Stephen J. M. Gantlett is a British

birder Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

. He lives with his wife Sue in

Cley-next-the-Sea Cley next the Sea (, , is a village and civil parish on the River Glaven in English county of Norfolk, north-west of Holt and east of Blakeney. The main A149 coast road runs through the centre of the village, causing congestion in the sum ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. A qualified optician, SJMG retired from this profession in 1982 to become a full-time ornithologist. He was the editor of

Birding World ''Birding World'' was a monthly birding magazine published in the United Kingdom. It was the magazine of the Bird Information Service, based at Cley next the Sea, Norfolk. With the publication of issue No. 26/12 in January 2014, ''Birding World'' ...

magazine until it ceased production in January 2014. He also co-runs Birdline, a

telephone information service A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

containing news of rare birds, with

Richard Millington Richard Millington is a British birder and bird artist. He lives in Cley-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. He does not appear to be with his wife Hazel. He is assistant editor of ''Birding World'' magazine. His contributions to that journal include many a ...

. Steve Gantlett is a

twitcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

. He is one of a small number of

birders Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

who have seen over 500 species in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. He is a former member of the

British Birds Rarities Committee The British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), established in 1959, is the national bird rarities committee for Britain. It assesses claimed sightings of bird species that are rarely seen in Britain, based on descriptions, photographs and video re ...

. Gantlett's specialism as an ornithologist is the advancement of bird identification. Among the areas of knowledge in which Gantlett has played a key role are the identification of

orange-billed tern {{Short description, Group of birds Orange-billed tern is a name applied to a group of three large terns in the genus ''Thalasseus'' with orange bills, which are quite similar in appearance and often considered difficult to identify, namely: * Roya ...

s. He also found the UK's first Rock Sparrow at Cley on 14 June 1981 (with Richard Millington), still the only record in the UK. He has published papers on this subject in

and in British Birds.Gantlett, S.J.M. Lesser Crested Tern in Norfolk. '' British Birds'' 81, 282-283.

References

British nature writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) British magazine editors People from Cley next the Sea {{UK-ornithologist-stub