A WATERBIRD expert has teamed up with TV presenter Kate Humble to write a book aimed at enthusing budding bird-watchers of all ages.

Martin McGill, senior reserve warden at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, met Kate, presenter of BBC Spring Watch, on a swan ringing trip to Iceland.

He was bird watching during a break from his work, while Kate was filming for a new series of Autumn Watch, when she became interested in his knowledge of the wigeon bird.

"He was showing off with his knowledge and was explaining to me how to tell an American wigeon apart from the others and I thought ‘This is exactly what we need to do’.

"We need to help explain bird identification much better because traditional bird manuals can be frustrating," said Kate, who lives in the Wye Valley and is vice-president of the WWT.

"For the book we would sit bird watching and Martin tell me all his technical knowledge and I would ‘Humblise’ it basically.

"What we’ve ended up with is something that is fun, but also factually accurate. It is full of tricks and tips about how to identify water birds and the whole ethos of the book is to show that birds are for everyone to enjoy."

Martin, a father-of-two from Whitminster, started work for the trust in 1988 and is extremely passionate about birds.

"I absolutely love bird watching," he said. "That’s why I was happy to do the book. It bridges the gap between the simple knowledge people have of birds in their back garden to the more technical knowledge in bird manuals.

"I was really pleased to get involved with the book, it was good fun to produce because we went out and did a lot of bird watching."

Kate and Martin signed copies of the book at Slimbridge Wetland Centre last week. The glossy book is full of colour photos and documents 100 different waterbirds, many of which can be seen at Slimbridge.

Copies of the book, called Watching Waterbirds, are available at Slimbridge and bookshops nationwide priced £12.99.