Be honest, now: when you meet a chiffchaff, can you tell the Siberian version from its Iberian cousin? Constantine’s latest project, run from a small back room at Lush’s Poole premises is book publishing, and his first title, The Sound Approach to Birding, draws on his long-held passion for birdwatching. This publishing enterprise, which shares its space with the bike Constantine rides to work, largely consists of an Apple Mac, several cartons of books, and an enthusiastic young sprig called Matthew Fairhall, fresh out of Reading University, whose main qualification for running the show is that he’s best mates with Constantine’s younger son, Jack. At Lush, they don’t go in for high-faluting job titles; with a twinkle, Constantine suggests describing 23-year-old Fairhall as either Senior Publishing Executive or Supreme Commander, whichever I prefer. This cheerfully direct, unorthodox approach seems to be working surprisingly well. Constantine and Fairhall have shifted close to 1,000 copies of The Sound Approach to Birding since it was first published five months ago, a very respectable figure for a volume that costs close to £30 and could fairly be described as a niche title. It takes an entirely new approach to bird identification, helping experienced birders and beginners alike to identify birds by their song, using sonograms which translate into graphic illustrations. “Learn to read a sonogram and you are on you are on the road to success. It’s rather like a magician’s trick; once you know how easy it is to do, you want to do it yourself.” The book, which comes with two stereo CDs, has taken 17 years to put together. Constantine works with a number of other experts, including sound recorders and photographers. The resulting Sound Approach database is the fourth-largest natural sound archive in the world.

He first became interested in birding at the age of 21, encouraged by his wife; seeing gannets on the coast of Ireland was one of the highlights of thier honeymoon. “It’s all down to girls with me,” he says. “Cosmetics are a good reason to talk to girls as well.” Compiling the book has taken him to some extreme places. He has sweltered in a tin hut in Spain, looking for vultures, and shivered in minus-17 degrees of cold in Finland, in a makeshift hide made out of an old packing case, waiting for the white-tailed sea eagle to deign to descend to a bait of frozen pig carcasses. “I’d heard that the Swedes have heated hides, but the Finns just thought that was soft. Some of the most beautiful songs, however, he says, come from more familiar friends: the song thrush, the blackbird, the mistle thrush. “Garden birds have the most complex songs of any European birds. People assume that because they’re common that their songs are simple, but they’re not.” Though I’m sick of Robins, what a bloody boring song. They look great but the sound is like rubbing your finger across glass.” The Sound Approach has won the Best Bird Book Award from British Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology, the UK’s top award in the field. Feedback from users has also been positive. “This book is an inspiration, the text educational and fun to read. I cannot recommend it too highly. Buy it and buy it now!” exhorts Surfbirds.com. Birdguides.com is equally enthusiastic: “I can’t remember the last time I was so impressed, entertained and enlightened by a birding product. Birders everywhere should get this.” This positive has been achieved through a typically unconventional approach to distribution. “On the high street here, there’s a branch of Waterstone’s and three remaindered bookshops,” says Constantine.