Looking for rare birds really is an amazing and fun way of spending your time. But it's also a tricky one, as many try but few actually succeed in finding them. Some time ago, as I was doing bushes at the coast in Belgium, I had an epiphany. I thought to myself: "Niels, you clearly suck at this. Now's the time to face it". So instead of blindly keeping on, I decided to sit down and talk with the people who are actually good at it and who have made a habit of finding a shitload of rare birds, year after year. Of course, it was also a good excuse to simply sit together and talk about birds.