DOES BIRDING HAVE AN AGEING PROBLEM?

Greetings readers!

Before I spent the long Easter weekend in Suffolk, I booked a ticket to see the brilliant Gordon Buchanan present his ‘30 Years In The Wild’ tour at my local theatre in Southend. As I waited for the auditorium to fill, I couldn’t help but feel like I was on my own. I mean, I was on my own as I didn’t bring anyone with me, I mean that I felt like an outsider. It struck me that probably 90% of the audience was likely 60+ and the only attendees younger than that were begrudged grandkids. Spending an evening listening to an internationally recognised wildlife filmmaker was clearly not a riveting activity for the masses. I’d always felt young when visiting a nature reserve but I stuck out like a fresh thumb as I waited for the show to start. It was only upon visiting RSPB Minsmere a few days later that the reality of this notion set in. The car park brimmed with elderly ladies and gents, adorned in camo and swinging their tripods from side to side. Lenses with the value of mortgages and scopes almost as tall as the carriers. Quite the convoluted game of buckaroo. It was unavoidable to notice the seniority in the surrounding patrons and not feel like something was missing. Of course, in my head, I wanted to delve into this and explore the idea. Is there really an ageing issue? If so, why? How can we solve it? Is it even a problem to start with? Let’s get delving.

To kick things off, my focus is the absence of youth, rather than the abundance of elderly wisdom. It is chiefly an overwhelming sense that the current custodians of our wild passions will not be replaced in years to come. The fear that all this seasoned knowledge isn’t going to be passed on and shared with others. Admittedly, a frankly morbid and existential perspective but come on, you get what I mean. For context, this debate also concerns other characteristics, including race and sexuality. In fairness, as a straight white dude, it’s not really my place to comment. Similar logics apply so feel free to contextualise as you please.

Being a naturalist, birder, twitcher or general great-outdoors-lover, is tagged with the label of being boring and weird. There’s plenty of overlap with my other blogs here so feel free to indulge in those also. This statement may be disputed from those within but sadly, this is the general consensus. The reason for this reputation is multi-faceted so from looking from the outside inwards, there is little incentive to join in. It’s given the same attention as playing chess or learning to play the clarinet. None of the cool kids wore waterproofs or spent their weekends at Spurn. Make birding cool again.

On reflection, is it surprising that the older you get, the more you embrace nature? The expectations of the human race are to work for every penny you earn until you physically can’t. Time to sit back and reflect on the ways of wildlife comes at a surplus, with retirement providing ample opportunity to do so. Utilising one of your allotted 25 holiday days for a jaunt at the local patch is a sacrifice that requires dedication. It’s only natural that homeowners with their own gardens care more about flora and fauna than twenty-somethings stacked in blocks of flats. Expensive optical gear, that is out of the price range for most budding birders, is affordable for those with enough income saved up. £10 a month for a charity membership isn’t in the budget for millennials and beyond. Think how many pints that could get you! (In London, one probably.) Exploring nature literally gets easier the older you get.

Let’s not forget that stock phrase uttered by our seniors: ‘I was young too once!’ Incorrect. Never happened. Old people were born with reading glasses on. With all jokes aside, while it’s clear that appreciating wildlife can grow on you, it’s also highly plausible that these passions have been growing for decades and decades. If older generations used to be inspired, what’s gone wrong? Well, pretty much everything. It’s universally acknowledged that as a planet, we have only become far more industrialised and urbanised in the last century. The wild is no longer at our doorstep and rare species are even rarer, with precious little good news. Summer afternoons that would have been spent running through fields of wheat have been replaced by kids watching YouTubers run around outside. 

Technology has scratched the itch of curiosity, something that would usually be remedied by mucking around outside. Our safety-conscious world has made us take less risks and arguably, a bit sanitised. Climbing trees and lake swimming is far too dangerous these days, right? Even wildlife charities, designed to preserve and protect, are also responsible. Catching butterflies is now frowned upon, egg collecting is very much illegal and nature-rich habitats have been fenced off. I’m not condoning these activities, however it’s obvious that they brought children closer to nature, back then.

Conclusively, all the evidence points in one direction. All a bit bleak for my own generation so it’s time to pack up and give up. The question remains, will the tide turn? I live in hope that as my fellow 90’s babies reach their seniority, the natural shift towards this ‘boring old man’ hobby falls into place. As mentioned, the world today isn’t set up for youngsters to get stuck in and buzzing about nature. When their knees get too rickety for clubbing and Nando’s feels just that bit less cheeky, maybe nature will fill that void. They won’t know it yet but birding could become that little bit more exciting.

The key component in adjusting the age balance is early inspiration. All naturalists were motivated by something, so setting that spark early is pivotal. In a warming world where our environmental impacts can’t be neglected, I would hope that future generations would feel empowered and involved. Our government has even pledged to include more content regarding ecology and climate science in school syllabuses. Whether that actually happens is another question altogether. Given Sir David is regarded as an icon to so many, will armchair naturalists finally get up from their seats? 

Is it even doom and gloom to begin with? Based on my mostly nature-obsessed Instagram, almost 50% of my followers are aged between 25 and 34, indicating that either this age bias is misjudged or older generations just don’t use social media. During my day at minsmere, aside from a majority of 60+ visitors, there were also plenty of families and young children out for a walk. A dose of fresh air for Easter-shackled parents. I’d spent too long looking out for characteristics that fit my narrative that I was blindsided. My absolute highlight was in the shop at the end, when a girl (around the age of four or five) had just had her first pair of diddy binoculars bought for her. The amazement on her face was palpable, until she dropped them on the floor. My heart sank.

Not every wildlife enthusiast is ‘old’ but if we could get our hands on some National Trust members demographics, I have a sneaky suspicion I know roughly what the average age would be. There is no smoke without fire and it’s by no means a nit-pick, folks my age just aren’t interested in nature. Finding a ‘solution’ is a tough nut to crack but in my opinion, it’s all about opportunity. If nature reserves are more accessible, if exciting wildlife is more abundant and if tantalising experiences are shared, we can live in hope that passions will follow. Loving nature will never be cool, no matter how hard Attenborough tries. There is no answer to this potential problem, perhaps my fellow millennials will have to wait and see what happens. We’ll get there one day.