Hannah Bourne-Taylor, the bird enthusiast who appeared on the latest series of Clarkson's Farm, has responded to online speculation that she is autistic following her clash with farmhand Kaleb Cooper. The fifth series of the Amazon Prime show, which documents Jeremy Clarkson's farming efforts in the Cotswolds, introduced Bourne-Taylor after Clarkson expressed concern about the decline of common farmland birds.
Bourne-Taylor's Bird Passion and Nesting Feat
Bourne-Taylor's enthusiasm for ornithology was evident as she reacted with delight upon spotting rare species. She left Clarkson astonished when she revealed she had allowed a bird to nest in her hair for 84 days. However, tensions arose when she discovered that endangered nesting birds and their offspring would die if ploughing proceeded on a field earmarked for harvest, as reported by Gloucestershire Live.
Jeremy Clarkson weighed both perspectives, with Kaleb arguing they could not afford to delay weeks for the birds to vacate. They eventually reached a compromise that protected the birds while still allowing the harvest.
Viewer Criticism and Autism Speculation
Some viewers criticised Bourne-Taylor's demeanour, with one Reddit user writing: "I just thought she came across as genuinely quite rude, and there were points I thought she was going to storm off set. She's literally just met these people, who are doing their best for their farm animals, and she acted like they were wanton idiots killing baby birds for fun."
Other commenters speculated that Bourne-Taylor might be neurodivergent, suggesting her intense focus on birds could indicate autism, despite her never having disclosed such information.
Bourne-Taylor's Response on Instagram
Bourne-Taylor responded to the speculation in an Instagram video. Standing in a field wearing denim shorts and a red plaid shirt tied around her waist, she said: "So the internet has diagnosed me with autism, so this is my impression of Rain Man in light of hitting 100,000 followers, I am going to try to say 100 birds."
She then proceeded to name various bird species, including blue tits, great tits, puffins, razorbills, gulls, and farm birds, before listing many others. The video garnered supportive comments, with one follower writing: "You star Hannah". Another said: "All I know is, I now stand in my garden with my Merlin app hearing things I have missed for 50 years, so thank you for that, it's amazing."
