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Outlook: The ultimate birdwatcher: Facing swamps, snakes and sceptics

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Birdwatcher Bobby Harrison

08/02/2024 GMT

The ultimate birdwatcher: Facing swamps, snakes and sceptics

BBC World Service - Outlook, The ultimate birdwatcher: Facing swamps, snakes and sceptics

For 50 years Bobby Harrison has canoed the Arkansas swamps in search of an elusive bird

Armed with a canoe and a camera, Bobby Harrison has spent 50 years in the Arkansas swamps trying to prove the existence of the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker.

Bobby Harrison is not your ordinary birdwatcher. For the last 50 years he has been trying to prove that the ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct. He canoes out into the Arkansas swamps to try and snatch a photo while swerving venomous snakes and the frogs he hates so much. He has actually had nine sightings of the bird but it is so nervous he has never managed to capture a good enough image. Without proof of its existence the species will be declared extinct and its swampy habitat will no longer be protected from possible destruction. 
 
Gary Washington’s family always knew their ancestors in south Carolina had been enslaved, but they were too busy dealing with challenges in the present to give the past much thought. Gary found solace in playing the cello and eventually studied it full time, developing a unique style which sometimes includes beatboxing. Then he visited Manchester in the UK and discovered the cotton his ancestors had picked contributed to the city’s wealth. This spurred Gary on to research his family’s history in more depth. He tells reporter Eric Mugaju how he turned what he discovered into an epic work for orchestra, A Story of a People Called Black. (This piece was first broadcast on 16 December 2023)

Presenter: Jo Fidgen 

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Bobby Harrison. Credit: Bobby Harrison)

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