Birding with Bill Oddie was a British TV programme, about natural history, presented by Bill Oddie. Three series and eighteen episodes were made, which ran from 21 February 1997 to 31 March 2000 on BBC Two. Birding with Bill Oddie was only loosely scripted and a lot of Bill's dialogue was spontaneous – he would start to talk and the cameraman would film him. The reason that the viewer almost feels that they are in the hide or on the site with Bill, is that video was used rather than film. Series Overview Series 1: 21 February 1997 to 28 March 1997 (6 Episodes) Series 2: 15 May 1998 to 19 June 1998 (6 Episodes) Series 3: 18 February 2000 to 31 March 2000 (6 Episodes) Episodes Series 1 (1997) Broadcast: Friday 21 February 1997 – Friday 28 March 1997 1. Minsmere in Early May First ever episode. A day in the life of Britain's best-known bird reserve. Species seen: avocets, stone curlew, sand martins, baby tawny owls, dawn chorus (tits, treecreeper, finches, wren), reed and sedge warblers, nightingale, spoonbill, bittern, marsh harrier and common cranes. Oddie: "If you asked me where I would go to see the biggest number of different species of birds, in Britain, in one day, I'd say Minsmere, in Suffolk, in early May. And that's exactly where I am!" 2. Scottish Highlands in June and July A quest for the Scottish "Big Six" Species seen: osprey, crossbills, red squirrels, crested tit, (female) capercaillie, Slavonian grebe, golden eagle, dipper, grey and pied wagtails, common sandpiper, ptarmigan and dotterel. Bill attempts to see a male capercaillie, but does not succeed, not helped by the miserable ranger: "You don't always get what you want Bill." "True, but I would still have liked to see a Caper!" 3. British Birdwatching Fair in August The British Birdwatching Fair: the event of the year that any keen enthusiast should visit Species seen: great crested grebe, moorhen, coot, grey heron, cormorant, tree sparrow, common chaffinch, greenfinch, swallow, sand martin, and house martin. 4. East Coast in July and September Experience migration on the east coast. Species seen: Arctic tern, guillemot, razorbill, puffin, common whitethroat, little stint, curlew sandpiper and knot. Bill visits the Farne Islands, via Yorkshire, to North Norfolk, in search of migrating birds. "If you asked me to sum up the magic of birding in just one word, that word