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Top Stories: a beginner's guide to Birdwatching with Optisan Optics
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For those who are just stepping into this fascinating world, the experience can be as calming as it is exhilarating. Armed with the right optics, like those from Optisan, beginners can elevate their birdwatching experience to new heights.
This guide will help you get started, ensuring your journey into birdwatching is as smooth as possible.
Begin your birdwatching journey in your garden or a local park. Familiarise yourself with common species like robins, blackbirds, and blue tits.
👓 Full story >>
This guide will help you get started, ensuring your journey into birdwatching is as smooth as possible.
Begin your birdwatching journey in your garden or a local park. Familiarise yourself with common species like robins, blackbirds, and blue tits.
👓 Full story >>
Top Stories: WHITE-TAILED EAGLES SHOW UNPRECEDENTED BEHAVIOUR BY CARING FOR INJURED OFFSPRING
A pair of White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull on the west coast of Scotland have left experts astounded by continuing to care for their injured offspring into its second year of life, going so far as to skip breeding this year to focus on tending to their youngster.
The chick injured its left wing in July last year after its nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather.
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The chick injured its left wing in July last year after its nest fell to the ground during unseasonably wild weather.
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Top Stories: bto ask garden birdwatchers for help in mapping birds with unusual plumage
Each year, the BTO receives multiple calls and messages from members of the public who have spotted something a little out of the ordinary in their garden.
A Starling with a white head? A sparrow with white wings? An all-white Magpie? A Robin without its distinctive red breast? Many birds can show unexpected plumage abnormalities, and ornithologists are hoping to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding this widespread phenomenon and are asking the public for help and to report sightings in their gardens and parks.
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A Starling with a white head? A sparrow with white wings? An all-white Magpie? A Robin without its distinctive red breast? Many birds can show unexpected plumage abnormalities, and ornithologists are hoping to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding this widespread phenomenon and are asking the public for help and to report sightings in their gardens and parks.
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Latest GEAR REVIEWS
Here we bring you our opinion on the very best new equipment from the most respected brands for birders.
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oPTISAN
LR ED 8x34 Binoculars
★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
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swarovski optik
NL PURE 14x52 Binoculars
★★★★★★★★★★ 9.5/10
|
PROMINAR
TSN-55 PROMINAR Spotting Scope
★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
|
Latest news, Features & Events
The latest news, features and events from around the birding tribes.
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RARITIES & CONSERVATION: uk cONSERVATIONISTS CELEBRATE ANOTHER BOOMING YEAR FOR OUR BITTERNS
Bitterns are a secretive bird previously threatened with extinction as a breeding species in the UK. They have been a rare success story in recent years and the species has had yet another superb breeding season in 2023 with 234 booming males counted, according to new survey results from the RSPB and Natural England.
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Full story >>
HABITATS: TRACKING OF ARCTIC SKUA SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON EPIC MIGRATION
New research has shown how an endangered seabird, the Arctic Skua, is converging on specific stopping off points in the Atlantic Ocean while undertaking epic annual, migration journeys, helping scientists to better understand the bird’s conservation needs.
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Full story >>
Habitats: BRITISH GULLS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO PLASTIC POLLUTION IN EUROPEAN WETLANDS
Researchers in Spain have discovered that gulls visiting from Britain are transporting significant amounts of plastic waste from landfill sites to key wetland areas. The threats posed by plastic pollution to marine environments have long been understood but this study sheds new light on the potential problems faced by freshwater sites.
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Full story >>
SCIENCE: NOMADIC SHORT-EARED OWLS MAKE SURPRISING MOVEMENTS
The Short-eared Owl has fascinated birdwatchers and ecologists for decades, a bird whose appearance and disappearance from regions has baffled the best minds and a bird for which we lacked key information on movements and the degree of connectivity between populations.
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Full story >>
NATURE RESERVES: RECORD-BREAKING BREEDING SEASON FOR PIED FLYCATCHERS IN 2023 DESPITE MANY COMPLEX CHALLENGES
2023 has seen a record-breaking breeding season for migratory Pied Flycatchers, with numbers having increased across several RSPB nature reserves. Like many other migratory bird species, Pied Flycatchers are facing complex challenges both in breeding and wintering areas, while increased frequency of weather events linked to climate change can cause issues both on migration and here in the UK.
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Full story >>
CLIMATE CHANGE: DECLINING BRITISH SEABIRDS are ON A CLIFF EDGE
Globally important seabird colonies have suffered catastrophic impacts of avian influenza over the last two years. Now, newly published research led by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) suggests that the majority of seabird species in Britain and Ireland are also likely to suffer long-term impacts from climate change that may even surpass these recent losses.
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Full story >>
NEW STUDY: LAMBS ARE NO LONGER A MAJOR FOOD SOURCE FOR BREEDING WHITE-TAILED EAGLES IN SCOTLAND
A new study assessing the diet of breeding White-tailed Eagles – also known as Sea Eagles – in Scotland between 1998 and 2017 has found that marine prey of seabirds and fish is the most important food source for them, whilst the occurrence of lamb in their food has decreased as more pairs have established.
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Full story >>
UK NATURE RESERVES: THE BEST places to go Birding IN 2024
With so many people now noticing birds and other wildlife around them, we thought it would be useful to post up our list of the best Nature Reserves to visit in the UK for those wishing to see a bit more of Britain in 2024 and enjoy some well deserved days out birding in the fresh air.
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Full story >>
RARITIES & CONSERVATION: GOLDEN EAGLE NUMBERS IN SOUTHERN SCOTLAND REACH HIGHEST LEVELS FOR CENTURIES
The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SOSGEP) has announced that there are now 46 eagles in the area - the highest number for centuries!
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Full story >>
SHARPER VISION: EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF THE NEW TSN-66 PROMINAR 66MM PURE FLUORITE CRYSTAL SPOTTING SCOPE BY KOWA
The world of outdoor enthusiasts, birdwatchers, and nature lovers has been forever changed with the introduction of the NEW TSN-66 PROMINAR 66mm Pure Fluorite Crystal Spotting Scope from Kowa. Combining cutting-edge optical technology with the trusted Kowa brand, this spotting scope has quickly become a game-changer for those who seek the finest in precision optics.
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RARITIES & CONSERVATION: SNIFFER DOGS BEING TRAINED TO HELP DETECT SEABIRDS
An innovative study, led by the RSPB, has been testing the ability of dogs to track seabirds that nest in burrows. The researchers having been testing their dogs’ ability to detect Manx shearwater and European storm petrels, and whether dogs can differentiate between these two seabird species.
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Full story >>
RARITIES & CONSERVATION: THE COMMON CRANE CONTINUES ITS COMEBACK AFTER SURVEY REVEALS A RECORD BREAKING 72 PAIRS ACROSS THE UK
The common crane has continued its latest comeback after the most recent breeding survey revealed a record breaking 72 pairs across the UK in 2021 - its highest number since cranes returned in 1979 after becoming extinct in the 1600s.
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Full story >>
RARITIES & CONSERVATION: NEW REPORT SHOWS THAT THE FATE OF SOME OF THE UK’S RAREST BIRDS ARE IMPROVING
A new report shows that conservation work is helping to boost the populations of some of the rarest birds in the UK, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
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Full story >>
rarities & cONSERVATION: WHITE-TAILED EAGLE IDENTIFIED AS NEARLY 24 YEARS OLD, MAKING IT THE OLDEST KNOWN IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND
A ring that is fitted to a White-tailed Eagle nestling that fledged in the Highland region of Scotland in 1996, has allowed the individual to be identified in the field as an adult bird in 2020, making it the oldest known bird of this species in Britain and Ireland, according to the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) latest ringing report.
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Full story >>
RARITIES & CONSERVATION: HUNTING BAN IN SPAIN WILL SAVE ALMOST 1 MILLION TURTLE DOVES
Authorities in Spain have agreed a one-year ban on the hunting of turtle doves, sparing an estimated 1 million birds that would otherwise be legally shot in the country.
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Full story >>