With shoulder-length curly hair and a baggy hoodie, Ben Ackerley is far from the typical example of a “birder”.
But as he stood in the Ashley Estuary north of Christchurch, with the wind billowing and black billed gulls circling overhead, there was no denying his passion.
“It’s got a longer beak and more elegant flight,” the 15-year-old said, binoculars in hand.
“You usually won’t find it as much by the coast, as you would inland.”
The Canterbury high school student is part of a group of teenagers hoping to change the image around birding, a hobby more often associated with retirees.
The organisation – Young Birders New Zealand – has members nationwide who organise regular trips into the wilderness in the hope of finding as many birds as possible.
A key organiser is 16-year-old Samuel Amaris.
“When you think birding, you think old folk with binoculars – we’re trying to like change that stereotype a bit,” he said.
The teenagers are even known to chase birds across the country – a practice known as “twitching”.
It can take them to many different landscapes, like the windswept sands of the Ashley Estuary.
It was there that Ben, Samuel, and their friend, 17-year-old Saryu Mae, agreed to take a 1News crew out on an expedition.
They’re unable to drive, so one of their parents subbed in as the taxi into the wilderness.
“They’ve always got one eye out to the next great adventure,” Ben’s dad Kevin Acklerley said at the drop-off point as the journey began.
“I’m there to say no – and say yes.”
Soon, all three teenagers were off, carrying long lens cameras over their shoulders as they crossed a river on foot.
The estuary is one of many places the teenagers frequent, as the area is known for attracting a rotating cast of vagrant birds that follow the wind around the world.
The flow of information was constant, running from one to the other.
“Do you know what ID is?” Sam asked at one point, as a bird called nearby.
“That’s a skylark,” Ben replied without missing a beat.
Soon, they were crawling on hands and knees as they snapped photos, adding to their already impressive collection.
All three lads have a huge number of sightings of different bird species to their names.
“Uhh, 189 at the moment, which is not the best,” Ben said.
“I think I’m at 152,” Sam added.
“Currently 163,” Saryu replied.
It’s an impressive showing for those so young, requiring a lot of travel.
“Some people really are really into it, we call them twitchers,” Sam said.
“The moment a rare bird gets seen, they’ll buy tickets, fly across the country, drive the rest of the way, and then try and see that rare bird the day after.”
He wasn’t willing to admit to being a twitcher himself, but the others confessed to dabbling a little.
“Me and three other birders rented a car and drove from Christchurch all the way down to Stewart Island to twitch a dusky woodswallow,” Ben said, grinning.
“I was in a bush in Northland for, like, maybe 40 hours,” Saryu added. “I barely got any sleep – probably like two or three hours – because I was so excited to hear the kiwi calls.”
It’s that kind of passion that makes the older twitchers happy to have the youngsters’ company.
The teens ran into birding tour guide Steve Attwood during their recent trip to the Ashley Estuary, who promptly sung their praises.
“They might pick up our knowledge on bird behaviour, but they’re often really much more high-tech than us old fellas are so both sides benefit,” Attwood said with a laugh.
The young birders hope to follow in their older compatriots’ footsteps.
“A lot of the old birders – 10 years, 20 years – they’ve got lists of over 200 species or 300 species,” Sam said.
“They’ve gone all over New Zealand.”
The teenagers are hoping other young people will join them in the hobby as they go about changing the stereotype, and promoting birding to all.
They say it leads to moments you never forget.
“Whenever you find a bird that’s really friendly or comes close to you, you sort of get to that point where you put down the camera and then just enjoy the moment,” Ben said.
