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 BATTLE DOWN UNDER

Red alert! • The mega alert was sounding from the South-West once more when Bob Flood and the Scilly Pelagics team connected with another sensational seabird.

Brown Booby is Scottish first • Mervyn Griffin details his super work in finding and identifying a new Scottish bird.

Boobies on the Bishop! • Mark Thomas reports on the find of a second booby species at Bishop Rock Lighthouse.

Happy holidays • Patrick Safford’s family holiday took a shock turn when he and his dad discovered a mega in the Hebrides.

The sensational seabird summer • Pelagic action in the South-West Approaches made plenty of headlines in August, but there was also a great deal of excitement elsewhere, as Sam Viles explains.

Swallow saga • A major influx of American Cliff Swallows to Iceland was one of the many talking points during a busy August that also produced numerous other Nearctic rarities, writes Sam Viles.

ALAN TILMOUTH Rescheduling! • It’s time for the list of Schedule 1 species to be revised, with many inclusions considerably out of date.

MARK AVERY Thinking ahead • The Political Birder is back with a new bimonthly column! First on the agenda: thinking ahead to next year’s general election.

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!

Orkney’s leading light • North Ronaldsay Bird Observatory’s relatively short history is nonetheless illustrious, with this northerly outpost having cemented itself as one of the best locations to study migration and find vagrants anywhere in Britain, as warden George Gay explains.

Masters of the mast • It’s such a pleasure to watch a Brambling, but finding one is not always a straightforward prospect given the species’ varying numbers and nomadic habits in the UK each winter. Sarah Harris takes a look at this beautiful finch.

Autumn robins • Robins and chats are among everyone’s favourite birds, and October is the month when European Robin is at its most abundant, as well as a prime time for finding a rarer species. Andy Stoddart weighs up the options and offers advice on unearthing a mega.

Hel of a place • In autumn, one of the names that comes to the fore of European birding is Hel, a peninsula jutting out from Poland into the Baltic Sea. Milosz Cousens profiles this famous migration outpost.

Getting back to birding • After suffering an unexpected stroke, Julian Bhalerao’s story of recovery and the joys and frustrations of getting back out in the field with binoculars and camera is an inspiration to all.

Protecting a birding treasure trove • Colombia astounds in its diversity. With an incredible range of species, habitats and ecosystems, it has a rich culture to match. Richard Cuthbert, Director of Conservation at the World Land Trust, describes his visits to the country and the organisation’s latest project to protect remnant areas of Antioquia’s cloudforests and their endemic species.

The power of the portable • Kowa has transformed a significant slot in its popular TSN Prominar range in line with current demand for low weight and portability. Mike Alibone investigates.

App fully updated

New Central American guides

Historical context

Restoring a rainforest

Watercolour wilderness

Northern...