A champion kickboxer with a newfound passion for ornithology is ruffling feathers among birdwatchers with a set of knockout videos captured from feeders in his garden.
Wes Fagan, who teaches martial arts to students in County Durham, has become so enthusiastic about his new hobby he now has make a fight or flight decision about how to spend his spare time.
Impressive footage of birds filmed at the former world title holder’s Dipton home, such as bull finches, nuthatches and redpoll, have caught the eye of wildlife presenter Chris Packham.
Read more: Six cats that need urgently rehoming in the North East
At the weekend a cameraman from the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch visited to film and set up the stream so people around the country can tune in later this month.
Wesley, dad to Torin, who is eight and five-year-old Ailish, said: “I got into birdwatching over lockdown when me and my laddie started going to down the woods.
“We had nothing to do so we would get up at sunrise and go into the valley and spot different birds.
“We got him a bird book and a set of binoculars, so I started doing my own research from there.”
Wes, 41, whose house overlooks the Pont Valley and backs on to woodland with a stream, said he was looking out of the window one day when he noticed a bull finch had landed on the table outside.
He said: “I realised we get all sorts here, living up high on the hill, so I started putting feed out and it just came alive
He said there are around 15-20 bull finch visitors as well as the gold crest, longtail tit, cold tit, blue tit, woodpecker and chaffinch.
Wes said: “The variety and numbers I am getting is pretty uncommon so I tweeted Chris Packham and shared a video that ended up on Springwatch.
“His favourite bird is the bull finch but he cannot get them in his garden so he was calling me the ‘greedy bull finch hogger’.
“I kept tweeting him and it snowballed. Some of my videos of Twitter will get 80,000 views on Twitter in a week. It has now took over the kickboxing a bit.”
Wes has also started a Facebook page dedicated to nature and wildlife, The Manor, named after Dipton Manor, and has almost 5,000 followers with contributors around the world.
Footage from his garden is being live streamed as part of the Big Garden Birdwatch between 9am and 4pm from January 27-29.
He said: “My phone will be set up there for two days and you can go on You Tube and see what is being captured from across the country.
“They have been here to do a preview this weekend and set it up so they can see what birds they can expect to get.
“I just like to see what drops on and that is why I keep doing it.
“You never know what you are going to get in. That is the excitement of it.”
Wes said his advice was to make sure the feeders are cleaned regularly and just use trial and error, or wing it, to find out what work best in terms of feed.
He found peanuts attract crows, which scare off smaller birds so he uses sunflower hearts, with fat pellets during cold weather.
Read next:
- Looking back: scrapping the Tuxedo Royale nightclub in 2018
- Labour leader sends open letter to Home Secretary over Darlington spiking attacks
- Amazon confirms plans for new North East warehouse creating hundreds of jobs
If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to your Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here
RSPB cameraman Fabian Harrison, who visited on Saturday, said: “We try to showcase the gardens and wildlife across the country.
“Wes’s garden is a great example of doing it right and he gets loads of birds visiting.
“We saw his videos on social media and were blown away by the sheer of diversity of birdlife he gets in his garden.”
To find out more about the Big Garden Birdwatch click here
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here