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

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Missing Melopyrrha of the Caribbean

Five-star find • A visit to his local patch turned into a magical day for Ben Bowen when he discovered a flock of Nearctic wildfowl.

Boot up! • A thermalling raptor in south-west Cornwall gave Perry Smale a shock when it proved to be a mega from the Continent.

Elegant return • A routine day’s work finished with a flourish for Dermot Breen, when he came face to face with an orange-billed tern.

Eyes to the skies! • An entertaining month of migration was topped by a handful of intriguing reports of mega raptors, as Josh Jones explains.

French first leads the way • A new species for France, Mediterranean surprises and encouraging raptor news headlined a varied April across the region. Ed Stubbs reports.

Batumi, Georgia – The Bottleneck for one million raptors one million raptors

A tale of greed and ignorance • The ongoing persecution of a Black-headed Gull colony by anglers at our columnist’s patch shows the extent to which humans have become disengaged from nature.

Hoping for a swift return to normality • Our columnist’s year list ground to a halt when illness restricted him to a hospital bed, but a regular late-April birding habit provided welcome relief.

Odd couples • Some of the UK’s most curious breeding records feature out-of-range birds pairing up with their closest match. Dr Mark Eaton, Secretary of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel, explores this surprising cast of mixed pairings.

Yorkshire’s seabird city • Famed for its immense seabird colony and an ability to attract extreme rarities, Bempton Cliffs RSPB holds an important position in conservation history and British birding culture. Poppy Rummery, the reserve’s Visitor Experience Manager, explores this ever-changing clifftop site.

Least Tern • A challenging ID in all plumages, the North American counterpart to Little Tern would be a major find anywhere in Europe. Niall T Keogh discusses how to recognise this subtle species.

Birding the frozen frontier • A visit to Svalbard may not deliver a big trip list, but the archipelago’s enchanting Arctic birds and mammals leave a lasting impression. Graham Catley shares memories from his recent trip to the land of Ivory Gulls and Polar Bears.

Taxon to type: the lesser-told story of ‘omissus’ herring gull • For decades, yellow-legged European Herring Gulls of the Baltic and Fennoscandia were variously treated as a subspecies, a hybrid form or a colour morph. As gull taxonomy shifted in the 1990s, their status was finally put to the test – and ultimately settled, writes Ed Stubbs.

Rise of the egrets • Egrets have staged some of the most dramatic range expansions in living memory. Today, three charismatic former rarities are a regular sight and even breed across much of Britain. David Campbell explores the forces behind their rapid rise.

FREE 30-DAY TRIAL TO THE UK’S NUMBER-ONE BIRD SIGHTING SERVICE • Join thousands across Britain and Ireland who trust BirdGuides as their chosen service, delivering efficient and reliable bird sightings seven days a week.

Eagle alive and well • Feared lost from North Africa for almost 20 years, Tawny Eagle appears to be holding on in the region, as Benedict Macdonald reports.

Back to the future • Unconventionally stylish with a new twist on modernity, SWAROVSKI OPTIK’s latest incarnation of its Companion series is designed to appeal to birders. Mike Alibone takes a closer look.

Smart feeding

Boiled-down ID

Beginner’s guide to...