Table of contents for March 2026 in Birdwatch

Report Killdeer, Ripley, Hampshire, 21-27 January 2026 IT has been a long 20-year wait for a twitchable Killdeer on the British mainland – the last being a three-day bird at Blakeney, Norfolk, in 2006 – so the discovery of a first-winter near Ripley, Hampshire, on 21 January quickly set twitchers in motion towards the south-coast county. Those unable to arrive before nightfall on the day of discovery need not have worried, as the bird remained in the area until the end of the week, allowing hundreds of observers to connect. The Hampshire bird is considered likely to be one of the two Killdeer recorded in Britain and Ireland during November, when birds were found on Skokholm, Pembrokeshire, and at South Slob, Co Wexford. For Hampshire birders in particular, the record…

Western Palearctic January 2026 THE year began with a monster find in the Faroe Islands on 4th: an adult Short-billed Gull at Miðvágur. This represented the first record for the Faroes and only the second for the Western Palearctic, following an Azores bird in 2003. The quality of this find and identification (read the full account at bit.ly/SbGFaroes) will surely raise awareness of the species’ vagrancy potential in the region and even sparked the first-ever international twitch to the archipelago. Elsewhere in the Faroes, an adult Ross’s Gull was on Eysturoy, while a Great Crested Grebe was the islands’ fourth. A smart first-winter male Dusky Thrush in Copenhagen proved a fan favourite for Danish birders, showing superbly within the confines of Holmen Naval Base. Stejneger’s Scoter, Black Scoter and American…

This month’s panel: Mike Alibone, Rob Hume, Ed Stubbs and Sam Viles FOR anyone on the hunt for a reasonably priced binocular that performs to a satisfying level, the RSPB Buzzard 10x42 ED, on the market since 2024, is worthy of consideration. Taking on a modernistic appearance that includes the RSPB logo in a contemporary silver-and-black style, which is echoed in the focusing controls, it is also designed to be relatively light in weight, employing magnesium alloy in the construction of the chassis. To enhance the ergonomics and deliver firm, comfortable holding, the binocular is swathed in textured, non-slip rubber incorporating a raised curved strip on the upper surface of each barrel and generously sized, indented thumb-rests below. Although the strap-lugs are positioned opposite the central focusing wheel, the latter…

UPPING sticks and moving to rural Spain – especially wildliferich Asturias – may be the idea of bliss for many naturalists. Well, that is exactly what Katie Stacey and her partner, wildlife photographer Luke Massey, did, and in No Paradise with Wolves she tells the story of how they set about rewilding a small farm. Of course, it’s far from plain sailing throughout, with the couple faced with plenty of hurdles. The plight of Iberian Wolf – a rare subspecies listed as Vulnerable – is a running focus throughout the book. It’s eye-opening to learn just how despised these animals are among most local people (the ban on hunting implemented in 2021 and cited by Stacey was lifted in areas in March 2025), with the canids long persecuted for livestock…

The island of Borneo needs no introduction. Home to some of the oldest rainforests on Earth, more than 10% of the world’s squirrel species and 50-60 species of endemic birds, it is one of the world’s most iconic biodiversity hot-spots. Yet despite a long history of scientific exploration and a thriving ecotourism industry (concentrated mainly in Sabah, Malaysia, in the island’s north) vast amounts of its biodiversity remain barely known or undescribed. Even among well-studied taxonomic groups such as birds, there are still plentiful unknowns, as illustrated by the recent rediscovery of Black-browed Babbler after 170 years (see Birdwatch 403: 6-7) and the discovery of several new species of birds (some of which are still undescribed) in the remote Meratus Mountains situated in the island’s south-east. Without doubt it is…

I’m more or less at the sixth anniversary of abandoning notebooks. For my entire birding life before that point, the idea of ceasing my build-up of heavily beaten, barely legible paper notes was unthinkable. For the few weeks that each notebook lasted, it was my most cherished and personal possession. Alongside details of bird observations, I would cram in personal memos, ideas for articles or projects and some appreciated quips from other birders. No notebook made it out of its service in good condition, but every one was retired in chronological order to a dedicated bookshelf and labelled with its start and end date. When I look back through them, I can trace distinct periods of my life and my development as a birder, and recognise magical months from the…

Thanks to my birding father, Bob Bailey, I have been watching birds in Devon almost all my life. My first year list was in 1981, when I was 11 years old. The rarity highlight of that year was a Hudsonian Godwit at Countess Weir, which we saw on the Saturday morning after the bird had been present all week. I don’t imagine I would be that ‘relaxed’ nowadays! So that is my longest-standing blocker. That same winter we also saw a wintering Lesser Yellowlegs at Aveton Gifford. Formative years As the 1980s went on, I was lucky that my father became the focal point for local bird news. His phone would ring all evening, especially on a Friday, with birders updating and requesting news. Back then, we would often go…

Sanquhar Loch and Woodland Rebecca Gibson Within the town of Forres in Moray, just over 1 km from the High Street, lies Sanquhar Loch and Woodlands. This accessible site has established footpaths and offers surprising wildlife diversity for a small area. The loch, or pond as it’s also known, supports a range of aquatic wildlife. Perhaps the highlight of a visit is the population of Dippers on the Burn of Mosset, which flows into the loch and out of it again. The birds are reliably encountered here; they might be perched near the car park, on top of the weir that crashes under the road and emerges at a far more subdued speed on the other side. There’s also a sunken channel studded with protruding stones nearby, providing perfect perches…

THIS is far from a run-of-the-mill bird book, and all the better for it. It is not about identification but describes itself as a field guide, while there are some nit-picky little mistakes (a bowerbird’s bower is not its nest, for example). Its unique style – half prose, half poetry – sometimes works very well for me, although some parts I found a little tedious. I loved the ‘on-fire zip-wire of Kingfisher’, or indeed ‘Nest is secrecy, Nest is rest. Nest is sanctuary’. This book is not so much focused around ‘what is that bird?’, as one might expect of a field guide, but rather ‘who is that bird?’ It succeeds well at exploring this question, getting under the skin, delving into what birds and wildlife are all about and…

The Norfolk of years ago I get great pleasure from reading old natural-history books, and am constantly amazed at how little has changed in the attitudes to birding over the last 70-80 years. One of my favourite Norfolk authors is Major Anthony Buxton, whose family has lived at Horsey Hall for almost 100 years. His son, John, took over the running of the Horsey Estate in 1958 and in recent years his grandson, Robin, is now living in the hall. While Major Buxton was very much in the old tradition of ‘hunting, shooting and fishing’, he was also a very keen conservationist and the observations in his book Travelling Naturalist, published in 1948, are very pertinent to today’s birding scene: ‘Many naturalists visited Horsey in the summer, and it was…

Finder’s Report Redhead, Lough Yganavan, Co Kerry, from 24 January 2025 AFTER waking early on the morning of 24 January and knowing I had the morning and early afternoon free, I decided to travel down towards my usual summer departure point for Skellig Michael. The intention for the trip was gulling. After a quiet session, I decided to swing down to Lough Yganavan, a known hot-spot for Ring-necked Duck, before meeting my partner for lunch. The car had not stopped when three Ring-necked Duck flew from the bank and landed some 25 m out. Fortunately, they stayed put while I got my gear out of the boot. I immediately fired off a few photos to get them while in a group, and as I took the last shot I noticed…

Britain and Ireland January 2026 WHISPER it quietly, but that was a very solid start to 2026. There were several special rarities, some of which may be early contenders for bird of the year, while the continuing influx of grey geese gave patch birders plenty to crow about. It didn’t take long for things to kick off, with a hugely impressive double act of Pied-billed Grebe and American Coot discovered at Tacumshin, Co Wexford, in the opening days of the month. This famous site has a history with both species, hosting the grebe in 2003 and the coot in 2021-22. But head and shoulders above this was a Redhead at Lough Yganavan, Co Kerry – only the second Irish record (see page 8). Birders couldn’t have asked for much better…

Cats – don’t you just love them? Or maybe you hate them? How about dogs? I’m not very comfortable with us keeping any animals as pets, but this probably isn’t one of the top 50 issues that get me going. But what about their impacts on wildlife? Dogs on leads cause some disturbance to wildlife – they are strange-looking wolves, after all – but so many dog owners let their dogs off leads, particularly on beaches, it seems to me. How many times have you been looking at waders on mudflats when some dog comes bounding along and scares them all away? Often from far away! Dogs scare wildlife, but they don’t kill very much of it, generally speaking, because they usually have the restraining influence of an owner with…

Tree Sparrow is the country cousin of the more familiar and urban House Sparrow. They are attractive and charming little birds, with their gorgeous chocolate-coloured cap, striking white cheek and characteristic distinct black cheek spot. Being about 10% smaller than House Sparrow, they can therefore be outcompeted by their relative. Once widespread across much of the UK, thriving on mixed farms and arable, Tree Sparrows were always loosely associated with humans through farming activities. Adults feed primarily on seeds, either from spilt grain such as wheat or from weed seeds. During summer the adults forage for invertebrates to feed their nestlings. Tree Sparrow suffered a 94% decline in the latter half of the 20th century that resulted in its extinction in many counties across the UK. Squeezed out There are…

AS someone with a fondness for British history and the birdlife that inhabits our country, a book on the history of British place names with avian origins was guaranteed to appeal. If you look closely, you start to notice that the influence of nature on name and place is everywhere: ‘eco’ (as in ‘ecology’) comes from the Greek oikos, meaning home. Compiled by Michael J Warren, The Cuckoo’s Lea is about how and why birds inspire our sense of place – and the author’s own relationships with places through birds. It opens with the village of Glydwish in East Sussex, a combination of wisc – a marsh or damp meadow – and glida – an old word for a kite. Not so long ago Red Kite was almost persecuted to…

CROSSBILLS are often a source of contention due to geographical variation and several similar species, but they are also quite tricky to age in the hand. Crossbill is a routine species in some parts of Britain, but much scarcer in others. It is largely a resident species across its range, but numbers can be bolstered by large irruptions of continental birds – dependent on food supply. The species is synonymous with coniferous trees, and will happily feed on pine, spruce and larch in Britain. The unique crossed mandibles are highly specialised to feed on conifer cones, as the overlapping tips are used to pry open the cone scales so the bird’s tongue can remove the seed inside. The main source of confusion when ageing Crossbills comes with the rather protracted…

THE Subantarctic Islands are difficult to explore, being visited only by research vessels and occasional cruises. Apart from the Chatham Islands, all are UNESCO World Heritage sites and access is restricted. This is one of the must-do trips for any world birder and comes at a steep price, but this is your chance to see up to 48 species of tubenoses, including 14 forms of albatrosses, 30 species of shearwaters, petrels and prions and nine penguin species. The journey starts in Bluff, the port nearest to Invercargill, New Zealand. Within hours of departing, the boat will be heading past Stewart Island to the Snares Islands. Often the sea is too rough to get close in a Zodiac, but if you can, the prize is Snares Penguin. The next day you…

■ Britain’s migration highway Sat at the south of Shetland, halfway to Orkney, Fair Isle Bird Observatory is one of Europe’s most celebrated migration sites, with a history shaped by geography, weather and an extraordinary run of rare birds. ■ A song growing scarcer Common Nightingale song remains one of Britain’s most evocative natural sounds, but its breeding range has contracted dramatically in recent decades, prompting conservation action. Matt Phelps looks at the status of this iconic spring species. ■ Life without flight From penguins and kiwis to ostriches and rails, flightless birds represent some of the most specialised avian lineages on Earth, writes David Callahan. ■ Picking out the long-distance champion Subtle plumage features, structure and behaviour can help separate Arctic Tern from Common Tern, particularly during spring migration.…

Ten Brits, nine Dutch, an Irishman and a hybrid walk into a bar. That’s all I’ve got. In mid-January, the good folk of Texel, the Netherlands, must have felt overrun. It was an invasion of birders, to be precise, and not only our group (who were celebrating James’s birthday). Almost everyone we spoke to was British: tour groups, lads’ groups, crews – and when they booked, there was a healthy-looking Spectacled Eider hanging around. But on 28 December, ‘Brillie’ was not looking brilliant, and after a few hours sat forlornly on the shoreline, he was captured with a very big net. He didn’t put up much of a fight; two staff from the Ecomare nature museum and sanctuary walked up to the moribund duck, swiftly caught him and whisked him…