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.

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Birdwatch

Editor’s Note

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Asia’s greatest avian enigma

Bird-finding dream come true • What began as a foggy day of late-autumn birding for David Cooper ended with one of Britain’s most sought-after megas.

Peak patch birding in Purbeck! • Phil Saunders’s hard work on his patch paid off with the stunning discovery of a Pine Bunting amid a flock of Yellowhammers.

Late-autumn surprise for Skokholm wardens • A grey, windswept November day produced an electrifying discovery for Richard Brown and Giselle Eagle: Wales’s fourth Killdeer and its first in more than three decades.

Britain’s first Boat-tailed Grackle draws crowds to Hampshire • The bird was almost certainly ship-assisted and probably won’t be accepted as wild, but many birders have still travelled to Calshot to see it.

A November to remember • Sam Viles guides us through a whirlwind month across Britain and Ireland that was full of exciting rarities and late-autumn migration, with no fewer than four Black-faced Buntings in Britain and two megas in Orkney.

Black-faced Buntings break the gates • A remarkable November produced an unprecedented arrival of Black-faced Buntings in Europe alongside a wealth of rare and unexpected species across the Western Palearctic. Sam Viles rounds up the month’s standout sightings.

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Winter’s many colours • The days might be short and chilly, but midwinter offers a special time to appreciate birds and the various light and casts under which they appear.

Promised little, delivered less • With the Labour government delivering little when it comes to green policies, how many voters are going to switch allegiances before the next general election?

The tidal watchtower • The Dee Estuary is an important habitat for many birds, including waders and wildfowl on a continental level, with Hilbre Island Bird Observatory at its heart. Phil Woollen and Steve Williams introduce the ‘obs’ and discuss its history and key species.

Snow alert • Snow Goose is most often seen as an escape from captivity in Britain, but genuine wild vagrants from North America arrive annually and small, established feral populations also exist. Sam Viles takes a look at the complex status of this goose.

American Wigeon • Careful checking of Eurasian Wigeon flocks on your local patch this winter could unearth a Nearctic vagrant. Brian Stretch outlines the key features, in particular for the cryptic and surely under-recorded female American Wigeon.

The lesser-known Gould • Talented and prolific 19th-century bird illustrator Elizabeth Gould rarely receives the recognition she deserves, especially compared with her famous husband. Sue Lisk takes a look at her life and work.

Winter birding in the future • Wind on the clock 25 years from now and global warming and weather systems have become increasingly unpredictable. Still an active birder, an ageing David Callahan shares his diary for winter 2050-51.

Counting connections • The BTO’s Teresa Frost and Chris Thaxter explain how waterbird monitoring in the UK connects us to the Arctic environment and a global community.

Testing times for the falcon of the north • Avian influenza and climate change are putting stress on Gyr Falcon populations in Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland, while the release of captive-bred birds is blurring the status of the species in Britain. Ed Stubbs ponders whether this rare visitor from the north is going to become even trickier to...