Steve Gale

From Londonbirders

Born 1958. I began birding in 1974. Main patches worked have been Beddington SF (1974-1986), Dungeness (1976-1991) and Holmethorpe SP (1991-2005). I was previously a member of the Dungeness Bird Observatory committee (with several stints as assistant warden) and also the Kent Ornithological Society Records Committee. I have birded throughout Europe, Israel and Malaysia. My London list is over 200 without any serious chasing of birds (best being the 1984 Mediterranean Shearwater). Most of the past seven years have been spent botanising rather than birding (1000+ plant species in UK) but I have recently been stung back into ornithological action by finding a local farm (Canon's) that is full of birding potential - I will be proved either right or wrong in 2006! My other interests include Moths, Butterflies and Dragonflies.

In my brief days of twitching I managed to see a few real beauties: 2 Wallcreepers (Hastings and Cheddar), Varied Thrush, Orphean Warbler, Little Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit and, before they became unblocked, Belted Kingfisher and Semipalmated Plover. However, I became bored with the dashing about and 'dropping everything' mentality that went with competitive listing and retired to sedate patch work.