I was twelve. Near our home in Noordbarge I saw a brightly coloured bird, so beautiful that it could only be an escaped cage bird. But by accident I stumbled on an illustration in a bird guide that identified it as a redstart, a European bird. I took possession of the bird guide, found myself a pair of binoculars and started bird-watching. It changed my life.
The redstart is not a common breeding bird, so imagine my delight when one of the first birds that I heard singing when moving to Giethoorn 10 years ago was a redstart. And then it even bred in the pear tree behind our home. Things had come full circle.