Innholdsfortegnelse for Autumn 2025 i Bird Watching

Ruth Miller: “Spotted Redshank in winter plumage roosting among a flock of Redshanks – always a thrill.” Ian Parsons: “Coal Tits are often overlooked but they shouldn’t be. Our birds are an endemic subspecies, a truly British bird I delight in.” Amanda Tuke: “We had pairs of Stock Doves visiting our suburban garden for years before I finally realised what I was looking at.” John Miles: “Blackbird – we take them for granted, but I’ve just seen one catch a Red Admiral and eat the lot!” …and the Bird Watching team’s answers Matt Merritt: “I have a particular soft spot for Gadwall – it’s a species that’s often overlooked, but the male really is such a beautifully vermiculated bird.” Mike Weedon: “I am a big fan of the classic ‘Robin…

twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag RARITY RATINGS Common, widely distributed Localised – always a treat Very scarce or rare ROCK PIPIT We have about 36,000 pairs of Rock Pipits breeding around our rocky coasts. These birds can be seen throughout the year. But, in the autumn, we also see an influx/passage of ‘Scandinavian’ birds, which can and do turn up at inland waterbodies, especially those with a ‘rocky’ shoreline. In the Peterborough area, there is a peak of passage (in tiny numbers) around 17 October, but this date may vary across the country. Rock Pipits are similar to Meadow Pipits, but larger (large enough to have an almost thrush-like outline), and darker, longer-billed and with dark legs and ‘smudgy’ dark lines on the breast and flanks, plus an almost unstreaked mantle. The call…

#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 Change is very much afoot as ‘real’ autumn gets underway. If your patch is on the east coast, you’ll almost certainly be getting prepared to visit the nearest clumps of scrub and trees among the dunes and on the promontories, especially if…

White-tailed Eagle Why? Hadn’t bred in England for 240+ years following systematic persecution. When and where? Birds from Norway reintroduced on Rum in 1975, then six Scottish birds released on the Isle of Wight in 2019. How many releases? 82 in Scotland by 1987, and 37 on the Isle of Wight by 2024. Population now? An estimated 152 pairs in Scotland; 20+ in England. Red Kite Why? Numbers down to a few pairs in Wales in the 1940s; recovery started, but there were only 100 pairs by the 1990s. When and where? In 1990, 13 birds (two from Wales and 11 from Spain) were released on the Oxon/Bucks border. How many releases? 48 in the initial area by 1994. Successful breeding enabled reintroductions in Northants, Yorkshire, Gateshead and Cumbria. Population…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 4 HOURS Located just outside Lincoln, this reserve is easily accessible for all ages and abilities, and has avian attractions throughout the year, making it great for a half day’s birding, or for a quick drop-in visit. MATT MERRITT WHERE TO WATCH 1 You can view Thorpe Lake, the largest expanse of water, from or near the Natural World Centre. In winter, expect ducks such as Wigeon, Teal, Goosander, Pochard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Mallard, plus Mute Swans and Greylag Geese. Great Crested and Little Grebes are likely, too. Common Terns are found here in summer, and look out for Hobbies overhead, as well as likely Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard. 2 Scrubby areas are used by the likes…

Mystery garden woodpecker Q I am hoping you can help identify this woodpecker, that has been visiting my mother’s feeder in Littlethorpe, Leics. Looks like the markings aren’t quite right for a Great Spotted Woodpecker. And it is a bit smaller. It has a dirty pink belly. Any chance a Middle Spotted Woodpecker has made it across the channel? Gary and Eddie Silke A Your woodpecker, Gary and Eddie, is a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker, easily picked out from the adults by its red crown and, as you say, ‘dirty pink’ undertail coverts. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, which are yet to occur in the UK, have a whiter, more ‘open’, face, with the black markings not reaching to the black nape, as well as black-streaked flanks and a slighter bill. Hybrid…

I’ve written before about our instinct as bird enthusiasts to fill the frame with our subjects – the belief that the more frame-filling the image, the better the photograph. We naturally gravitate towards this approach because the subject is classed as positive space within an image: the main point of focus for the viewer. It’s understandable that we want to emphasise the positive by making it as large as possible in the frame. But negative space, if used with intent, can be equally, if not more, powerful. Negative space is the empty area around the main subject, and it can transform an ordinary bird photo into something more arresting, emotional, and artful. It’s a tool that gives your subject room to breathe and your viewer a chance to feel something…

As a six-year old, I may have been slightly obnoxious in my correcting of strangers who used the term ‘seagull’. There is, of course, no such thing, with there being seven regular breeding gull species in the UK, and my younger self often took great offence to people not using the correct terminology of, in most cases, Herring Gull. I’ve moved on from openly reprimanding people I met at my local country park, but it still irks me to this day when people around me say the word ‘seagull’. However, as a somewhat more mature 13-year-old, I now like to think that I am a lot more understanding. Despite this, birding has always been a form of release for me, something that reduces stress and anxiety levels and allows me…

We probably all take certain species for granted while we’re out birding on our local patches, so on page 28 of this issue we celebrate some of those understated beauties that you really shouldn’t allow to pass you by. But we’re also taking a close look at a couple of species that have always been hard to find in the UK, and which have had contrasting fortunes in recent years. Our cover bird, the Cirl Bunting (page 60, and pictured above) is making a heartening comeback in the south-west of England, while the Montagu’s Harrier (page 32) looked to have been lost as a breeding bird, until the great news arrived (just as we were going to press) that a pair had successfully raised young this summer. Will it be…

GREEN PARTY Far more moth species suffer declining populations than enjoy increasing numbers, so the success of Brindled Green merits celebration. From 1970 to 2016, Butterfly Conservation calculates that this subtly colourful autumn flyer expanded its range by an impressive 91%. In the south of its range, it flies later than in the north – which perhaps suggests that it benefits from the milder conditions provoked by the climate crisis. FUNGUS Sylvan brassica? Autumn is the time for fungi forays, so these next few weeks often find me staring at the ground. In pine forests, I will be particularly looking for Wood Cauliflower. This distinctive, impressive fungus typically grows at the foot of stately conifers. Well named, it boasts numerous curled and contorted lobes. Although nominally edible, it is best…

As you read this, autumn migration should be well underway and, wherever you are spending time, there is a lot going on out there! While we say goodbye to birds that have travelled to be with us for the summer, we are also welcoming species heading south, either to spend winter with us, or as they just pass through. As most birdwatchers know, the weather plays a large part in what may turn up where and when and anticipating the presence of certain birds is part of the thrill of autumn birding. Unlike spring, when birds are generally on a tight schedule to get where they need to be, birds in autumn can linger, with a mix of both clued-up adults and inexperienced juvenile birds on the move. There are…

On a sunny, blustery July day, I lean on a field gate looking out across the Dover cliffs towards the just-visible French coast, serenaded by Yellowhammers, Meadow Pipits and Sky Larks. Liz from the Kentish Chough Project has just messaged to say she’s caught up in traffic – she travels twice a week to this site in Dover from Wildwood Trust HQ on the other side of Canterbury – but she arrives only a few minutes later, and opens the gate onto a chalk grassland field grazed by sheep. It seems appropriate that Choughs are being reintroduced in Kent. Despite the three depicted on the Canterbury coat of arms, they last bred here 200 years ago, and their disappearance has been attributed to changing and less Chough-friendly farming practices. While…

The good old white rump is one of the first ID features many of us learn on our path to becoming seasoned birdwatchers. Whether it be the striking white rumps of House Martins or Bullfinches, or rumps of various size and shape on a wide variety of waders, these patches of bright feathering are often obvious and essential helps in identification of birds. So, here are six birds (more or less) notable for their white lower backs. And all you have to do is apply the bird ID knowledge you have been accumulating since day one and name the birds shown. Once you are happy with the names you have provided, feel free to turn the page to check your answers against ours, as well as the reasoning we used…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Bowness is one of the best locations around the Solway for a wide mixture of species, especially with the right winds funnelling birds into the estuary. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 While approaching some of the best areas, it is worth checking the grassland on this marsh for roosting waders such as Lapwing, Redshank and winter Golden Plover. Mixed gulls can join them, like Black-headed and Common Gull. There is always a mix of small birds here like Sky Lark, Meadow Pipit, Linnet and Starling. 2 Bowness railings has had a wide mix of species and is always worth stopping off at the small car park, with added seats. A lower tide produces channels where species…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 1.5 MIN TIME: 2 HOURS Durlston Head’s dramatic scenery is as much about atmosphere as it is about sightings. But with more than 270 species on record, the birding doesn’t disappoint, either. From Guillemots on the cliff, to Goldcrests in the woodland, such diversity gives Durlston stand-out status, and its coastal position makes it the perfect place to wave off, or welcome, migrating species. Autumn sees thousands of Linnets, Swallows and Sand Martins sailing overhead. Renowned for its rarities, records include the Brown Thrasher (admittedly spotted in 1966, but no-less impressive) and Blackbrowed Albatross, as well as the Red-Footed Falcon. Who knows what species you’ll stumble across? JENI BELL WHERE TO WATCH 1 Visitors Centre: As well as resident Jackdaws, you can…

The Cirl Bunting is a beautiful little bird. A close relative of the Yellowhammer, the male on a sunny spring day is a real treat to behold, with his head a striking combination of yellow and black. It is a bird that is widespread and relatively common in western and southern Europe, but Britain has always been right on the northern edge of this bunting’s range. Just after the end of World War II, the range of the Cirl was outlined in one book. The author noted that its stronghold was within a 60-mile wide strip of land running parallel with the English Channel from east to west, but that it also occurred in the Severn valley and close to the coast of North Wales, and that there were recent…

Sandgrouse have always held a certain kind of allure for those among us who travel to the more arid areas of the Old World. This enigmatic family of birds is predominantly found on the African continent, with the Pin-tailed and Black-bellied Sandgrouse straying into Iberia and southern France. There is a spattering of species, including some also found in Africa, gracing Asia, including the featured Pallas’s Sandgrouse. Although being an Old World family, attempts were made to establish an introduced population of Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse in Nevada, USA. However, between 1959 and 1962 only one egg was laid, putting paid to that attempt, although introduced birds in Hawaii have become established. The position of the sandgrouse family in the avian order of things has long been hotly disputed by ornithologists. Their…

SPOTTING SCOPES LEICA APOTELEVID 82 WITH 25-50X WW EYEPIECE £3,140 The press release said “Leica Sport Optics presents two new lines of spotting scopes with unprecedented top performance”. They’ve been a long time coming, then two come at once – the costlier APO-Televid, and Televid HD. Both have 65mm or 82mm objectives and come from an “ultra-modern” Portuguese factory. All of them are angled scopes. Two eyepieces are available – a wide-angle 25-50x and a 20-60x. I reviewed the APO-Televid 82 and 25-50x WW eyepiece. Tough and functional This scope feels quite weighty. With the eyepiece, it’s 15g short of 2kg. I carried it tripod-mounted with a mulepack and the weight wasn’t a problem. This Televid is well put together, shockproof and waterproof with rubber armour on a magnesium chassis…

A NATURALIST’S GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF BRITAIN AND NORTHERN EUROPE BY PETER GOODFELLOW JOHN BEAUFOY, SB, £9.99 This is just one in series of books aimed at getting you started at looking at wildlife in general. The other titles include insects, wild flowers and mushrooms, and each book covers 280 species. They all follow a similar format – a description of each species comes first, along with one or two colour pictures of it, plus descriptions of habitat and when to see it. A glossary helps you get to grips with the terms used in each subject area, and there are ID charts helping you focus on the right part of the species to look out for. The books are pocket-sized, so are easily taken into the field to…

BRAMBLING The glorious Brambling is one of those birds which we forget for most of the year – well, at least the summer months. It is during autumn, especially for what could be called the ‘vis mig’ (observation of visible migration) season, that the memories come flooding back of the treats which await us during the darker, colder months of year. Bramblings are birds which brighten up any day. In summer, the males are spectacular, looking like Chaffinches in Baltimore Orioles’ clothing, all black, orange and white. But, even out of season, they are handsome birds, with striking orange shoulders and that mark of many a great bird, the white rump! The female looks like a toned-down version of the male, but is still a few leagues above the grey-brown,…

Remember the three Rs. This is what I should have in big bold letters in my notebook. Yes, I still keep a notebook. As a lazy youth, I would always feel guilty that I never wrote down a thing when birding. These days, if I don’t carry a notebook, how am I going to remember what I have seen? And if I don’t write things down, how am I going to remember what anyone says to me? In the past week or two, I have jotted down a few things said to me in the field. The first was from a bloke walking a couple of dalmatians, who asked, “You seen any Lesser Spotted Thrush Warblers?” and finished with, “It’s actually quite a peaceful hobby, isn’t it?” The second quotation…

As spring stuttered to a close, I had an overdue outing, just a couple of morning hours birding. I chose an area of land accessed via the bottom of a village, across a level crossing and down a single-track, dead-end road. Farmland surrounds a water treatment plant. The unused land attached to the waterworks is thick, almost impenetrable scrub. A farm track down one side of the scrub goes on to follow hedges and ditches down to the river. The fields are planted with wheat this year, and across the landscape runs a line of pylons. One field becomes waterlogged in autumn, creating an elongated puddle that seems magnetised, if the waders are anything to go by. Greenshank and Ruff, Godwits and assorted pipers can’t pass by without a wander…

Robin Denison-Pender “Having just got back from a wonderful month in Transylvania where Red-backed Shrikes are abundant, I would love to see them breeding back in Kent and indeed the rest of southern England.” Alan Brown “If we recreate the birds’ natural environment they will return. Reintroducing species can only be successful if the location is right.” Kirsty Swinnerton (Head of Species Recovery and Evidence at Kent Wildlife Trust) “I’d support good interventions to encourage successful breeding and population re-establishment in Kent of White Stork and Ospreys, including reintroduction if appropriate. I think Red-backed Shrike, Cirl Bunting and Ruff should also be considered.” Tom Clarke “None. As a birder of 70 years, I mourn the loss of so many species and decline in populations I’ve witnessed. But rarely have I…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 2 MIN TIME: 3 HOURS Musselburgh has always been a great birding area, with 270 species recorded, and this site now falls under the aegis of Levenhall Links Countryside Park, which now has a new set of lagoons and five hides, along with three hides to visit at the original site, offering all year round birding. JOHN MILES WHERE TO WATCH 1 The River Esk is a great place to start as it drops down into the Firth of Forth. Historically, this is the first place in Britain to have breeding Bee-eaters, which sadly failed nesting alongside Sand Martins, still there today. Look out for Goosander and Grey Wagtail, along with other hirundines along the river. 2 Different tides will bring different…

In association with os.uk/osm MAX MILES ON FOOT: 1 MIN TIME: 1 HOURS The 1990s redevelopment of Cardiff’s docks area involved the creation of a barrage – the resulting lagoon is a good place to look for unusual ducks and gulls in winter. Waders are harder to find, although compensatory habitat was created further up the coast, but there’s always a chance of something interesting on the mud. MATT MERRITT WHERE TO WATCH 1 Wetlands reserve: You have to view from the boardwalk, to leave the birds undisturbed, but there’s plenty to be seen. Reed and Sedge Warblers breed here, plus Reed Buntings, and in winter look out for the likes of Stonechat, too. In summer there are Sand and House Martins, Swallows and Swifts, while in winter Snipe are…

GET IN TOUCH birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk facebook.com/BirdWatchingMag twitter.com/BirdWatchingMag Bird Watching, Media House, Lynch Wood, Peterborough PE2 6EA Year tick itched All my birding friends berate me for some fairly gaping holes in my year list, and the most embarrassing, yearly culprit is Sparrowhawk. I think it might just be that I’m seeing them, but only fleetingly, and am therefore unable to get an instant grasp of ID as it swoops across the road or path in front of me (although, as BW is constantly reminding me, a bird’s behaviour can also be indicative of its ID). Anyway, success is mine because, two weeks ago, as I was talking to my daughter in our conservatory, a female-type Sparrowhawk zoomed through our side alley, landed on the back fence – no more than five…

PEAK DESIGN OUTDOOR BACKPACK ZIP 18L £169.99 A daypack with the option of adding a ‘smedium’ camera cube. The cube measures 22×29×13.5cm inside and takes the bill to £206.98. The shoulder straps spread the load and have quick-access storage and Capture Camera Clip attachments. Features include two stretchy side pockets, external hooks, carry cords, gear loops and hydration/laptop sleeve. Weatherproof. PFAS-free recycled nylon. Fair Trade certified, carbon neutral. Black or eclipse. 1kg. peakdesign.com COTOPAXI WOMEN’S ABRAZO HALF-ZIP FLEECE £100 Cotopaxi is committed to “creating environmentally responsible gear for eco-conscious adventurers”. That’s you, isn’t it? The shell is 100% recycled polyester and the chest pocket is recycled nylon and spandex. The Abrazo has two hand pockets, elasticated collar and cuffs and eye-catching colour. And it’s “luxuriously soft”. In dew foam (what?)…

SOUTH WEST Highlights In association with The UK’s second ever Soft-plumaged Petrel was seen off a few sites in Cornwall, and photographed/filmed off Porthgwarra. The Scilly pelagic season kicked off with good numbers of Wilson’s Petrels, as well as Cory’s Shearwaters. AVON HIGHLIGHTS: Sand Point had 23 Manx Shearwaters (21st) and a Spoonbill (30th). SEVERNSIDE: There were 25 Common Scoters (17th), three Avocets (27th), up to 12 Little Ringed Plovers, the only Bar-tailed Godwit (10th), a juvenile Wood Sandpiper, and an all too brief Caspian Tern (19th). A Goshawk was at Oldbury Power Station (28th), which also had a Black Redstart. CHEW: There were 13 Egyptian Geese (14th), up to two Garganey, an Avocet (26th), up to four Ringed Plovers and eight Little Ringed Plovers, 40 Black-tailed Godwits, single Turnstone,…