Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2025 i Bird Watching

Welcome to another year of birding with Bird Watching magazine, although you may be reading this in late December, in which case Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We had significant snowfalls early this winter, which set us thinking about why so many birds, and not just those that will use snow for camouflage, are white or mostly white – on page 32 David Callahan has the answers. Winter also always sends me back to one of my favourite bird books, The Peregrine, because it's such a vivid evocation of the colder months, and on page 26 we take a look at the writer behind it, the subject of a fascinating exhibition. But whether you've made a flying start, or are biding your time until the first stirrings of…

twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised – always a treat Very scarce or rare SHORT-EARED OWL Short-eared Owls are fairly scarce breeding birds of upland areas, moors and young plantations etc in the UK. Most of us encounter them as wintering birds, when British breeders move down to lower rough grasslands, saltmarshes and so on, and numbers are boosted by continental birds crossing the North Sea. Long-winged and buoyant in flight, these lovely owls have the added bonus (for we observers) of often hunting while the sun is still up, when they patrol like the owl equivalent of harriers, seeking voles. They are similar in flight to Long-eared Owls (which are habitually more nocturnal), but have paler bellies and, if seen well, obviously yellow eyes. PURPLE SANDPIPER Even…

Find the location closest to your destination and add or subtract the hours and minutes from the high tide time at London Bridge, below. SOUTH WEST Weston-Super-Mare (+5:05) Barnstaple (+4:30) Newquay (+3:32) Falmouth (+3:30) Plymouth (+4:05) Torquay (+4:40) Bournemouth (-5:09)* Portland (+4:57) St Peter Port (+4:53) Swanage (-5:19)* Portsmouth (-2:29) Southampton (-2:53) SOUTH EAST Ryde (-2:29) Brighton (-2:51) Eastbourne (-2:48) Dungeness (-3:05) Dover (-2:53) Margate (-1:52) Herne Bay (-1:24) Soutw-sea (-1:22) Clacton-on-sea (-2:00) EAST ANGLIA Felixstowe Pier (-2:23) Aldeburgh (-2:53) Lowestoft (-4:23) Cromer (+4:56) Hunstanton (+4:44) WALES Colwyn Bay (-2:47) Holyhead (-3:28) Barmouth (-5:45) Aberystwyth (-6:11) Fishguard (+5:44) Swansea (+4:42) Milford Haven (+4:37) Cardiff (+5:15) NORTH WEST Whitehaven (-2:30) Douglas (-2:44) Morecambe (-2:33) Blackpool (-2:50) NORTH EAST Skegness (+4:29) Grimsby (+4:13) Bridlington (+2:58) Whitby (+2:20) Hartlepool (+1:59) Blyth (+1:46) Berwick…

For newbies, the idea is simple – #My200BirdYear challenges you to see 200 species of bird in 2025. It's entirely up to you how you set the parameters, though. It might be on your local patch, in your county, in the UK, or worldwide. The important thing is that it gets you out there birding on a regular basis. For those of you who have taken on the challenge before, you can consider tweaking your rules to make it a little harder or easier, depending on how you've done in the past. But whether you're new to it or an old hand, bear these tips in mind… 1 PLAN TO SUCCEED Don't worry, there's plenty of room for spontaneity, but it pays to do a bit of homework, too. Check your…

Swans are not a very diverse group of birds, with just three species occurring regularly ‘in the wild’ in this country. So, this ID Challenge should be pretty straightforward, shouldn't it? But every group of birds, be it a taxonomic group or a cluster which shares a habitat, deserves its turn on these puzzle pages. After all, identification skills should not be restricted to those birds which are very diverse and very tricky to tell apart. Can you put a name to these swans, or should we say, swan-like birds, as we don't necessarily want to repeat the species on this page… All you need to do, if you accept the challenge, is to put a name to each species, then turn the page to check the true identity, and…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 9 MIN TIME: 5 HOURS From Gateshead's famous Kittiwakes to iconic Red Kites Among birders, Gateshead is probably best-known for hosting the world's furthest-inland breeding Kittiwakes, on the Newcastle-Gateshead Quayside, including the St Mary's Heritage Centre, or for being one of the first locations for the UK's Red Kite reintroduction programme. The Tyne Derwent Way, funded by National Government, connects a number of heritage, culture and nature-related attractions along its nine-mile route, and is a great way to see a mix of woodland and estuary birds alongside a series of historic landmarks. You can walk or cycle the whole nine miles, and return by bus, or visit individual stretches of the route separately. PAUL BROOK WHERE TO WATCH 1 Start at St…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 3 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Waders and wildfowl in the saline waters of East Fleet A tight circular walk that includes tidal fleets sandwiched between the stony rampart of Chesil Beach and the south Dorset downs sweeping eastwards towards Portland Harbour. The inland section of the walk winds through arable farmland and sheep-grazed chalk pasture where Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl often winter. Lookout for Roe Deer and Brown Hare along the way. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 The churchyard trees and bushes provide suitable habitat for roving flocks of tits, including Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker and perhaps a wintering Firecrest, Blackcap or Chiffchaff. Adjacent fields and hedgerows of Fleet Common attract the likes of Stonechat, Redwing, Fieldfare, Goldfinch, Bullfinch,…

The new year is always a bit of a psychological watershed; a time to reflect on the previous year and make plans for the year just started. For me, this means looking back on the photographs I have taken, the lessons I've learned, and planning the direction I'd like to explore with my photography over the coming months. I don't see photography as something I can ever say I've mastered. Like all art forms, there is always something new to learn, avenues to explore, and ‘improvements’ to be made. And this continuous learning process is what keeps my love of photography fresh and exciting. All good plans come from a detailed review of the past. In my case, a review of my favourite images from 2024 and the reasons behind…

BOOK OF THE MONTH THE BLACKBIRD'S SONG BY MILES RICHARDSON NEW RIVER, HB, £14.99 Here is a book which tries to get you to note down at least three of the good things you see in nature every day. Wellbeing and health is at the heart of the book, which follows the seasons, taking you on a journey with nature through the year. Species such as Chiffchaff tell you that spring is here, whereas a flock of Long-tailed Tits might herald the coming of autumn. There are lots of good things in this book to keep you in good health and enjoying nature that little bit more. OF THE TREES AND THE BIRDS BY IAN PARSONS WHITTLES, SB, £18.99 Our own Ian has done it again. This time he has…

MIDLANDS Highlights In association with The region held the ‘regular’ Lesser Scaup and Ferruginous Ducks. In common with most areas in the southern half of Great Britain, Hawfinches featured prominently this month, flying through or settling at many sites in the region. DERBYSHIRE HIGHLIGHTS: Ogston Reservoir had a superb month with four Bearded Tits found (5th) and eight the following day, plus a Grey Plover (5th), a Knot (6th), and one observer had a Shore Lark (7th) with a flock of Sky Larks! Carsington Water struck back with a female Ring-necked Duck (17th), refound a week later and staying until month's end. Bearded Tits featured elsewhere with Carr Vale NR having two (8th) and Poolsbrook Marsh the same (9th), with a male at Carr Vale for several days intermittently. A…

EARLY DOORS We think of Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) as being creatures of summer – lovers of warmth. But a fair number of moths fly during winter, too. One such is the appropriately named Early Moth. Although climate change means it is now starting to fly in December, this has historically been a moth that took to the air shortly after the calendar clicked forward into a new year. Its larvae love munching hawthorn and blackthorn, so this is very much a moth of the wider countryside, and one that ranges north to southern Scotland. PLANT The first buttercup As its name suggests, Winter Aconite is the first member of the buttercup family to flower each year. By the end of this month, its yellow blooms atop a collar-like frill…

My 2024 birding year was exceptional, and not because, as the year ends, I have more birds on my year list than any previous year. But rather because of an extraordinary story which began back at the start of summer. There I was, drinking coffee in our little back garden one June morning, and listening to the squabbling of Ring-necked Parakeets and the agitated caws of Carrion Crows, when a sharp descending ‘kek-kek-kek-kek’ call cut through. Our mid-terrace house is built on the side of a hill. The sound was coming from the large English Oak tree growing 20 metres behind the house in a communal green space. It's a tree we know and love, providing plenty of bird interest, although anxiety-making when it's very windy. And then it called…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT:2 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS Ancient woodland, commercial forestry, farm and riverside Abbey St Bathans is a linear, scattered village which lies alongside the Whiteadder Water in a steep heavily wooded gorge in the Lammermuir Hills. Five miles north of Duns, getting to it is by some very minor and often quite narrow, and often steeply ascending and descending, roads. At first sight it does not seem promising, but patience is the name of the game here. In spring and summer, Common Sandpiper can be found, and a variety of warblers and other migrants are in the oak woods. Green Woodpecker and Marsh Tit are present here, and in spring cuckoos are often heard. STEVE NEWMAN WHERE TO WATCH 1 The car park…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS A wealth of shorebirds and wildfowl on the Colne estuary Situated on the famously indented coastline of Essex at the confluences of several rivers, this walk takes in a variety of habitats including coastal scrub, a copse, farmland, small marshes and the extensive intertidal channels, mudflats and sand bars of the River Colne and Brightlingsea Reach. Also of interest are views across the channel towards Mersea Island. PAUL TRODD WHERE TO WATCH 1 A good vantage point to scan the channel from the tower for wintering waders such as Avocet, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Black and Bar-tailed Godwits and Redshank. Little Egret, Grey Heron, Turnstone, Rock and Meadow Pipits, Pied and Grey Wagtail haunt the…

GET IN TOUCH birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA Chuffed with Choughs On recent trips in the past several years to west Cornwall, I have regularly seen small groups of Choughs, mainly along the coast west of Mousehole to Cape Cornwall. In mid-October this year, I exceeded all previous occasions by spotting no fewer than 14 Choughs in a noisy group just west of Porthgwarra Cove. I couldn't help wondering if this was becoming more frequent? In any event it is further proof of the success of their reintroduction over the years. Richard Luttman Wader disturbance I had a gigantic moment of joy on my way home to Somerset from a work site visit, on Tuesday (29 November). I had just enough time to…

You could have a good argument about what is the loudest British bird. Groups of piping Oystercatchers are so noisy that you cannot make yourself heard above them when in full flow. Personally, I've been almost knocked over by a very close burst from a Cetti's Warbler. The boom of the Bittern, quite a gentle sound but deep and carried by long wavelengths, can touch an ear five kilometres away. But how about the wonderful blasts of Cranes, which have been described both as trumpeting and bugling? They are the nearest bird sounds to a brass instrument, a sort of Fanfare for the Common Crane. They should, perhaps, be logically the loudest calls of their kind, because Cranes have a physiological quirk that helps them amplify their sounds. The windpipe…

If there is one bird that most hardcore British birders would want to happen across, it would have to be the mystical Siberian Rubythroat, even if it was just once in our lives. We hold this romantic vision of finding this and other hallowed ‘Sibes’ in a random bush along a coastal Yorkshire path, or more usually, in some windswept place on Shetland. It is the stuff of ornithological dreams; a twitcher's ultimate fantasy, if you will. Incidentally, Sibes is the collective name for any passerine that originates from what we often imagine as a desolate frosty part of the world – Siberia. Although breeding in southern and central Siberia, this delightful mega also emanates from central to eastern Asia, which is not really Siberia, as that region is technically…

There are two binoculars in the new RSPB Buzzard range – 8x42 and 10x42 models. These are mid-priced binoculars with distinctive styling – a silver-grey focusing wheel and dioptre ring, and are said to deliver ‘exceptional performance’. The glass includes ED and field-flattening lenses. Viking sent me one of each – I spent my time with the 8x. The feel At 740g this is a bit heavier than some 8x42s but it didn't feel heavy around my neck, even with a thermal imaging device hanging there too. Build quality seems good – this feels like a sturdy binocular that could take a bit of rough treatment (not recommended!). There are shallow thumb indents on the underside and the focusing wheel and dioptre ring are more heavily ridged than most. It…

BIRD OF THE MONTH BRAMBLING The Brambling is a close relative of the Chaffinch, and is very similar in size and shape. But, though the Chaffinch is no slouch in the looks department (particularly the male, as the female is a bit like a female House Sparrow), the Brambling is a real beauty. Again, this is particularly true of the male, but females are pretty pleasing on the eye, too. The secret weapon is the colour orange, which is a feature of the breast and shoulders of Bramblings. The bright orange of Bramblings is a colour we associate with birds like the American orioles rather than European birds, and contrasted with the pure white of the belly is particularly attractive. Set alongside the black head and bill of a male…

Great White Egret • Very large and slim • Classic neck tucked in, very long legs outstretched flight • Deep ‘keel’ of neck bulge distinctive • Long, thin, yellow-orange bill • All white Bittern • Medium, size and chunky • Thick neck almost looks extended, large feet extend beyond tail • Gives owl-like or Buzzard-like impression • Medium bill, ‘horn coloured’ • Cryptically marked gold and black barred plumage Grey Heron • Very large and heavy • Classic neck tucked in, legs outstretched flight • Looks likes child's painting of an m-shaped ‘sea gull’ • Long, thick, reddish orange bill • Blue-grey upperparts Cattle Egret • Small and ‘chunky’ • Classic neck tucked in, shortish legs outstretched flight • More compact than Great White, chunkier than Little • Short, thickish…

It is early December. This morning, I went out to witness something I had never previously seen in a quarter of century of birding around the Peterborough area. In a harvested sugar beet field were more than 2,000 Pink-footed Geese, with at least eight White-fronted Geese, a few hundred Whooper Swans, and a few Bewick's Swans. Picture the sight, imagine the sound. Usually, Pinkfeet are scarce visitors around here. This autumn into winter has been different, with many skeins reported, and now this mighty gathering, which will surely be around for a spell, if the food lasts. It got me thinking once again how lucky I am to be living in such a bird-rich (yet inland) part of the country. And furthermore, it got me once more reviewing 2024, a…

Bird Watching magazine reader Beth Richardson tells Amanda what changed her views of garden nest success In spring 2023, our garden enjoyed a bounty of birds nesting in trees, hedges and hidey-holes. But the youngsters made easy pickings for predators. Magpies pillaged a Blackbirds’ nest, Jays plucked freshly fledged House Sparrows, and crows flew over, beaks filled with fluffy Starlings. So, this year, when a pair of Magpies chose to nest in our Apple tree, my heart sank. The Blue Tits’ favourite box was already occupied close by. And Woodpigeons were industriously delivering twigs to the very same tree. I was disappointed, but there was a surprising calm. The Blue Tits relocated to an empty sparrow terrace. Our other regular nesters – Blackbirds, House Sparrows, Robins and Wrens – bred…

If you have joined in Bird Watching magazine's #My200BirdYear, you may have found it the perfect excuse to go birdwatching regularly throughout the year to connect with different species in different seasons. And autumn birding will give your list a real boost as migrant birds start to return, sometimes bringing with them a bonus scarce or rare bird. In my opinion, there is no better place to experience autumn migration than on the east Yorkshire coast. Which is why we were on Flamborough Head early morning in late September with Tony and Eva, as Tony was close to achieving his 200 species for the year. We had headed out pre-dawn to get to Flamborough Head at first light to do some seawatching and were rewarded with Arctic Skuas, Red-throated Divers,…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 4 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Mixed birding around an Iron Age hillfort Situated close to both Thornton Reservoir and Martinshaw Wood, this is an underwatched area that rewards patient coverage. During migration periods, there are good chances of interesting flyover species, but at all times, there's a good variety of birds. MATT MERRITT WHERE TO WATCH 1 Take the path from the parking area, crossing Markfield Lane, and enter Pear Tree Wood. Expect Great, Blue, Long-tailed and Coal Tits, plus Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Goldcrest and Great Spotted Woodpecker, but check too for something more unusual, such as Brambling in winter. Woodcock is possible in winter. 2 Look across the open ground that was an Iron Age hillfort. In winter, there…

Sparrow problem Q Sorry for the photo quality, I took this on my phone through a window, as the birds were on my neighbour's bird feeder. Adult sparrows were feeding this juvenile that was more plump than the adults and it had a strange orange patch of feathers on its head. They were definitely feathers and not something stuck on its head. What species is this juvenile? Isobel Hiom A The easiest way to identify most juvenile birds is to check out their parents. This bird is being fed by House Sparrows, so that is what it probably is. It can obviously feed itself as well, though, as evidenced by the yellow/orange on the forehead, which appears to be ‘stained’ by some kind of pollen from a flower, which it had…

GRUBS MUDDIES PUDDLE 5.0 TODDLER'S BOOT, £49.95 Don't let a bit of mud and water stop toddler time outdoors. Start them young with these fleece-lined, calf-length boots. They have tough, rubber soles, 5mm neoprene around the legs for warmth and comfort, and an “underfoot chassis”. Velcro fastening makes them easy to get off and they are rated for use from -20°C to +20°C. Maybe stay in if it's that cold, though. In dino/lime, dino/bellweather, space/navy, space/orange or flower/teal. Children's sizes 2-8. grubswarehouse.com LED LENSER HF8R CORE RGB RECHARGEABLE HEAD TORCH, £139.95 They market this for fishermen but I like it. It has a red light which maintains night vision and reduces disturbance to wildlife. “Adaptive light beam tech” dims and focuses the light automatically – clever. It's IP68 waterproof, tough,…

SOUTH WEST Highlights In association with Key potential transatlantic vagrants included a couple of (apparent) extremely rare subspecies: a Rough-legged Buzzard in Cornwall, probably of the North American subspecies ‘Rough-legged Hawk’, and a Red-necked Grebe at Portland, Dorset, of the American subspecies called Holboell's Red-necked Grebe. AVON CLEVEDON-WESTON-SUPER-MARE: The Blind Yeo held six Goosanders. Woodspring Bay had 14 Avocets. Uphill had two Sanderling and a Black Redstart. Sand Point logged 170 Curlews, a Jack Snipe, Shag (2nd), Wood Larks, five Firecrests, a Ring Ouzel (9th), Black Redstart, 50 Rock Pipits, a Snow Bunting, flyover Bramblings, Hawfinches and Redpolls, and 167 Siskins. Clevedon-Yeo held 23 Grey Plovers, 35 Ringed Plovers, a Merlin, two Crossbills and a Snow Bunting (9th). SEVERNSIDE: There were three Brent Geese, two Whitefronts, five Common Scoters, two…