The largest reedbed in northwest England is undulating in the breeze, the morning sun drying the grasses after yesterday’s rains. Walking on RSPB Leighton Moss’s raised wooden walkways, which bring curious birders right into the heart of this unique habitat, we come upon an excited little knot of ornithology enthusiasts. All eyes and binoculars are trained on a pair of small birds with long tails… but hang on, aren’t those a couple of very familiar faces in the crowd?
Gasping in unison, wearing coordinating berets, are comedian, artist and actor Jim Moir (best known to most as his arch-surrealist humourist alter-ego Vic Reeves) and his wife, model, actress and TV presenter Nancy Sorrell. Beside these exotic visitors to Morecambe Bay is another – potentially less surprising, but no less surprised – VIP. “Oh my god!” gasps naturalist (and pal to Jim and Nancy) Chris Packham. “I haven’t seen one in such a long time!”
The star turn that’s generating all the excitement is a pair of the area’s famed bearded
