rspb
What is needed for ‘Birdwatching’ (also referred to as ‘Birding’ or ‘Twitching’ which is normally reserved for those that travel specifically to spot a rare breed of bird) – if you are simply interested in just spotting birds in your own back garden, you will only require a supply of bird food in order to persuade the birds into your garden or a simple bird box if you wish to see birds nest and rear their own families! You will be amazed at just how many different breeds of bird will enter your garden.
If you wish to become a more ‘serious’ birdwatcher, perhaps a pair of binoculars (birding binoculars can also be purchased, there are a vast range of birdwatching binoculars (e.g. RSPB, Leica, Olympus to name but a few) or even a spotting scope would be useful (Leica, Nikon, Kowa to name a few good models) and of course, in order to improve your knowledge, there are many books on the different breeds/species of birds. It is so thrilling and amazing just to learn about the many different types of beautiful birds. You will most certainly need a notepad/book to record all your wonderful sightings. A few books I recommend are listed as follows:-
• Colins Bird Guide (Lars Stevenson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterstrom, Peter J Grant)
• RSPB Children’s Guide to Birdwatching
• RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds
• Collins Complete Guide to British Birds: A Photographic Guide to Every Common Species (Paul Sterry)
• A Field Guide to the Rare Birds of Britain and Europe (Ian Lewington)
• The Macmillan Field Guide to Bird Identification (Alan Lewis)
There is also a more scientific side to this hobby, known as Ornithology. There is an organisation named The British Trust for Ornithology, an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles and they carry out research into the lives of birds by carrying out breeding surveys and also bird ringing. It is usually volunteers who carry out such activities for the BTO, these birdwatchers are not necessarily experts, even people who like to birdwatch in their own back garden can take part by making a weekly count of birds.
As most of us will know, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is another organisation which is heavily involved in the protection and conservation of birds. This is a huge, charitable organisation which incorporates around 1,500 employees along with over 12,000 volunteers, it is actually the largest Wildlife Conservation Charity in Europe with over 1 million members. There are many local groups in your area and approximately 150 Reserves throughout the UK, these Reserves usually have bird hides and also Visitor Centres which also give information regarding all the wildlife which can be seen there, not just birds.