Birdwatch

Birdwatch magazine is the UK’s number one bird watching magazine for keen birders, featuring the latest rarity reports, ID guides, optics reviews and birding holidays, plus features and news from across the world.

Birdwatch

Editorial

What’s in the digital edition?

THE LAST OF THE SUMMER SHEARWATERS?

Four minutes of magic! • An incredibly brief encounter with a stunning Blue-cheeked Bee-eater left Foula residents Donna and Geoff Atherton thrilled.

Second for Britain in Shetland • A smart Amur Wagtail on Foula was a new taxon for the archipelago and was the first of a remarkable brace of late spring finds for Donna and Geoff Atherton.

Cape Gull returns to Cambs • Last year’s hugely popular mega was back again at Grafham Water, albeit briefly.

A super Scottish summer! • A fine run of rarities in Scotland included birds from all points of the compass. Meanwhile, Cambridgeshire boasted a two-mega month, as Sam Viles reports.

Rare visitors from the south and east • A lively June saw France enjoy its first West African Crested Tern and Finland host both Blue-cheeked Bee eater and Asian Desert Warbler. Sam Viles reports.

Birding origins • Our columnist wanders down memory lane to recount some of his birding ‘trigger points’.

Reaching patch paradise • One of Britain’s most dedicated patchwatchers, Steve Nuttall recently celebrated hitting a landmark 250 species at Belvide Reservoir after nearly four decades.

FREE 30-DAY TRIAL TO THE UK’S NO.1. BIRD SIGHTING SERVICE • Join thousands across Britain and Ireland who trust BirdGuides as their chosen service, delivering efficient and reliable bird sighting news 7 days a week. Never miss a mega again!

Reintroductions: past, present and future • Initiatives to restore populations of extirpated birds have become a familiar conservation tactic in recent decades. Matt Phelps explores the varying successes of these projects and ponders what might be next.

Shorebird central • The RSPB’s reserve at Frampton Marsh has become famous for the quality and quantity of the waders and other waterbirds that it hosts. Reserve warden Toby Collett gives the lowdown on the construction of this fabulous site, and offers tips to visiting birders.

Aquatic Warbler • One of early autumn’s most desired migrants is a skulking denizen of reedbeds and marshes. Once a regular visitor, it has become a genuine rarity in recent times and requires a great deal of patience and skill to see. Self-confessed Aquatic Warbler fanatic Shaun Robson offers advice on how to find your own and separate it from two similar species.

Skull school • How much do you know about birds’ skulls? Amy Schwartz provides an introduction to the anatomy of skulls and bills, and looks at some of the fascinating adaptations that have evolved.

The birds of our lifetimes • After inheriting a collection of bird books, the personal nature of some of them set David Callahan on his own journey of reflection and wonder. He asks: what will our birding legacies be?

New hope for Armenia’s vultures • Vultures play a crucial ecological role as nature’s undertakers, but exposure to artificial poisons and toxins has driven a decline in many species over recent decades. The latest project from World Land Trust will restore one of Armenia’s most important vulture habitats – the Caucasus Wildlife Refuge – with more than 700,000 native trees, bringing benefits to birds, mammals and local communities.

EXPERT REVIEWS • Your trusted guide to what’s new in birding: www.birdguides.com/reviews

Detailed database

Rewilding bible

No longer all the same

Staying positive

Swept up

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