When I started birdwatching, I had none of the gear and no idea, and as a young solo woman, I stuck out like a sore thumb in a community dominated by older men.

Unlike them, I wasn’t trampling those same muddy paths to get a ‘tick’ on my bird list, but because I felt like I was grasping onto the edges of my sanity more tightly than ever before.

I’ve had depression, anxiety and OCD from the first age that I can remember, which means I’ve attempted all kinds of strategies to try to manage my broken mind. I’ve tried all the classics: running, meditation, reading, listening to music and even crocheting, but none of them helped me to slow down in the way that I needed to in order to function.

I was first inspired to learn about birds by watching the BBC wildlife show Springwatch, and something about watching the live nest cameras piqued my interest – what were they and where could I see them?

“How birdwatching helped me to manage OCD and anxiety attacks”