Features
- Howell, P. Buzzard births [A close-up look at the hatching and development of Common Buzzard chicks]
- Thomas, M. Black magic Monty’s [A rare British appearance of a dark-morph Montagu’s Harrier, in Bedfordshire]
- Stoddart, A. Redshank and Spotted Redshank [How to separate these two similar Tringa waders]
- Vinicombe, K. Great and Cory’s Shearwaters [How to distinguish between these two large shearwaters, including Mediterranean and Cape Verde forms of Cory’s]
- Mitchell, D. Atlantic High [A look at the Azores in winter]
- Thomas, M, Knott, J, and Clare, J. Catching the killers [How bird of prey persecution in the uplands is being tackled] Marven, N. On location – The tallest of the tall [Whooping Cranes in Texas]
- Young, S. Adapting to digiscoping [Digiscoping with an SLR camera] Reader holiday – Azores, 7-14 October 2008
Better Birding
- Find your own ... Balearic Shearwater
- First records – July crackers
- Tip from the top – Mark Brazil
- Must see – Dipper
- BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch – The young ones
- Feathers - Perfect plumage
- What's on - July events
- Optical events - July guide
- Birding courses and workshops
- July high-tide tables for Britain and Ireland
Where to watch birds
- Hopper, N. Poole Harbour, Dorset
- French, P. The Wash, Lincolnshire
- Stowe, T. Newport Wetlands, Gwent
- Jones, G. Bassenthwaite and St Bees Head, Cumbria
News and related items
News digest – ‘Hoodies’ admitted to list at last [Hooded Merganser accepted by BOURC]; New revision of IUCN Red List; North-south divide between British breeding species; Saving birds
Fraser, M. ListCheck – updating the world view of birds. [New species: Togian White-eye Zosterops somadikartai. Species confirmation: Zino’s and Fea’s Petrel Pterodroma madeira and P feae; Australian Painted Snipe Rostratula australis]
Tools of the trade
Internet: an eye for the ladies; best of los blogs; new on the net.
Book and reviews: The Birds of Essex by Simon Wood (Christopher Helm); Kingfisher’s Fire: a Story of Hope for God’s Earth by Peter Harris (Monarch Books)
Accounts of recent rarities in Britain and Ireland
Hyndman, T H, and Gee, M. Back on the list! [Citril Finch Serinus citrinella, Fair Isle, Scotland, 6-11 June 2008]
Mayson, S. Warbler confusion [Spectacled Warbler Sylvia conspicillata, Westleton Heath, Suffolk, 10 May 2008]
Laurie P. Eagle spotted over Norfolk [Lesser Spotted Eagle Aquila pomarina, Holt, Norfolk, 9 May 2008]
Parnaby, D. The Whimbrel that wasn’t [Upland Sandpiper, Bartamia longicauda, Loch of Strathbeg RSPB, 6 May 2008]
Draper, A. Lancashire nets a county first [White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis, Heysham NR, Lancashire, 6 May 2008]
Monthly highlights summary: May 2008
Recent reports
Monthly round-ups from eight regions in Britain, and from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, May 2008, including photos of Whiskered Terns Chlidonias hybrida, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Hippolais pallida, Short-toed Larks Calandrella bracydactyla, Red-footed Falcon Falco vespertinus, Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus, Grey-headed Wagtail Motacilla flava thunbergi, Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor, Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica, Thrush Nightingale Luscinia luscinia, Bluethroat Luscinia svecica, Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophris and Forster’s Tern Sterna forsteri.
Highlights summary for the Western Palearctic in May 2008, including photos of Red-footed Falcons Falco vespertinus in The Netherlands, Pine Bunting Emberiza leucocephalos in Guernsey, American Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura in Denmark and a hybrid Pied x Collared Flycatcher in Malta.
