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

Editor’s Letter

Bonus digital content!

Champion Choughs

Top team effort • Quick thinking and sharp scanning from Colin Wells allowed him to relocate Britain’s seventh-ever Hudsonian Godwit.

Super swallow on St Kilda • The North American passerine season started with a bang when Craig Nisbet discovered a mega hirundine.

Wandering wonder • John Lynch tells the epic tale of an astonishing seabird encounter.

Autumn awakens • The most exciting season in the British birding calendar commenced with a fine selection of rare waders and seabirds, as Sam Viles reports.

All at sea • A run of fantastic seabird records dominated the August headlines, as Sam Viles reports.

Be in the know fi r s t with BirdGuides • This autumn, be the first to hear about all major breaking bird sightings. Notifications are available on ANY device and come complete with on-site instructions and maps, 365 days a year, 16 hours a day, for the birds that matter most.

JENNIFER SIZELAND Video killed the wildlife stars • The welfare of nature must come above any filming, writes Jennifer Sizeland, who has spent her career in the media industry.

MARK AVERY We need to talk about the RSPB • Is the charity losing track of its conservation roots? Our columnist wonders what the future holds for Britain’s biggest birding organisation.

Yorkshire gold • For a relatively modest North Sea promontory, Filey has an astonishing knack for attracting good birds. Regulars Andrew Cottrell, Ian Robinson and George Watola relive some of its past highlights and give a rundown of the key hot-spots to check.

Restoring a seabird haven • The Mouse-Free Marion Project is an audacious eradication campaign to save Marion Island’s precious seabird colonies from invasive rodents, as Robyn Adams of BirdLife South Africa explains.

A tale of tyrants • Argentina may not be the first country that comes to mind when thinking about South American birding, but Kit Day found it to be a place of spectacular habitats and equally impressive birdlife, including plenty of fascinating tyrant flycatchers.

‘Eastern Stonechats’ • The situation regarding vagrant stonechats from the east is a complex one. Andy Stoddart summarises ID features of the various taxa and looks at their current classification and status, as well as potential changes in the future.

North Sea pit-stops • Offshore oil and gas platforms can provide a lifesaving opportunity for migrant birds, sometimes resulting in remarkable encounters for the few observers present. From owls to Orcas, Andrew Thorpe looks back on 40 years of offshore wildlife recording by the North Sea Bird Club.

The famous grouse returns • Red Grouse is back as a full species in its own right, and a British and Irish endemic no less. Simon Papps takes a look at the life, history and future of this iconic bird.

Macaw valley • Found nowhere else on Earth, a Critically Endangered parrot inhabits the arid foothills of the Bolivian Andes. World Land Trust’s Christie Reed details the conservation efforts being employed to save this spectacular but extremely rare bird.

We’ve scoped out the best deal

Worth the weight • Ramping up the magnification, SWAROVSKI OPTIK has elevated its top-tier binocular to a new level. Mike Alibone takes a closer look.

A luxurious wear

Taking bird pellets apart

Garden bird surprises

A love of lepidoptera

Memory cards

Transatlantic visitors

Autumn’s arrival

Busy birding

Flying...