Now that’s extreme birdwatching!
IS it a bird? Is it a plane? Neither, actually – it’s a birdwatcher, who’s about to turn the normally sedate hobby into an extreme sport.
Sacha Dench, 41, is planning a ten-week trip in a motorised paraglider to follow a group of swans across 11 countries as they migrate.
The distant relative of actress Dame Judi Dench will endure subzero temperatures, and even face the risk of being shot at by hunters or electrocuted by power lines.
Her journey will start next month, when the Bewick’s swans begin their 4,700-mile trip from the Russian arctic to Europe. Miss Dench, who works at the Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Gloucestershire, told The Daily Telegraph: ‘My family initially thought I was bonkers ... but I think they have now realised how passionate I am.’