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

Editor’s Note

Mystery of the Ayeyarwady

Tern up for the books • A beautiful winter’s day on the Exe Estuary delivered a huge surprise for Grahame Madge in the form of a mega tern from warmer climes.

Scops shock • News of a Eurasian Scops Owl in a suburban park on the outskirts of Swansea represented the first modern-day record for Wales.

Yank duck is new to Wales • Many Welsh listers were initially left frustrated by a brief Bufflehead on the north coast – but a second bite of the cherry came 11 days later.

Goose for Christmas! • A productive December was headlined by a major influx of grey geese during the festive season, as Josh Jones reports.

2025’s quality curtain call • From France to Saudi Arabia, the final month of the year produced a multitude of mega finds, as Sam Viles reports.

Folk music and field notes • From Stornoway to Martin Simpson, folk music has sound-tracked our columnist’s life − and recorded humankind’s changing relationship with nature.

No room for wildlife welfare • England’s long-awaited Animal Welfare Strategy arrived quietly before Christmas, but for all its fine words it ducks some of the hardest questions.

Britain and Ireland: 2025 in review • Another spectacular year of British and Irish birding came to pass, with thrilling firsts, long-awaited grip-backs and large-scale invasions. Sam Viles reflects on a hugely eventful 12 months.

Shore thing • One of our most charismatic wintering species has a strictly coastal distribution and is a bird of extremes. Simon Papps takes a look at Purple Sandpiper, including some of the best places to find them.

Winter swans • Two swan species spend the colder months in Britain, one of which is becoming ever-more numerous while the other is increasingly scarce. Josh Jones examines these two classic winter visitors.

Greenland White-front on the edge • Tony Fox takes a detailed look at the rollercoaster fortunes of this long-distance migrant and asks whether its current decline can be halted.

Mass appeal • Winter is the season when various bird species and families gather in huge numbers. Lucy McRobert takes a look at 10 of the most impressive birding spectacles on offer around Europe, from Snettisham to Shabla Lake.

Scotland’s wildfowl hub • Acting as a magnet for thousands of water-birds and much more in eastern Scotland, Dan Owen takes a look at the key sites and species around the mighty Loch Leven.

Smart midfielder • Smooth and sleek, Opticron’s new Natura binocular ticks all the boxes in its class, says Mike Alibone.

Between two worlds

Visionary plan to save capercaillie

Penguin perfection

Summer dreams on Skokholm

Algorhythms of nature

Book your place today!

Redwing

Perches

Choosing a medium

Eurasian Teal

Invert image

Sound science

New Zealand

Betwixtmas birds and year-list limits • A fleeting festive twitch delivered an unexpected British tick, but a year of listing has taught our columnist as much about time and company as it has about birds.