Martin Garner Spurn Young Birder 2024

The event shares the aims of the late Martin Garner, a knowledgeable and inspirational birder who encouraged so many others with his passion, expertise and hunger to explore the limits of bird identification.

To be eligible for the award you need to be 16 or under on Saturday 7 September 2024. To apply for a chance to reach the finals, a questionnaire outlining your passion for birds and skills learnt so far on your ornithological journey must be submitted via the link below, by midnight Sunday 21 July 2024. There are two age categories: 13 and under, and 14 to 16. 

Our judges will assess all entries and select up to six finalists. Only the judge organising the applications will know the names of the applicants, so final choices will be made anonymously by the remaining judges. Then, the six finalists will join our friendly judges for a day’s birding at Spurn on Saturday 7 September. It’s a fantastic location with excellent opportunities for sea-watching, vis-mig, watching birds on the Humber Estuary and in the bushes. After some outdoor birding it’s back to base to show us what you know and answer a couple of theory questions. 

In the evening, we celebrate all those who reached the finals. The winner in the senior age category will take home a pair of Swarovski binoculars while the junior winner will receive a pair of binoculars from Opticron. All finalists will win memberships to a number of fantastic bird-related organisations.

Enter this year’s Martin Garner Spurn Young Birder here: bit.ly/MGSYB2024

Keep up to date with the MigFest news at www.spurnmigfest.com

For other opportunities for young birders and wildlife lovers, please visit www.bto.org/youth and https://spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/observatory-work/youth-engagement.