Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2026 i Bird Watching

Ian Parsons: “A Goldcrest, a tiny fluffed-up bundle of feathers scouring the garden for food.” Ruth Miller: “Three Choughs soaring over Llandudno from my living room window.” David Lindo: “A Brambling in a mixed finch flock feeding in stubble – a very scarce Extremadura winter visitor.” Amanda Tuke: “I opened the curtains at dawn to see a flock of Redwings drop on to the tree opposite.” …and the Bird Watching team’s answers Matt Merritt: “A Yellow-browed Warbler was a real surprise – me and a friend found it while we were looking through a finch flock.” Mike Weedon: “Undoubtedly a Snow Goose – though Crossbill, Long-eared Owl and Jack Snipe were pretty memorable, too.” Cover pic: Goldfinch JOHN GOODAY/ALAMY…

twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised – always a treat Very scarce or rare TAWNY OWL According to the most recent surveys, there are more breeding pairs of Tawny Owl (50,000) than Kestrel (46,000). If we are lucky, we may see multiple Kestrels in a day, but when did you last see a Tawny Owl? The reasons are obvious: Tawnies spend the day asleep, and are often hidden in a hole in a tree or concealed by Ivy (or similar), deep in woodland. There are places where Tawny Owls can be watched at respectful distances, sleeping undisturbed, and you may have one near you. But otherwise, your best bet to see one is as a silhouette, against a darkened sky. In addition to being famously nocturnal, they are…

#My200BirdYear ticklist Download and print off our #My200BirdYear ticklist to track your progress… www.birdwatching.co.uk/my-200-sign-up You can track your progress in #My200BirdYear by joining us on the Birda app, as featured in our recent Gear Guide. Download the app, sign up for the #My200BirdYear challenge, and log your sightings as you make them. While you’re at it, Birda’s monthly and geographically-based challenges are a great way of motivating yourself towards the bigger target, too, and by interacting with other users you can develop your ID skills. YOUR LOCAL PATCH The dawn chorus is almost imperceptibly increasing, with commoner species beginning to court as the light from increased day length is processed in their brains and their hormones cascade. In parallel, your winter visitors are eking out a meagre living on your…

Back ‘by popular demand’, here we have a suite of birds linked by one thing: they are in silhouette. Some birds are so similar in shape and structure to other birds that they cannot be confidently separated based on their outlines alone. But we are not that mean, so the birds featured in the following six images should be possible to put a name to without fear of ambiguity (at least in a British context – as always, these are birds which regularly occur over here, without any extreme rarities). There are no grey areas, here, it is all black and white… Have a look at the photographs and use your skills to name the birds. Once you are ‘happy’ with your answers, please flip the page to reveal the…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 5 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS This coastal walk combines mudflats, saltmarsh, creeks and sand bars, depending upon the state of the tide. Thousands of shorebirds, gulls, terns and ducks feed on the bay. Humphrey Head promontory is worth spending time scanning for migrants, and for the chance of storm-blown seabirds following westerly gales. With views across the Lakeland fells to the north and the sands of Morecambe Bay to the south this is a walk among spectacular and contrasting landscapes. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 Kirkhead Wood supports the expected range of resident woodland birds including Tawny Owl, Stock Dove, Jay, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatch and Treecreeper, plus common tits, finches and thrushes. Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler breed, while…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS This circular walk takes in a wide range of farmland habitats on land reclaimed from the sea for growing crops. Habitat includes turf fields, sheep folds, hedgerows, a copse, drainage ditches, and reedbed. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 The lay-by provides an elevated viewpoint ideal for scanning the surrounding marshland for birds on the move or grounded, such as flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plovers, gulls, corvids, Starlings, Stock Doves and Woodpigeons. Marsh Harrier, Buzzard and Kestrel are resident while Merlin and Hobby are possible in winter and spring respectively and, increasingly, Red Kite. The walk out across the sheep folds towards the church often delivers a Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Snipe or Green Sandpiper along the drainage…

It might not feel like it, but the Redwings will soon be on their way back north. Even in February, some of these delightful winter thrushes will begin their relatively short journey back to their breeding sites in Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia. As they go, it might be tempting to say: “So long and see you next year.” But that would be a mistake. It’s certainly true that, when Swallows depart in the autumn, we can expect them back to the same or similar breeding sites next year. And many winter visitors, including ducks, geese and waders, are similarly faithful to their wintering sites. But Redwings have a very unusual migration. They are flexible and nomadic. Just as there are two types of human tourists – the ones that holiday…

I have always found the word ‘trumpeter’ laughable, and it certainly seems to be a silly name to give to a small bird. Were it used in reference to a larger creature, say an elephant, I could totally buy into it, especially when you watch a bull African Elephant with raised trunk breaking out a proper ear-splitting trumpet. The Trumpeter Finch on the other hand was supposedly named after its rasping song that is described as like a tin trumpet in many a bird guide. To my ear, its song sounds more like a short sharp burst of a miniature electric drill or, at a stretch, a dentist’s drill. I certainly don’t see, or to be more correct, hear, a fanfare of trumpets. However, I bet if you discovered one…

I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing Christmas holiday, and managed to get out and about for some birding, despite the very cold weather. My own New Year’s Day list included a Slavonian Grebe and a Yellow-browed Warbler - both nice surprises in my part of the world – but it was also noticeable that there were a lot of small birds moving around. These included some visits to my garden by several lively groups of Goldfinches, and, as if to highlight what Ian Parsons writes in his feature on page 32, they headed straight for a little weedy patch which has a few Teasels growing in it. Seeing them was reward for my foresight (OK, laziness, if I’m honest) in letting things grow a bit wild last year –…

WINTER WONDERLAND Micromoths have enjoyed a recent surge in appreciation. No longer are they dismissed as titchy, unidentifiable things with impenetrable Latin names. The attribution of common names for these smaller moths in a recently updated field guide has made them much more accessible – and thus more interesting. Some of the new names are truly splendid – such as Spring Harbinger for Tortricodes alternella, an oak-loving moth that flies between January and March. BUTTERFLY Turning the corner? Since 2011, Small Tortoiseshell populations have collapsed by 60%. The nadir was 2024, when the species recorded its lowest total ever in the ‘Big Butterfly Count’, a citizen-science initiative run by the charity Butterfly Conservation. Last year, however, the same event doubled the previous year’s count. I watched many in my garden,…

A friend-of-a-friend once asked me if Lesser Spotted Woodpecker earned its name for being ‘spotted less often’ than its commoner, larger relative. Back then, I found this question rather funny, but in the intervening years it has become increasingly apt. Of course, the smaller of these two pied woodpeckers has always been the scarcer, but more recently, numbers of each species have been heading in dramatically different directions. According to BTO BirdTrends data, the UK population of Great Spotted Woodpecker increased by 378% from 1967-2023. By contrast, Breeding Bird Survey data suggests the sparrow-sized Lesser Spotted has declined by 82% since 1995, while the 2023 Rare Breeding Birds Panel report recorded a maximum of 220 UK breeding pairs (though this is almost certainly an underestimate). February and March are ideal…

We’d had good, if not notable, birding in Richmond Park, on a November morning which my friend Sue described as ‘sunny and sparkling’ in her weekly report. A Little Owl had been found, sunning itself in the crook of a branch, while the resident Tawny had been less obliging. Redwings had flitted from berry-loaded Hawthorns, a lone Fieldfare had been spotted flying away from us, and Meadow Pipits had skipped overhead at intervals. Circling back, we paused by Upper Pen Pond and debated the identity of a small raft of snoozing ducks in the distance – Teal, as it turned out – when a wagtail called from somewhere nearby but out of sight. Grey, I thought to myself, but then when several in the group decided it was a Pied,…

With the New Year celebrations now done, many of us are already looking forward to the coming spring, but winter is still with us and will be for some time yet. Our gardens can look a bit forlorn at this time of year, but with some careful planning and perhaps some less careful gardening, this time of year can attract some beautiful colour into them in the form of our most charming of birds – the Goldfinch. The Goldfinch is a bird that is doing well in Britain, expanding its range and numbers over the last three decades, so it’s a bird that is familiar to most of us. We often associate Goldfinches with feeding on towering Teasels, the birds gleaning the prolific seeds from within the spent flowerheads. It…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 6 MIN TIME: 6 HOURS It is possible to visit Eigg on a day trip from Mallaig or Arisaig (summer only), but if you really want to get the best out the island you should consider staying overnight. Some 130 species are recorded annually with about half of that number breeding. You can see Golden and White-tailed Eagles, Raven, Hen Harrier, Buzzard, Red-throated Diver and Stonechat. The Scottish Wildlife Trust employs a seasonal Ranger to carry out wildlife surveys, conservation work and lead walks and provide wildlife information. STEVE NEWMAN WHERE TO WATCH 1 Around the harbour is a mixed broadleaf woodland. Extensive replanting produced commercial and native woodlands in the centre of the island, producing a north/south corridor for wildlife. The only…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 1 HOUR This country park, just outside Coventry, has a luxury hotel and wedding venue, as well as being very popular with general visitors, so it’s a good site to visit midweek outside the school holidays, when you can enjoy woodland walks and some sometimes surprising visitors to the lake. MATT MERRITT WHERE TO WATCH 1 The lake is best viewed from the hide, but have a quick look from this area, which is usually swarming with clamouring gulls, Mallards and feral geese – on one occasion I found a Mediterranean Gull among the bickering Black-headeds. 2 Walk through the woodland, looking and listening for the likes of Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, all the commoner tits…

GET IN TOUCH birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA Snowy start Firstly, I’d like to wish all at Bird Watching magazine a very happy New Year. Your advice helped me to amass a more than respectable UK year list for 2025. Secondly, I wanted to share the magical start I had to this year (and my 2026 list). On the first weekend of January, I travelled to one of my favourite almost-local reserves – RSPB Frampton Marsh, in Lincolnshire. Here, I encountered an unexpected lifer: a Snow Bunting – actually, seven of them. The smile these obliging birds put on my face was almost enough to crack the ice that had formed on my skin from windblast and sub-zero temperatures on the reserve’s sea…

CRAGHOPPERS MERINO CREW NECK LONG SLEEVED BASELAYER II £35 Warm up a cold day’s birdwatching with one of these. It’s lightweight (men’s 210g, women’s 160g), super-soft, wicks moisture away and doesn’t hold on to nasty aromas. 80% of it is merino wool (non-mulesed). Merino wool is a “natural insulator”, “naturally antibacterial” and breathable. The other 20% is recycled polyester. Slim fit. Made in China. Lifetime guarantee. Men’s S-XXL, Women’s size 8-20. Black. craghoppers.com OYSTERCATCHER HOODIE £50 It’s not a hoodie for Oystercatchers. It’s a hoodie adorned with an Oystercatcher – be careful with that beak. It’s made with certified organic cotton, not tested on animals (they wouldn’t wear it) and GM-free. It came out of a factory that runs on renewable energy and the printing is low waste. If an…

The best rare birds seen all around Britain in 2025 BIRD OF THE YEAR White-throated Needletail POPULAR ‘MEGA’ Siberian Thrush STRANGEST LOOKING BIRD Eastern Nightingale FIRST UK BREEDING Zitting Cisticola The year 2025 will possibly, in birding terms, be remembered as a year when certain incredible birds ‘got away’. Chief among those that slipped through the net (and arguably the most painful dip) was the Great Crested Flycatcher, photographed in a Mainland, Shetland, garden, in the heart of the autumn rarity season – a new bird for the Western Palearctic which was seen by not a single ‘birder’. The White Tern found at Llanberis in a moribund state may well also find itself on The British List to no lister’s great pleasure. But it was also a year of amazing…

LINNET The Linnet is one of those easily forgotten birds which in many birders’ minds can conveniently be dismissed as just another LBJ. To some extent this has some truth with the rather nondescript female of the species. However, male Linnets have a beauty which can take you by surprise, mainly with just how much pinky red is on show in the plumage. The pinky red on the breast and forehead become more prominent as the breeding season continues, but even in February, male Linnets can be subtly striking, with the reds contrasting with the pale grey head and golden-brown back. At this time of year, Linnets are mainly flocking, gathering in groups which may number several hundreds, wandering around in search of a seedy feast, be it in a…

Christmas was coming, the goose was getting fat, and all that nonsense. Rather than spend Chrimbo Eve shopping for stocking fillers, I naturally went birding. I took a trip south and east to the area north of the Nene Washes called Knarr Fen, which was proving a winter hotspot. There was an impressive flock of more than 800 Pink-footed Geese near a herd of 77 feeding Cranes, while a Peregrine attacked a flock of perhaps 1,500 Stock Doves. As I headed home past a place called Prior’s Fen, I could see that there were a few geese in a field with Whooper Swans. So, I pulled over and scoped them: 10 White-fronted Geese and three Tundra Bean Geese! Little did I know at this time, that this was part of…

I’m sure you will have heard of the old phrase used when something is blindingly obvious. It goes something like this: “Do bears sit in the woods?” Bears may not, but dogs certainly do! My fungi foray in late autumn was ruined by the all too physical manifestation of this phenomenon. In our currently mild winters, there are many rather late arrivals, after the purple patch of late-leaving and off-target migrants still hidden by leaves. We now have to wait for snow in the north to force down the geese, swans, raptors and winter passerines. There is a bit of a gap in the birding year, a bit like the July hiatus and the August confusion of juveniles. Like many of you, I’m sure, these slower birding periods are filled…

The ‘Heard before Seen’ challenge Confidence with common garden winter visitors – Robins, Blue and Great Tits, and thrushes, and so on – is obviously essential, but wagtails are a good example, too. While the latter are relatively easy to identify from sight, I often hear them in urban habitats before I see them because their calls carry so well. If you don’t know the calls of the commonest birds in your patch, then your other call identifications aren’t going to be taken seriously. The ‘Perplexing Ps’ challenge Confidence with calls can be really useful for distinguishing between groups of related birds of superficially similar appearance. I once listened to two very experienced birders argue for a good 10 minutes about whether we were looking at a Rock or Meadow…

Location: The Pantanal, Brazil, a seasonal wetland the size of the United Kingdom. Time: November; technically the start of the wet season, but you wouldn’t think it from the seamless, azure skies and the 36°C temperatures. Target bird: Hyacinth Macaw, a bright blue parrot measuring one metre long, classified as vulnerable due to habitat destruction and the pet trade. We were staying in Jaguar Suites at the wonderful floating hotel right in the heart of ‘Jaguarland’ with the best wildlife right on our doorstep. Our days were spent looking for wildlife as we cruised the waterways in our little ‘panga’, a motorised craft the size of a large rowing boat with extremely comfy padded seats (no need to slum it here!). The name of our accommodation and our location are…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Frampton Marsh RSPB, on the other side of Boston, rightly gets a lot of plaudits, but any visit there is best combined with a stop-off at this site, which really comes into its own in winter, when hunting raptors are a major attraction. MATT MERRITT WHERE TO WATCH 1 The saline lagoon has breeding Avocets and Ringed Plovers in spring, plus Oystercatchers, and in autumn and winter roosting waders will include Knot, Redshank and Dunlin. Migrants passing through should include Common Sandpiper. 2 Check the grasslands around the lagoons for Wigeon and Brent Goose in autumn and winter, as well as Yellow Wagtails in spring and summer. Sky Larks and Meadow Pipits are usually present year-round. Wheatears pass through…

Leucistic sparrow? Q This (above) was seen among a flock of sparrows. It looks very pale. Is it a juvenile Goldfinch or perhaps a leucistic sparrow? Sue Rix A It is hard to say for certain whether your bird is a House Sparrow or not. That said, it looks sparrow-shaped (rather than Goldfinch-shaped), so most likely is a sparrow. Please let us know if you get any other photos – and please send us those photos! Pale Ruff Q I photographed this bird on the River Deben at Woodbridge, Suffolk, today (29 December 2025). I've seen it before but today was the first chance I had to take a photo. I'm guessing leucistic Ruff, but I'm hoping your experts can either confirm or identify otherwise? Pete Smith A Ruff (especially males) come in an extremely…

IMAGE SPEC Camera: Nikon Z9 Focal length: 600mm Exposure: 1/5,000 sec; ISO 1,000 The camera never lies. It’s a phrase I heard often when I was younger, and it has always stuck with me. Photography has historically occupied a unique position among the visual arts, trusted as a medium anchored in truth – a way to show the World as it is, or at least as it existed at a precise moment in time. That trust is particularly vital in wildlife photography, where images are often interpreted as literal representations of reality rather than creative expressions of the photographer’s vision. For regular readers of these articles, you’ll know that my own photography leans heavily toward the creative. I often depict a scene not exactly as I saw it, but as…

HABITATS OF EUROPE BY DALE FORBES, IAIN CAMPBELL, PETE MORRIS PRINCETON, SB, £30 Described as a field guide for birders, naturalists and ecologists, Europe is the latest addition to this fine series (there are seven other regions around the world covered, as well as one covering the World). Europe has 56 major habitat types, all described in the 432 pages here, along with distribution maps and some amazing colour photos of habitat as well as the individual species found in them. ‘In a nutshell’, at the beginning of each chapter, gives a general description of how the habitat looks, with information such as heights of trees etc, and of course what to look for. Birds play a big part in the book, so it is a very useful guide to…