Bird Watching

Bird Watching is Britain’s best-selling birdwatching magazine. Each issue is packed with expert advice on when, where and how to see more birds, from common garden visitors to the most elusive rarities. There are features from some of British birdwatching’s best-known names, superbly illustrated by the work of the world’s best bird photographers, plus comprehensive coverage of all the latest sightings, guides to the best birdwatching sites, ID masterclasses, news and reviews of all the latest gear.

Welcome

Bird Watching • We asked this month's contributors what their favourite raptor is…

YOUR BIRDING MONTH • SEPTEMBER

FIVE TO FIND IN SEPTEMBER • September is here! Rivalling October as the most exciting month of the second half of the year. Here are five special birds to enjoy during this wonderful early autumn period.

RARITY PREDICTOR • Here is our regular stab in the gloaming guess about which very rare birds may turn up again this month. Go out and prove us right, please!

SPARROWS IN NUMBERS

Some juvenile finches • Mid- to late-summer into autumn is a time for juvenile birds. And finches are no exception. As a general rule, juvenile finches tend to look like duller, scruffier versions of their parents. But there are usually some features which give away their identity.

UK TIDES SEPTEMBER • The times below are for high tide, when waders and wildfowl will be pushed closer to dry land…

Beyond Birdwatching • Enjoy insects and flowers while they are still out, James Lowen suggests…

Weedon's World • Sometimes, in summertime, the most elusive, under-recorded birds make for the best local birding

Crowds flock to see kite • A long-predicted twitchable rarity raises the possibility of future colonisation

NEWS IN BRIEF

Grumpy Old Birder • You don't have to chase birds, says Bo – let them come to you

Join us on Birda!

Sign up to #My200BirdYear • September's all about second chances – you get another go at seeing many of the passage migrants that were passing through in spring. So, follow these tips, and you stand a chance of hitting that 200 target even if you started mid-year; if you've been at it since January, they should get you over the line…

Meet our sponsor

Bird observatories in the British Isles

RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME? • Thirty-minute Birder Amanda Tuke finds out what bird observatories have to offer ‘off peak'

BOOK YOUR STAY • Amanda talks to six bird observatory teams about their quieter seasons, what you might see then, and how lone birders would be accommodated.

Terning the tide • You know him from his Herculean efforts to help Turtle Doves – now Jonny Rankin and his colleagues have turned their attention to battling bird flu…

OUT OF THE WOODS? • It's been a decade years since the book Looking for the Goshawk was published. Its author, Conor Mark Jameson, brings the story up to date

Where the birding never stops… • Fancy a spot of 24-hour birdwatching? Head for Varangerfjord in Norway, where Ruth Miller found non-stop waders, wildfowl and more…

IDChallenge • This month's identification challenge is all about scarce autumn migrants

Answers & solutions • Check your answers against our explanations. Remember, there are no ‘trick’ birds or extreme rarities among these…

ID Tips & tricks • Here are a few extra tips to help you identify scarce migrants

ARDPATRICK

COANWOOD POND

BRIGSTEER WOOD

BISHOPSTHORPE LOOP

STONNALL

CORS DYFI

UPTON WARREN

MARSLAND VALLEY NR

WEPHAM

WINSPIT

Reader Shots • Send your snaps to birdwatching@bauermedia.co.uk to be in with a chance of seeing your photo in print. All...