2006 turned a marketing idea into a life's mission, why he thinks the biggest barrier to birding is the myth that you need expertise first, his own experience with depression and a more recent vestibular migraine diagnosis, and why nature, even just outside your window, has the power to change how you feel.

Episode Takeaways:

How The Urban Birder was born the night before a BBC Springwatch screen test in 2006
Why David believes the biggest stumbling block for new birders is thinking they need knowledge before they start
Birding, burnout, and his 2024 vestibular migraine diagnosis
Birding in 400+ cities and why the ones with nothing written about them online excite him most

Episode Timestamps:

03:16 — Urban Birder Origins
06:30 — Springwatch Breakthrough
09:33 — Urban Birding Goes Global
10:33 — Changing Views on City Birding
15:00 — Getting People Started
21:57 — Doorstep Birding Surprises
25:27 — Birding and Mental Health
27:28 — Health Crash and Recovery
29:28 — Nature as Therapy

How to Plan a Big Year of Birding with Branwen Munn

Episode 5

Thursday, June 25, 2026 • Duration 52:54

What happens when someone who listens for a living turns their ears to the natural world? Branwen Munn is a professional DJ, music producer, and multi-instrumentalist based in West Wales and a birder with an infectious passion for the outdoors. In 2024, she embarked on a Big Year alongside her parents, travelling the length and breadth of the UK in search of as many species as possible. In 2026, the National Trust chose her to front their year of community birding events across West Wales, leading walks, spotlighting a Bird of the Month, and building something genuinely special along the way.

In this episode, Chris sits down with Branwen to dig into the highs, the logistical headaches, and the beautiful messiness of planning a UK Big Year, plus her refreshingly honest take on what kind of birder she really is.

Episode Takeaways:

How to plan a UK Big Year — Branwen breaks down her approach: start with habitats, cross-reference with the seasons, build a spreadsheet (or several), and don't underestimate the logistics of fitting it around real life
The numbers game — She ended 2024 on 176 species, aiming for 200. Why the early months gave her almost half her total — and why motivation gets harder as the year goes on
The Skye Christmas that wasn't — A week on the Isle of Skye in December to chase white-tailed eagles, a full week of rain, and a single beautiful day on the Sleat Peninsula that almost made it worth it
Apps and tools for tracking your year — Why Branwen landed on BTO BirdTrack to log sightings, and how having the data in one place changed her relationship with the records
The ethics of the tick — When does a bird count? Branwen talks through her decision to remove a snow goose from the list, the Pallid Harrier that keeps returning to Llanelli Wetlands, and why she's firmly not a twitcher
Birding as a trans person — Branwen reflects candidly and warmly on her experience in the birding community, and why it's one of the most welcoming spaces she's found
The National Trust project — How a talk about her Big Year at Dinefwr turned into a full year of community birding events across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, and Ceredigion — complete with walks, crafts, a community species log, and a celebration disco in December

How the Weekend Birder was Born with Kirsty Costa

Episode 7

Wednesday, July 8, 2026 • Duration 45:53

Kirsty Costa didn't grow up with binoculars around her neck. Her birding life began in the first week of Melbourne's pandemic lockdown, on a dawn walk with her dog when a strange, wide-eyed shorebird appeared in the reeds of her local wetland. It turned out to be a Latham's snipe, a species that migrates every year between Japan and Australia, and something about that discovery, a bird she'd never known was living on her doorstep, changed how she saw the world around her.

That single sighting became Weekend Birder, now one of the most-listened-to science and nature podcasts in Australia, built around the idea that you don't need to be an expert, or even call yourself a birdwatcher, to fall in love with the birds already sharing your neighbourhood.

In this episode, Kirsty joins Chris as the show's first Australian and first non-British guest, to talk about the difference between birders, birdwatchers, and twitchers, why she gets more joy from a surprise garden visitor than a guaranteed rare bird, the mental health science behind why birdwatching works as informal mindfulness, and what a two-week birding trip through Australia would actually look like.

Episode Takeaways:

Kirsty's spark bird story: how a Latham's snipe on a Melbourne dawn walk during lockdown turned into Weekend Birder
Birder vs. birdwatcher vs. twitcher, and why Kirsty calls herself a "bird noticer" at heart
Why the surprise of an unplanned sighting means more to her than the guarantee of a rare bird everyone's chasing
A rapid-fire tour through Australian birding: where to start, what to see, and the best-kept regional secrets
The neuroscience of birdwatching as mindfulness, and why it can leave you "a totally different person" after one walk

Episode Timestamps:

03:44 Pandemic Spark Bird
06:48 Birder vs Birdwatcher
08:34 Twitching Ethics Debate
14:25 Melbourne Birding Boom
17:38 Two Week Australia Plan
25:02 Digital Bird Lists
25:45 Backyard Birds With Names

Living a Life in the Wild World with Simon McCabe

Episode 8

Wednesday, July 15, 2026 • Duration 43:15

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

One Family and a Lifetime of Birding with Becca Heywood

Episode 9

Wednesday, July 22, 2026 • Duration 43:44

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

Embarking Upon a Great British Bird Quest with Beth Sheils

Episode 10

Wednesday, July 29, 2026 • Duration 45:43

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:

My Birding Life – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

My Birding Life – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Instagram11

Other9

Youtube2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Instagram11

Other9

Youtube2

Apple Podcasts

Spotify