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