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| Observation hide at RSPB Frampton in Lincolnshire - barrier to nature? |
That was the claim, made at Birdfair, by Lucy McRobert who told her audience: "I don't like hides - it's like watching wildlife on TV."
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Lucy McRobert - unnerving experience with a toad
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Encouraged by the county wildlife trusts (of which she has been communications manager since 2014), Lucy has recently published a book, 365 Days Wild , emphasising the tactile benefits of being involved with nature - for instance, picking blackberries, dipping feet into an icy stream or pausing to listen to a breeze blowing through trees.
As a young girl growing up in a leafy part of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire , she used to love playing in the woods and collecting snails which she kept in the garage at home.
But aged 16, she suffered the trauma of losing her mum to breast cancer - a damaging emotional experience which resulted in her losing her appetite for certain aspects of living, including walking with wildlife.
Furthermore, among her friends, it was not seen as "cool" to have a passion - least of all for nature - so she allowed her interest in the outdoor life to wane.
She spent too much of her student days playing on her Gameboy computer, watching TV and eating sugary foods.
Evidently, her education did not suffer because she won a place at Nottingham University to read History.
The life and times of the Tudors failed to inspire her, but everything changed when her academic focus switched to Environmental History.
This both reignited her love of the outdoor world and, as she told her fascinated audience, seemed to trigger the grieving process, previously dormant, for her mother.
Her spirits since then have been transformed and only for the good.
Since graduation she has married and she gave birth, in September last year, to her own daughter, Georgina - her book was written while she was heavily pregnant.
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| Lucy wrote her book while expecting |
The text has a nature-as-therapy narrative, describing how time spent with nature can transform lives - physically, mentally and emotionally.
When she started serious birding, she says she was determined "not to wear khaki", instead favouring a trendy jumper, pink ear-muffs, designer suede boots or, in wet conditions, trendy Joules wellingtons adorned with images of flowers.
Perhaps encouraged by her birder-husband, her dress sense is now influenced more by practicality than fashion.
Of her tot, she said it had been fascinating to observe her delight at playing on the grass or under the feeders.
It indicated that children are born with an innate intimacy with nature which is somehow gradually reared out of them as they get older.
Lucy emphasised the importance of having a "local patch" for observing nature because it creates a sense of "ownership".
An aficianado of churchyards, she described them as "magical places" and "havens of tranquillity".
She was also lavish in her praise for nature reserves, owned by wildlife trusts and others.
To laughter, she commented: "There are more of them in the UK than McDonalds restaurants - that's got to be cause for hope!"
Any downsides to her love of nature? Apparently just one.
Late one evening on a coastal reserve was she was caught so she headed, in the darkness, for the nearest sand dune.
At the critical moment, she saw the shadow of a warty creature - one that seemed to get ever bigger - slowly edging towards her.
In panic, she threw her phone into the air and shrieked - terrifying her husband-to-be who thought she had been kidnapped.
Then all was revealed.
"The creature turned out to be no more than a natterjack toad attracted by the sound of running water,"she confided. "But I'll never forget the experience.
"I'm not sure if I'll get over my aversion to toads!"
The subtitle of Lucy's book is A Random Act of Wildness Every Day of The Year.
* More reports from Birdfair to follow
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