Be a Birder: The joy of birdwatching and how to get started

Product Information

Hamza Yassin has become a familiar television favourite as his film making of wildlife is widely seen. Hamza is the presenter and cameraman for Channel 4 ‘s documentary, ‘Scotland, My Life in the Wild’, in which he takes viewers on a tour of his home in Scotland, showcasing incredible footage of the surrounding wildlife and the immense patience and skill that goes into capturing these amazing moments as a wildlife cameraman. We book celebrities for personal appearances, headline musicians, stand up comedians and other entertainment.

I loved this book, perfect easy read to curl up with on a winters day, informative in a simplistic manner whilst entertaining and beautiful. Join Hamza Yassin as he talks about his life thus far and how he became the renowned birder he is today.

His first foray into presenting was on BBC’s The One Show as one of their new wildlife cameramen and is now a presenter — under the guise of Ranger Hamza — of the hugely popular CBeebies’ live-action show Let’s Go For A Walk. In 2022, Hamza was delighted and honoured to lift the glitterball trophy with his professional partner Jowita Przystal, having won BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing! The sheer happiness and positivity, humour and knowledge, make this a great book for people of all ages - and if you’re looking to get into bird watching but are daunted by the thought of getting started, this will give you a great introduction. Packed with fantastic facts and figures, lists and infographics, illustrated with pictures and photos and all wrapped up in Hamza's own stories of his adventures in nature, this really will teach you everything there is to know about the planet.

I’ve always been interested in wildlife and have always had bird feeders but since moving into the countryside want to really get into identifying the birds around me.Whether you need a companion on your next expedition or simply wish to dip in and out as you learn more, Be a Birder is fit for every purpose, and encourages us all to discover the joy of birdwatching. With Hamza as your guide, you will be able to build your birdwatching confidence and push yourself further afield to find new feathered wonders. He is positive and engaging, and his joy and delight in the natural world is captivating and inspiring. It’s a perfect book to be your companion through your explorations into the environment and will teach you an awful lot, whether you’re a novice or an experienced twitcher. We also engage celebrities and media personalities for endorsements, PR campaigns and radio days, advertising campaigns and brand ambassador roles.

I’ve been on the birdwatching scene for a few years now and still count myself as a complete novice. He made his first television appearance on the CBeebies show Let's Go for a Walk, in the role of Ranger Hamza, and featured in a book based on the series, which won the Sainsbury's Children's Book Prize for Best Activity Book 2021. This book is pure serotonin, and I am genuinely sorry that I’ve finished it, because many times I’ve come to it feeling a bit down and two paragraphs in, I feel like myself again. Yassin said: “I have really enjoyed working with Macmillan Children’s Book on this fantastic collection of animal facts and figures, knitted together with stories from my life as a naturalist and cameraman, and I look forward to talking about it and meeting readers next autumn.

And amazing still to see all the public support flooding in for Hamza, and how rapidly his profile has grown! I know how big a part birdwatching has played in his life, so I can’t wait for Hamza to share his superb stories and incredible ornithological knowledge with the world. First saw Hamza on kids TV when we used to watch Let's Go For a Walk, I found Hamza fascinating and informative. He was lovely with everyone (especially the kids) and dealt with the constant attention so well, never seeming like he’d rather not interact – in fact I had to keep telling people to move on as they were having such a long chat! In 2021, he presented Scotland: Escape to the Wilderness, a four-part series that saw him take four celebrities (Martin Clunes, Baroness Warsi, Ben Miller and Reverend Richard Coles) to wild locations around Scotland, showing them the local wildlife.