Sir David Attenborough spent lockdown ‘listening to birds’ in his garden

‘A lot of people have suddenly realised what deep, profound joy can come from witnessing the rest of the world’

Sir David Attenborough has said that he has spent the coronavirus lockdown “listening to birds” while sat in his garden.

The beloved nature documentarian recently joined Instagram, where he broke the record for the shortest time taken to amass one million followers.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Attenborough said: “The message that I am concerned about is so important I would use any medium to get it out.”

Attenborough recently authored both a book and Netflix documentary entitled A Life On Our Planet.

The 94-year-old presenter also described lockdown as “a vision of what life can be like when you've got more time to sit and stare”.

“I've certainly spent more time in my garden listening to birds, than I have for a very long time,” he said. 

“A lot of people have been surprised by that - a lot of people have suddenly realised what deep, profound joy can come from witnessing the rest of the world - the natural world.”

Attenborough also recently spoke about the protest tactics used by environmental activist organisation Extinction Rebellion.

“In getting it [the law] changed you have to be careful that you don't break the law, I think,” he said.

“Of course I agree with their message. It's simply a question of what is politic and sensible.”