...and just to prove all those ISIHAC jokes correct, The Guardian made a typo by calling the event "Birdfare" (see the event's website to confirm to correct spelling) 

That aside, it's a good article that not only quotes Bill but also includes an excerpt from his "Little Black Bird Book".  Here's the text of the article, which can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/18/conservation:

The eyes have it at the world's biggest gathering of birders

Some 20,000 enthusiasts descend on 'nearest thing to Glastonbury' - with Bill Oddie as the headline act

Sam Wollaston The Guardian
Saturday August 18 2007

FP20813 is looking unamused. Until five minutes ago he was just a nameless, carefree woodpigeon, flying about in the middle of England. Then he flew into a net. And now he's statistic, with a ring on his leg and his own unique number. It's for his own benefit - ringing helps conservationists understand bird populations and migrations patterns better - but you wouldn't know it, looking at him. He rewards his ringer by pooing on him. "One of the hazards of the job!" says Guy Anderson of the RSPB, cheerily. FP20813 is quickly released, "so he doesn't get too stressed".

Birdfare, in Oakham, by the shore of Rutland Water, is "the biggest international birding event anywhere in the world," according to Tim Appleton, who organises it.

It's a place where bird enthusiasts come to upgrade their binoculars (a top-of-the-range Viking 20x125 pair will set you back £2,995), book birding holidays in Panama (13 days for less than £2,000 says Ana Maria Sanches, who's selling them), buy birding clothes (hats for), or just be with other bird enthusiasts. There are a lot of them in Britain. The RSPB has more than a million members. "It's a huge lobby," says Mr Appleton. "Far, far greater than any political party or anything like that." And 20,000 of them are expected at Birdfair over the three days.

The socks and sandals combination is proving popular this year. As it almost certainly did last year, and every one of the 17 years since it started. Shorts too, and beards. It's the Bill Oddie look. He looks like Bill Oddie, she looks like Bill Oddie, he looks like Bill Oddie ... he is Bill Oddie! Surrounded by adoring fans, most of whom look like him.

"It is a bit like the Glastonbury for birders, yes," he says. "And actually they do usually have music too, something to do with the year's focus. I'd do one on the Birds of Minneapolis, and get Prince to come and play."

Here Oddie is the headline act, and he's much in demand. "It is exhausting. I never manage all three days. Trying to get to the car at the end of the day is very difficult, with everyone wanting a word." But it must be nice to be surrounded by like-minded people? "I don't think there are any people with minds like mine," he says, almost sadly.

He just has time to explain that the term "twitcher" is often misused by the media. "A twitcher is an obsessive ticker of rare species," he says. "It's a fascinating and not very salubrious world. I'd stick with us, the normal people."

The generally accepted explanation for the origin of the word is that it came from a group of early twitchers who used to race about on motorcycles, like The Wild One except not really, ticking off birds ("you bad, bad bird you"). When they arrived somewhere - at the north Norfolk coast say - they would be so cold and so excited, they'd literally be twitching.

Oddie is not the only celebrity birder here. Wildlife TV personality Simon King describes Birdfair as "the most extraordinary vanguard of all things wonderfully avian". And the popularity of birdwatching can only be good news for the planet.

"Birds, because they're visible, because they flut about by day, and because they're quite cute, are fantastic ambassadors for the natural world as a whole. And from a conservation point of view the health of the avian world is critical to the health of the entire natural world."

Out on Rutland Water, the ospreys are not at all visible. 05 has been spotted intermittently at site B apparently, but right now there's no sign of her. She's probably feeling binocular shy - who wouldn't be with 20,000 pairs of eyes not just looking at you but looking at you enlarged? There's a posse of cormorants out there, a common tern, a mute swan, a deaf duck, a daft coot, and a disdainful looking heron, probably cross about the bearded invasion. FP20813 is nowhere to be seen.

Expert view: Bill Oddie's guide to labelling

Ornithologist

This is a very dangerous one. It implies a high level of expertise of a scientific nature. Unless you have a biology or zoology degree, or are an expert on some particular obscure area of bird behaviour, don't claim to be an ornithologist. I have been accused of being an ornithologist (by laymen who wished to be impressed, or journalists who wish to impress their readers) and I always strenuously deny it. Neither do I believe I know any bird person who would call themselves an ornithologist ...

Bird-spotter or bird-fancier

A bird-fancier is either more appropriately applicable to a person who keeps caged birds, or it is a pathetic joke made by some bore in a pub who has just heard that you are interested in birds. "Oh. Ho-ho, I'm a bit of a bird-fancier too, eh? eh!" You can be more easily forgiven for calling yourself a bird-spotter, but don't - because it's soppy. It's particularly soppy if you say you're "going bird-spotting". Say it out loud a few times and you'll see what I mean ...

Bird-watcher

No! Now this is a surprise isn't it?! So what's wrong with bird-watcher? I don't know. I honestly don't know, but it is not the correct term. Not any more ...

Birder

A birder is seriously involved in studying, identifying and collecting birds. He or she goes watching birds, but on the other hand he or she doesn't go bird-watching. He goes birding. This implies a fair degree of conviction and expertise. Moreover - and I think this may explain some of the word's appeal - it implies a certain ruggedness, almost athleticism. Bird-watching does sound a bit passive. Like you sit quietly and hope the bird will fly to you, and if it does, you watch it. Birding is more active. You definitely move, quite quickly if necessary; and if the birds don't show themselves, you get out there and find them ...

Twitcher

You will recall (I hope) all that stuff about seeing new birds and rare birds and ticking them off on your list. Right, well, a twitcher is a birder who races round the country frantically collecting rare birds. He is openly concerned with adding more and more species to his list. His obsession is to get a new tick. Basically there is nothing wrong with this, and most birders would admit that there is a little bit of twitcher in all of us. What distinguishes the real twitcher is his degree of emotional involvement in whether or not he succeeds in getting a new tick ...

· From Little Black Bird Book by Bill Oddie, published by Robson