The Beginners Guide to Birdwatching

Where to start

Many birdwatchers start out by watching and feeding birds in their back
garden or local park as this enables them to become familiar with
frequent visitors and common species. Once you have learnt how to
identify common birds, including their markings, behaviour and song,
you should be able to easily spot the similarities and differences with
other birds.

Find Good Sites

Start out by visiting a number of different sites, ideally different
habitats such as woods, meadows, estuaries and farmland and you should
soon develop a good idea of where birds can be found. As with most
creatures in nature, a plentiful supply of food and water is usually a
good place to start. Fields of crop, riverbanks, estuaries and lakes
are all popular birdwatching sites and they can often attract many
thousands of birds.

Follow Patterns of Behaviour

Get to know the behaviour of birds and you will be able to predict
their presence at particular sites almost like clockwork. Migration
makes for interesting changes in the numbers and types of birds that
can be found throughout the UK and even non-migratory birds are more
easily found in certain months of the year. Similarly, many waders tend
to adopt patterns of activity that follow the timing of the tides and
can be found in increased numbers at certain times of the day.

Each of these areas will attract different types of birds but almost
all will be frequented most often during dawn and dusk, when feeding is
most likely to occur. Daybreak is an especially active period of the
day and it is during the first few hours of daylight on warm summer
days that high numbers of birds are often recorded at prime sites.
Develop an ear for birdsong as you will probably find that you can hear
birds long before you can see them.

Learn the Key Identifiers

You needn't know every detail of every bird to be able to identify
different species. Some birders can confidently identify hundreds, if
not thousands, of birds with only the most fleeting glance, as they
have learnt to quickly recognise key identifiers such as size, colour,
bill shape, flight pattern and song. These key elements of information
enable them to rapidly categorise the birds into prominent groups such
as Bird of Prey, Waders or Finches and from there they can soon
identify the exact type of bird, be it male, female or juvenile.

Keeping Records

If you fancy keeping records, you may like to sketch the birds and
produce your own guide to their specific markings, size and colour. You
could also produce a log of the number of birds that you have seen and
whether or not they were sharing their environment with other birds or
animals. Identify where you found the birds i.e. close to water, in
bushes, trees or open ground. Note when and where you saw the birds and
what they were doing at that particular time i.e. feeding or gathering
material to build a nest. If possible, try and make a note of the
bird's song by describing what it sounds like i.e. a squeaking bicycle
wheel, a metal file or the first three notes of 'God Save the Queen'.

Practice Makes Perfect

Keep learning and practicing your knowledge if you want to become
really proficient and you should soon be able to develop a wealth of
knowledge about British birds. Whilst learning on your own will help
you to develop confidence in identifying birds you may also like seek
the help of more experienced birders as they will likely share some
nuggets of information that will enable you to develop your knowledge
more quickly. In addition to the numerous birdwatching clubs that
may be found throughout the UK, there are also some great national
organisation such as:

• The Wildfowl & Wetland Trust
• The British Trust for Ornithology
• The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.