We are birders - Atticus Kidd

Emma Chaplin
, 05 September 2025
We are birders - Atticus Kidd
Atticus Kidd © Atticus Kidd

Atticus Kidd will soon be joining us as our Green Finance Development Officer. He's just completing his MSc in Global Biodiversity Conservation at Sussex Uni. Atticus is a keen birder, and before applying for the role with us, sent us these answers for our 'we are birders' blogs.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I loved nature as a child but found that education didn't particularly promote this passion. With a skill for maths, I was instead led down alternative routes that resulted in a degree in Economics followed by a decade in the finance industry. I maintained various volunteer roles in conservation, but it wasn't until uncovering a love of birds that I came to reignite this passion fully. I went back to University to study Ecology and I'm now using the skills I previously acquired in my work life to help nature through the Natural Capital industry.

Number of years birding?

I have always taken an interest in nature, but have had a particular focus on birds for five or so years.

Any challenges to birding for you?

I have a benign essential tremor which makes my hands shake. As you can imagine this makes staring down a pair of binoculars quite tricky. I have a scope on a tripod to help with stability on the visuals but learning birdsong has been a massive help for me, although its a long and continual process.

Which is your favourite bird to watch and why?

I love the Eurasian Jay, I think they have such personalities and the research surrounding them is fascinating. I also love Oaks and so have an increased appreciation for Eurasian Jays in their role spreading these across the UK.

Jay © Alan Price

Jay © Alan Price

Where is your favourite place to watch birds?

New Zealand is tough to beat. They have a beautiful array of birds and you feel like a real explorer. Whether trekking on a remote island for Malherbe's Parakeet, taking out a boat in search of the New Zealand Storm Petrel or staying up late for a glimpse of a Kiwi. However, I would say that I love birding pretty much anywhere. In Sussex, I'm a big lover of Pulborough Brooks and Knepp. I'm fortunate enough to have a role as a Safari Guide at Knepp and have been continually amazed by the wildlife there.

What's your top tip for new birders

Start taking notes. Taking notes on behaviours, habitat, song and other features really helps to build a full profile of a bird. This won't just help with identification but also developing a relationship with birds. I wish I'd taken more notes in my early days of birding to remember those walks and improve my learning. It's quite easy to become obsessed with just seeing as many species as possible but when you start taking notice of the birds themselves this adds a whole other layer. Taking notes will still help put together those life lists too.

Any experiences of birding/using a bird hide you’d like to share?

Birding for me has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. The wealth of resources out there has made it an easy way to interact with nature in both an informative and mindful manner. That being said, I am aware that the world of birding can seem impenetrable with the extent of knowledge sometimes assumed and various issues with profiling. However, I have found that birders are almost always willing to help and the journey has been highly rewarding. I'd love to see more people from a wider array of backgrounds in birding.

Leave a comment
Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1782555385.68750 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1782555385.73240.0449Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1782555385.73260.0002Server address: 216.73.216.31
1782555385.73260Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1782555385.73260Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/we-are-birders-atticus-kidd
    [s] => we-are-birders-atticus-kidd
    [1] => we-are-birders-atticus-kidd
)
1782555385.7330.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.73450.0015 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1782555385.73660.0021 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1782555385.73720.0006INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1782555385.73980.0027 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22344868
1782555385.74040.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22344868
1782555385.74150.001 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-06-27 10:16:00' AND saleTo>'2026-06-27 10:16:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1782555385.74290.0014 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='we-are-birders-atticus-kidd')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 10:16:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1782555385.74580.0029 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782555385.74650.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=3760 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 10:16:00'
1782555385.74740.001 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1782555385.74820.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1782555385.75070.0025 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=195 LIMIT 1
1782555385.75160.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=45 LIMIT 1
1782555385.75230.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782555385.75250.0002 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1782555385.75340.0009 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 10:16:00' AND postSlug='we-are-birders-atticus-kidd'
1782555385.77380.0203Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782555385.77520.0014 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1782555385.77690.0017Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1782555385.77720.0003 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1782555385.77810.0009 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1782555385.77930.0012 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782555385.78230.003 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.78460.0023 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782555385.78680.0022Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1782555385.78690.0001 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782555385.78780.0009 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782555385.78840.0006 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782555385.79120.0028 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782555385.79220.001 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782555385.79280.0007 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1782555385.79520.0024 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.79620.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1782555385.79910.0029 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1782555385.79960.0005Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782555385.79990.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782555385.80060.0008Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1782555385.8010.0003 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='we-are-birders-atticus-kidd')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-06-27 10:16:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1782555385.80340.0024 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1782555385.8040.0007 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782555385.80830.0043Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1782555385.80960.0012 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=3760 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1782555385.86020.0507 [0] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1782555385.86040.0002Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1782555385.86070.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='20' LIMIT 1
1782555385.86150.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1782555385.86210.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1782555385.86260.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782555385.86470.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.86530.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782555385.86790.0026 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782555385.86860.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782555385.86930.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782555385.86980.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782555385.87290.0031 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.87350.0007 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782555385.8760.0024 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782555385.87930.0033 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1782555385.88010.0008 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1782555385.88060.0005 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782555385.88280.0022 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.88370.0009 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782555385.88560.0019 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782555385.88860.003 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1782555385.88930.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1782555385.88980.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1782555385.89190.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1782555385.89250.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1782555385.89430.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1782555385.89550.0012Request time: 0.2094
1782555385.89550Process time: 0.2093
1782555385.89550Memory: 1.6273