AA BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY

BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL.   In our opinion the most important bird charity, but we are biased because we do so much travelling. Doesn't get the publicity or the funding of some others, but seem to waste less of their income, and are truly operating worldwide.

W.W.F.   The Wildfowl and Wetlands trust, again operating worldwide and engaged in some really important projects e.g. Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Madagascar Pochard. The centres are evolving from just being collections of wildfowl and are very engaged in captive breeding and education. Like the RSPB are trying to promote an interest in all forms of wildlife.

HOTEL DE CAMPO CANO NEGRO.   Cano Negro is in the north of Costa Rica and is an area often neglected by tours etc. We thoroughly enjoyed a five-day package which included a private boat trip every day. It is possibly the best wetland area in Costa Rica, but make sure you go at the best time. Andrea, the owner, is very helpful, both before and during your stay.

OISEAUX-BIRDS.COM    A non-commercial website containing a wealth of information about birds worldwide, available in French and English. Easy to navigate and not overly scientific but gives a good summary of each species. Nicole regularly updates the site so there's more on it all the time. A number of photos are supplied by me, but there are plenty more from lots of photographers.

RARE BIRD ALERT.   The original pager system, a source of bird information for twitchers. Nowadays provides much more including weekly round-up, summary of old records of birds on the British list, and photos of current rarities etc. News and alerts are also available on phones.

SURFBIRDS.   The first and most popular online magazine, lots of stop press photos, adverts, trip reports. UK and USA "based", primarily for more serious birders. Photos of UK rarities used to be uploaded regularly, but other websites such as RBA and Birdguides seem to be more often used nowadays, plus of course social media. Also keep lists of birders "achievements" such as world, seabird, wader and individual country lists, but they aren't reliable (if you care).

BRITISH BIRDS.   The website of the magazine, for many years the only magazine available , founded in 1907. A more scientific approach than most but still considered essential reading by many birders. Also publishes an annual rarities report, among others.

BOU.   Official keepers of the British list. The website offers much information regarding the list itself, categories, and recently, the current status of submitted records, some of which take years to get through the process leading to acceptance or otherwise. Their magazine, Ibis, publishes much scientific information.

I.O.C.   "Keepers of the world list". More and more authorities are adopting the IOC as the authority on taxonomy. Although there are many world lists, most are fairly similar, and the IOC attempt to pull them all together, and give (brief) reasons for their decisions, plus the list is updated twice a year, updates are published separately so you can easily check your own list. IOC stands for International Ornithological Congress. (If you put IOC in a search engine you get the Olympics Commitee!)

BIRDWATCH/BIRDGUIDES.   Now probably the best UK magazine for keen birders, combined with Birdguides, which is a news and information service through phone apps. We have supplied many photos to Birdwatch magazine in the past, and I've written the odd article. Everything is combined in one website, although I believe individual sites are available through social media.

WILDLIFE RECORDER    A means of keeping many lists, much developed since its inception in 1989. Developed by Jack Levene, whom we have known since our earliest twitching days. I prefer to produce my own lists, especially as I'm now retired, but I have an early copy and find it excellent. Much more is covered now than just birds; moths, butterflies, mammals, dragonflies and reptiles, some of which are worldwide.

AFRICAN BIRD CLUB.    A major source of information about African birds and conservation, memberships available. Also suppliers of a free phone app which sounds excellent, covering over 1000 species. We haven't had a lot to do with them as most of our travels have been outside Africa, but the site looks excellent.

RONNIE'S RESORT PAYSON    An annex above the owners house in Payson Arizona. We were so impressed I said I would put a link on the site. Doesn't have its own website, but search in Air Bnb, Booking.com etc. We used it as a stopover and spent the evening watching birds from the balcony, including Lucy's Warblers. If you use it get details of how to find it, it's not easy but well worth it.

e-BIRD.    In the USA this is the main source of sightings information, usually through Smartphones and involving photos. It is also a huge source of information through connections with Cornell Laboratory, and you could probably find most things you wanted to know on there. Unfortunately sightings information outside of the States is very variable, few UK birders use it at present. Also sightings aren't verified in most cases, although there are plenty of ways to verify rarities.