Birdwatching break a huge success

James Champion hosted our 3 day birding break in early May and we really couldn’t have asked for better weather. Our guests enjoyed a variety of locations and sightings as well as informal chats about apps, websites and guides to enhance the birdwatching experience. James also hosted a slide show after dinner on his book Tripwire for a Tiger.

James has been birding since he was a toddler. His father would show him pictures of birds (usually on Brooke Bond tea cards) and teach him the names – one of his first words was “Hutnatch” (Nuthatch slightly altered!).

Since those early years, James has been hooked on learning about birds, and his teaching and guiding jobs have taken him all over the world, allowing him to build up a life list of over 4,000 species. Coming from a long line of entomologists, James is also a great butterfly and dragonfly fan, and he regularly travels in search of these, as well as birds.

James first started guiding in 1995, and has led many groups around Scotland, not only for birding but also on walking and even whisky tours! He has also guided in Cornwall, as well as in Japan, China, and in India, where he is a frequent visitor, his grandfather having been the first person to photograph tigers in the wild, and the first to campaign for their protection.

Having lived abroad for most of the past twenty years, James is delighted to be back on home territory guiding for Heatherlea, and he is much enjoying rediscovering the wildlife highlights of Scotland. He loves showing the special birds and wildlife of the area to the guests, and his enthusiasm and teaching skills enable him to pass on his knowledge in an engaging and positive way.

Tripwire for a Tiger,  Selected works of F.W. Champion

Edited by James Champion

Published by Rainfed Books, Rs 495

Author, publisher and intrepid wildlifer Bikram Grewal is a long-standing admirer of F W Champion, an extraordinary Forest Officer of the British Raj. We therefore felt that he would be the best person to review this new anthology. Says Bikram, “In 2006, I had the privilege of playing host to F W Champion’s son, daughter-in-law and grandson, James, in Dehradun. I was thrilled when I first heard from James that he was planning an anthology of his grandfather’s writings. You can imagine my joy when this book arrived for me to review”.  Here’s Bikram’s review for Conservation India.

You can book on James’s Autumn break in October here