Sean Ronayne

We have great blackback gull, the largest gull in the world.

Look, there's a gannet.

No, folding its wings and diving.

Oh no, it's a fulmer.

Fulmer.

There are guillemots.

There are razorbills.

You can see anything.

There's an abundance.

Shrew.

You hear the shrew?

It sounded like a pygmy shrew.

So it gets me in a lot of trouble when I'm speaking with people because if a bird or anything vocalises within my range, I'm on it and the conversation is paused.

I always say that I have two frequencies, I have two channels that are operating and the default one is the one that tunes into birds and I'll quickly revert to that in an instant once I'm triggered, you know.

Well, really, I use sound more than anything to navigate my way through the world and to form my worldview.

I follow my ears rather than my eyes, I think.

Of course, I didn't have a diagnosis until I was the age of 32.

But it answered a lot of questions because, you know...

I'm not just drawn to the intricate details of bird sound.

I can't turn it off.