On television, Bill Oddie often seemed to forget the camera. A call came from a hedge, and his attention shifted toward it. He listened, peered through his binoculars, and said what he thought he had heard. Viewers shared the uncertainty, the waiting, and the excitement when the bird finally appeared. He showed that birdwatching could begin almost anywhere. The equipment was simple, and the wildlife was often close to home. A garden, park, reservoir, or patch of scrub provided enough to get started. Oddie, who died on July 25th, aged 85, had already been famous for many years. As one of The Goodies, alongside Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, he helped create a form of television comedy built around satire, songs, visual jokes, and cheerful disorder. Their series ran through the 1970s and made him especially familiar to children. Birds had occupied him long before television did. Raised in Birmingham, he recorded sightings for the West Midland Bird Club while still young. His initials appeared in its 1956 report, and his first article, on the birds of Bartley Reservoir, was published in 1962. He became a knowledgeable field ornithologist, skilled at identifying birds by sight and sound. In the 1990s, he began presenting programs that drew on both his ornithological knowledge and his experience as a performer. Birding with Bill Oddie followed him into hides, wetlands, and ordinary British landscapes. Bill Oddie Goes Wild covered a wider range of animals. Wild in Your Garden and Britain Goes Wild used live…This article was originally published on Mongabay
