MORE THAN 250 people flocked to Northallerton at the weekend to see birdwatching Goodie Bill Oddie present his show, Follow That Bird.

A very down to earth performer, he delighted the audience at Hambleton community centre with stories of his life in pursuit of birds, starting from childhood egg collecting experiences in Birmingham to searching for birds of paradise in the jungles of Papua New Guinea - and visiting various other parts of the world in between.

A delightful element of his performance was how he humanised the birds he described, such as the story of the imaginary conversation he had with a puffin, and the exchanges he would like to think occur between sibling baby birds in the nest!

He also explained some of the techniques and problems involved in filming birds for the television programmes he has done. Just how do they fit a television camera into a woodpecker's nest?

The stories he recounted were as much about the places, people and experiences as about the birds.

The emphasis of the evening was very much on humour, entertainment and visual appeal. Oddie used slides, a puppet, a wig and his skills at impersonating birdcalls and movements, which combined to make a very entertaining evening.

There was certainly an information and education element, but over-ridingly this was an evening of entertainment, aimed not at specialist birdwatchers - although they did enjoy it - but at general audiences of all ages. K S