Hi David, one way of increasing the number of birds you see is to go birding in different habitats. Do a bit of research on which types of birds can be found in specific habitats and then choose a variety of different walks or days out accordingly.
When I started birding, I used to go in my local woods so used to see common woodland species like Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Robin, Wren, Jay, Great spotted Woodpecker and so on.
I then ventured onto moorland and found I was seeing birds like Red Grouse, Meadow Pipit, Wheatear, Ring Ouzel, Skylark, Short eared Owl etc.
Throw in visits to reservoirs, usually 'better' in winter, and you'll see Pochard, Tufted Duck, Cormorant, Moorhen, Coot etc. For farmland you may well encounter Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Tree Sparrow, Yellowhammer, Kestrel..... For trips to the coast you'll find Gulls, Terns, Waders and so on.
You will have soon built up a decent list but to increase it, may well have to travel further afield to specific locations like RSPB reserves. Then you can factor in the seasons and which particular birds you can find in Spring and Summer as opposed to Autumn and Winter.
As others have mentioned, going birding with another birder or a group can be invaluable. Two or three pairs of eyes are usually better than one and it's always good to learn off those more experienced.
Ive stayed out of this up to now as there's plenty of great advice been given....but! One or two thoughts from moi.
Firstly - explore wider that your local area if you can. This will give you excellent opportunities to see new species but also, if you get to the right places, give you chance to mingle with some fantastic expertise at other sites. For example, getting out to a seawatching site at the right time of year can really help you learn seabird ID simply because (if you are in the right crowd) people shout out what they are seeing and where its going. If you ask the right person they'll tell you why that diver was a red throated and not a great northern. Even better, get yourself on a pelagic.
Secondly, don't be tempted to just go chasing rarities. The best rarity finders I know are just that because they know the common species so well. For example, spend any time at Spurn at 'Numpties' at the back of the Warren or the new narrows doing vis mig watches, and what is immediately obvious is the reason the birders there can pick out a Richards Pipit flyover, or a Little Bunting or maybe something they can't immediately identify, is quite simply because they have spent so much time looking at the common species. One of the birders was picking out individual Twite in flocks of Linnets and Redpolls by the way they flew way before they came close enough to see the plumage or hear calls. That is skilful birding, and can be achieved by anyone putting the time in. By all means go and see rarities when they turn up, but in these days of modern technology (twitter, mobile phones, pagers etc) its easy to rack up an impressive life list without ever actually being able to identify the common stuff properly. Ask a few birders and they've all experienced the twitcher that turns up and asks 'Where is it?' because they don't actually know what they're looking for. If thats what floats your boat then fine, but if you want to be a good birder, knowing the common stuff first is key.
Lastly - with regards the feather tracts etc Tim has hit the nail on the head. A Notebook. Every birder should have one. Great for noting what you've seen etc etc but try tp start to sketch the birds you see and then try to label the feather tracts. Theres actually not that many when you get into it.
-- Edited by Craig Higson on Thursday 12th of November 2015 09:15:45 PM
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Just a couple of pointers I must add if ok please (most you'll probably now already aware of). As with anyone whom wants to "step up" in learning more on birds and birdwatching, I want to emphasise a couple of things as I have made several mistakes in my early startings and i've learnt equipment type is all important. 1. A decent quality fieldguide such as the collins bird guide (black cover) as a classic example (collins guide also points to all the parts of the bird in a little scetch). 2. A decent quality binoculars at 8x or 10x (avoid the temptation of anything cheaper then £70 - I went through many cheap bins and it wasn't until I saw my first rare bird on Elton in Dec 2000 that I realised cheep bins are not worth it.). 3, Regarding the sounds, personally I listened to cd recordings over and over again. One good set is the collins field guide to bird song & calls by Geoff Sample as you hear the birds as they are announced as if being out in the field, but that was before the time of all these apps that can now be downloaded onto a mobile phone. So do what you feel most comfortable with and I do hope these pointers will be of any help as im sure you will find much joy and excitement out there waiting to be discovered!
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Excellent advice from Tim. A notebook and pencil are certainly as valuable (if not more) than binoculars. Only this morning while waiting for my train I was able to record birds I'd seen without any optical aids.
Writing down your records, storing them (and of course submitting them to the County Recorder) is of immense value. Your memory is not as good as you think it might be. Last night (whilst looking for something else) I found my garden bird records for 20 years ago and was amazed that House Sparrow was the most common visitor - these days they are outnumbered ten to one by Jackdaws.
Take a notebook and write down what you see. Hear a call or song then try and see the bird making it. For me that has taken far longer and I have a country mile to go yet with bird call. Don't go birding with a camera - you'll never commit anything to memory. Research into visual memory and the use of cameras in art galleries has proved that those who take their 'memories' by digital means cannot recall what they have seen unaided.
-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Tuesday 10th of November 2015 08:58:07 PM
Hi David, Getting out in the field has got to be the best way of becoming a more experienced birder, and 'the field' could include (as mentioned) the driveway going to your bin, the garden, or even whilst you're working, I do quite often!
Dad used to take us out everywhere as young kids, in the days before mobile phones and internet so there was no info services as such, you just got used to which birds were likely to be where, what a lot of birds sounded like, throw in a bit of bird behaviour, and it kind of just builds up from there.
There's different aspects to being out in the field too. I'll try and explain what I mean. You can go out and explore an area, and you might find some good birds using what you've learnt, or you might not find anything. On the flip side, you can go to a particular place knowing a particular bird is there (mainly for year listers, I don't do year lists) and just try and find that bird.
ie. How many people would've gone to Brampton in Cumbria this year if it wasn't for the Bee-eaters? Not many I suspect.
But it was still worth going to get a look at them, what they did, how they fly, the way they were interacting with the Sand Martin colony, so I was still learning in effect even though someone told me they were there (Ian's text service) rather than finding my own, which might not ever happen, there were quite a few in Cornwall whilst I was there this June, I didn't locate a single one despite a website telling me they were there.
So there are many different aspects to going out birding, no matter how much or how little you know, whether someone told you or a website tells you something is there to give you a head start, you might get lucky, you might not, always be prepared to accept not seeing what you might want to see, but just keep birding again and again and you will never stop learning, you will soon realise that some of the questions in your original post about how to recognise species, birdsong etc...
...you will soon be able answer yourself as your experience grows through your own time and efforts!
The website www.xeno-canto.org is also useful for recordings of bird songs and calls. I also find the British Birds Video Guide useful. It's a 4 disc set from BirdGuides. When you hear a song or call, you've got to come up with your interpretation of it, hopefully getting some view of the bird, so at least you have an idea of the type it is, check how the identification books describe it and see if one coincides, then try xeno-canto or a DVD to confirm. Or conversely, run a DVD of the likely species you might encounter, try and memorise the sound and plumage details, then go out and hopefully encounter the song or call, hopefully get a view of the bird and then confirm your identification. There you are...easy. I've been at it 40 years and still learning. When I first started I went on an evening class course for bird identification, which also involved field trips with an experienced birder. I didn't know anybody experienced at the time but if you do, that is probably the best way to learn, birding alongside an experienced birder. I also joined a local RSPB group which was also very useful. BTW, I think the Collins Bird Guide, second edition, is a good book.
Your other option is joining one of the local bird clubs and/or RSPB groups. Birding with other experienced people generally increases your knowledge, not just on ID, but also in getting to know where and when key species can be found in your local area. The groups are usually of mixed experience and knowledge so there are benefits for all.
Details of clubs can be found on the main website;
Thanks for the replies guys- really appreciate you taking the time to give me advice. As for Bernard's suggestion of latching on to a more experienced birder, if anyone fancies being the Jedi Master with me as a Padawan apprentice round South Manchester, let me know!
-- Edited by David Morris on Friday 6th of November 2015 05:25:18 PM
Hi David as already stated out in the field is the best way, but if possible try to spend some time with an experienced birder, i have learned a lot just from speaking and listening to people such as Mike Passant and Charlie Owen and many others, i notice you mention Stephen Burke in your post, Stephen is an excellent birder and a guy you could learn a lot from, as for theory etc personally i enjoy reading so tend to pick up plenty of books on birds,wildlife etc, many good books can be picked up in charity shops very cheaply, but overall just enjoy what you do, i know i will never reach the levels of some of our more experienced birders, but i get great pleasure from what i do.
The only tip I can give that might be distinct from what everyone else might say is to try to imitate the bird calls you hear. When you hear one from an invisible bird and you repeat it back, you'll be surprised how you'll remember the circumstances in which you last encountered that particular sound (assuming you went on to see, and identify, the producer of the sound). I do this all the time, and once you've got the hang of a few, it can also help bring the bird out into the open. Also try to put your own personal interpretation on sounds so you remember what you think they recall - not what a book tells you (e.g. I've always remembered garden warbler from thinking it sounds like a speeded-up blackbird song). Good luck.
Hi David, as Steve has said to you, being out in the field is the way forward to getting to grips with what you want from your experience of birding. That doesn't always mean when you're out purely birding, it could be by way of learning common bird calls while you're out and about, going out to the bin, whenever! If you're looking for hints for 'desktop', as opposed to 'in the field' research, when you mention learning the feather tracts, you could find it useful to compare one of the standard 'butcher's chart' type diagrams with photos of species from a range of bird families.
County bird reports are really useful to get to grips with what's normally occurring in an area.
Only a couple of points, but hope they're of some use.
So, I've been birdwatching for about a year now, and while I don't get out anywhere as much as I should do, I can identify a fair few species visually. However, I'd like to 'up my game', and so I thought I'd get peoples' opinions on something...While I admit every person may give a different answer to these questions, in your own experience, what techniques did you use to help you learn:
a) The name of the different parts of a bird to help identify them uppertail-coverts, scapulars, etc? b) Birdsong? c) A greater number of bird species?
Chatting to Steve Burke recently he said getting out in the field is the best way to learn, but in terms of the 'theory' as it were, what has worked for you guys? For example, when learning birdsongs, did you learn by categories of birds (e.g. tit, thrushes), or start with common ones next you and work to others?
