September 2 2015, Gatwick airport, UK. I’ m a window seat kind of air passenger, I understand the convenience of an aisle seat well enough but I’ll skip it any time in favour of the living map below. It’s my idea of fun to interpret the physical and political geography passing under. But as we coast in on the final approach the challenge turns to spotting the first signs of local bird life. On the final approach to Huatulco, Mexico a couple of years ago, we were eye-to-eye with Black Vultures as they wheeled and turned over the coastal scrub-land. The approach to Panama City airport leads over mangrove swamps where egrets stalk the shallows. After touch-down as we taxi to the terminal the first bird is always something that favours open fields and has no fear of big noises; at Pablo Picasso Airport in Malaga, Spain a Lesser Kestrel was my first sighting. Approaching Gatwick Airport early this morning it was no surprise to see a trio of Magpies busying themselves at the runway’s edge, ignoring the wide sweep of our taxiing aircraft; things that fly are nothing new to them. As our our welcoming committee they were my Bird of the Day.