A LLANDUDNO COUPLE have published a book about their record-breaking bird watching adventures.
Alan Davies and Ruth Miller officially launched their account, called The Biggest Twitch, on August 10.
The pair, who met while working for the RSPB, literally packed up their life, selling their home and possessions in 2007 to travel the globe with the aim of breaking the world record for the number of bird species seen in a year.
The old record stood at 3662 birds and was set in 1989, but the intrepid enthusiasts smashed through the total, clocking up more than 4000 birds.
Mr Davies, who used to manage the RSPB Conwy centre, said: “It was a different style of bird watching. It was a race against time.”
The epic journey happened almost by accident, as the partners had simply wanted to go on a long holiday.
A chance talk with a friend brought up the subject of the world record, and the challenge was set.
Mr Davies said: “All of a sudden we had a purpose for the year. It was very frightening. The idea was easy to come up with but the last couple of months before we left we had major doubts about what we were doing. We gambled everything on this trip.”
Despite their misgivings, the couple found that travelling became second nature to them, and they made an average of more than 10 sightings a day.
Mr Davies said that one of the few birds they took two days to spot on their whirlwind tour was the harpy eagle in the Amazon.
He said: “It’s a bird I’ve wanted to see since I was a lad. It’s such an amazing species. After many hours of sitting and staring up at the canopies we suddenly saw it sitting and staring down at us.”
The pair say that they would love to have another go at the record one day, but for now they plan to take their time and enjoy more leisurely bird watching trips.
Ruth Miller and Alan Davies will be book signing at RSPB Conwy on September 5 from 10am to 4pm.