About me

I grew up in Aldershot, very close to the Hampshire/Surrey border, and it was here that my dad first sparked my interest in birds by pointing out Swifts dashing about high above our garden, and also challenging me to spot the singing Skylarks equally high above the dunes on family outings to Hayling Island.

It wasn't until 2009 or so that I really got into birding 'proper' though when I was working as a gardener for the Bishop of Guildford and felt compelled to learn more about the birds and general natural history of the garden. I began blogging and tweeting about the things I saw there - mainly because I worked alone so had no-one else to share it with!

Around this time I also started regularly visiting nearby Tice's Meadow which became my local patch. For a while I lived in the Woking area, when I shifted my birding focus to Papercourt Water Meadows and GPs and also the area around Trigg's Lock on the Wey Navigation.

Now I've moved further south to the outskirts of Guildford and am working as a gardener at Winkworth Arboretum. In addition to keeping a close eye on the wildlife around the arboretum, as of 2016 I've decided to focus my local birding efforts on an area south of Guildford, primarily Shalford Water Meadows, but also incorporating Broadford Marsh, Unstead Sewage Farm, Chinthurst Hill and The Chantries. I've mainly set up this new blog to produce updates on my birding in this area, but will also include trip reports from further afield from time to time.


Matt Phelps, January 2016