FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

January 16 th  is the 50 th  anniversary of the International Waterbirds Census (IWC) in which volunteers from over one hundred countries will get out in search of their waterbirds,  anyone can get involved via IWC  or by taking part in the  Wetland Bird Survey  (WeBS).

Female Hen Harrier at nest with chicks DEFRA has today published its long awaited Hen Harrier Action Plan. As expected, the six ‘actions’ that apparently will contribute to the recovery of the hen harrier are as follows: Monitoring of hen harrier populations in England and the UK. Diversionary feeding of hen harriers on grouse moors. Analyse monitoring data and build intelligence picture... Read more >>

Mark Holling By Mark Holling Imagine: you're planning a trip to eastern Europe in spring and you want to swat up on the distribution and ID criteria of Pied Ficedula hypoleuca and Collared Flycatchers F. albicollis . In the Collins Bird Guide they are, as you expected, after the warblers. Looking for a bit more detail, you find BWP is the same. But then, broadening the search, you turn to HBW ; and their online option has bird families in a quite different order! After warblers, you find babblers, nuthatches and treecreepers, not flycatchers; they are immediately after thrushes, and before warblers in the sequence presented. OK, it's easy to find families quickly online. Not really a problem? But why the difference?

By Andy Stoddart, on behalf of BBRC Abstract This paper updates BBRC's approach to the recording of rare subspecies in Britain. Building on the work of Kehoe (2006), it summarises the history of BBRC's treatment of rare subspecies, reports on developments since 2006, introduces an updated suite of subspecies accounts on the BBRC website ( www.bbrc.org.uk ) and sets out the Committee's approach to evidence requirements and publication. Also provided is a new list of subspecies considered and some proposed indicative evidence requirements for each. To read this article and each current issue in full, you can subscribe to  BB   here Male 'Spanish Wagtail' Motacilla flava iberiae , Portugal, April 2006. Yellow Wagtail of the subspecies iberiae , which breeds in southern France, Iberia and northwest Africa, is not yet on the British List but it is a potential vagrant and its occurrence has been suspected. Only males are likely to be identifiable, however. O...

By Sébastien Reeber Christopher Helm/Bloomsbury, 2015; hbk, 656pp; 72 colour plates, 650 colour photos, distribution maps, black-and-white illustrations ISBN 978-1-4729-1234-3, £34.99 This impressive volume covers the identification and ageing of 83 species of ducks, geese and swans that breed in North America, Europe and Asia. In essence it deals with all the species that occur regularly in the entire Holarctic region, including the probably extinct Crested Shelduck Tadorna cristata . Not included are a few breeding species from southern Asia such as Wandering Whistling Duck Dendrocygna arcuata , Sunda Anas gibberifrons and Andaman Teals A. albogularis and the possibly extinct Pink-headed Duck Rhodonessa caryophyllacea . These species, a small number of vagrants to the region and others that have occurred only as escapes from captivity were covered in Madge and Burn's Wildfowl: an identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world (Helm, 1988). Compared...

AT HOME WITH URBAN NATURE • Creating a nature friendly family garden on a budget, attracting wildlife to our new home • Supporting local wild animals of town through simple backyard conservation • Identifying the new species to visit or colonise our green space • Appreciating the natural neighbours sharing our urban habitat •  Here is an extract from BBC Nature's Features, on how to help wildlife in your garden. Helen Bostock, wildlife garden expert from the Royal Horticultural Society, gives us her top ten flowers, herbs, shrubs & trees to plant to attract & provide for wildlife... Firethorn Pyracantha  provides food & shelter for birds Not all of the plants mentioned are directly attractive to birds, but the insects they attract can be, & so by starting near the bottom of the food chain & elsewher...