Vacation time: How are the birds in the UK / England?

Late last year I wouldn't have even considered it. BUT, this year I've been bitten by the bird bug so to speak I looked through some threads but didn't really find what I was looking for. One thread was talking about how bad the overcast / lighting is in England.

So, I'm debating to bring the tele's or not. The reason why I ask is the wife shoots too, so if I (we) bring the birding gear that means, 2 extra bodies (50D's), 2 telephotos (70-200 2.8 IS + 1.4X & Tamron 200-500), and possibly 2 flashes w/ better beamers.

We are renting an apartment for the entire trip so the "birding" gear could technically stay put away on days when we are going to be all over enjoying landscapes. For some reason I'm thinking better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it

Another thing is safety. I'm already a little worried carrying around 17-40 (me) & 24-105 (her), so defintely don't want to be targeted with the bigger lenses.

So, how is the birding in the good ol' UK?

Thanks for any input!

Has been great for the last week , sun is blazing !
Now , how long that lasts is another thing , in the North West the weather is very changeable .
Has been a bad winter and spring , so this has held back much of he nesting , so activity is high in that respect . (I have been having great fun with the short eared owls) .

As for security , I should imagine it is the same as any population centre .
I stay away from city centres (with my camera) and tend to stick to my local moorland (I am on the edge of the dark peak) .
The people that pass me (walkers etc) , don't even know I am there .

Spring/Summer finally started to show up a couple of weeks ago, and it's now pretty nice out. I've had it sunny+dry since Saturday and bar a brief shower Friday morning, it's expect to be good for another week. The weather isn't a reason to leave the telephotos at home. Where exactly in the UK will you be visiting (and when)? Did you have particular types of birds in mind, or plans to visit specific areas looking for birds? Is the plan to dedicate time to wildlife photography, or to be more opportunistic while doing general touristy things?

As a general observation, and not an attempt to discourage:

The biggest problem we Brits have isn't so the much the weather, but that most of birds seems to be much more flighty than your chilled out north american birds. The other issue is due to our overpopulation and lack of wild areas, so much of our high-density-of-wildlife is found in managed reserves where you're kept to paths and hides (that are poor from a photographer's perspective.)

Where will you be staying is the first question? Despite its size there are a number of different habitats and opportunities for birds. Some garden birds are more tolerant of humans, there are seabird colonies which will allow you to get within inches (literally) of them on their nest. Most, unfortunately, are much more skittish than North American birds and require more fieldcraft to get within range. If you tell us where you are going to be we can help point you in the right direction with where to go and what you will need. Have you thought about renting a lens over here??

As for security, it is much like the US - some places you will not want to go with a camera, others youwill not have to lock the door.
Weather can provide variable light, you can get 4 seasons in one day!

Best,

John