Andy Stoddart reviews Dick Forsman's latest book which looks set to become the ultimate flight-identification guide to Western Palearctic raptors.
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India has become the 54th country to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in Africa and Eurasia an important international agreement to protect migratory birds of prey. More here >

A new species of bird has been described in north-eastern India and adjacent parts of China by a team of scientists from Sweden, China, the US, India and Russia, led by Professor Per Alstrom.
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The BTO have signed a 'Friendship Agreement' with Spurn Bird Obs to deliver future migration festivals at Spurn, a first of its kind for Britain.
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We hear from one of the UK's gull identification experts, Chris Gibbins, on his brilliant Thayer's find at Donmouth in Aberdeenshire.
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Tormod Amundsen, along with a small group of birders from the UK on a three-day whale watching extravaganza in northwest Norway.
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As winter finally delivered some seasonal weather gulls were still very much in the spotlight. Vega, Glaucous-winged and Thayer's all feature this week.
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Andy Stoddart reviews this exciting new guide for Varangerfjord and the Varanger Peninsula from the Biotope team in Norway.
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Terry Townshend describes the incredible finding of up to 9 Jankowski's Bunting at Miyun Reservoir in Beijing by a young Chinese birder.
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The RSPB welcomes Defra announcement of the creation of 23 new MCZs as an important step in protecting our coasts and seas, but warn more needs to be done. More here >

Killian Mullarney was hoping to find a rare gull for Ireland at Duncannon in Co.Wexford. Caspian Gull was his quarry but even he wasn't prepared for what he was about to unearth.
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DEFRA has finally published the long-awaited Hen Harrier Action Plan. It includes plans to re-introduce them to southern England and also for a trial of brood management.
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The RSPB has launched a major new blanket bog restoration project at Dove Stone in the Peak District after securing a grant of more than £228,000.
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A Peak District site is bucking the national trends with an increase in a number upland species that are vanishing elsewhere in the UK.
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New research in The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows how vultures use small-scale turbulence to stay aloft even when weather conditions don't favor the formation of thermals.
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Scientists have been given an extraordinary glimpse into how wild New Caledonian Crows make and use 'hooked stick tools' to hunt for insect prey.
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Another super week with another mega gull in Ireland - the Western Palearctic's first Vega Gull in Co.Wexford. Orkney scores a Brunnich's Guillemot and its alive! Plus much more.
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Better Birding reveals the techniques expert birders use to identify a wide array of bird species in the field-quickly and easily.
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Birders are being asked to help with some cutting-edge science, simply by reporting sightings of colour-dyed Dunlin and colour-ringed Curlew and Redshank.
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According to a recently published study in the last two decades Ghana has lost 90-99% of its Grey Parrot population and is on the verge of losing the species altogether. More here >

In the latest TN podcast we hear from outspoken conservationist and present Iolo Williams, also from Alan Davis and Ruth Miller of Biggest Twitch fame and from the BTO on their Cuckoo appeal.
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Birders visiting Turkey have an opportunity to help contribute to the forthcoming breeding birds atlas.
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Captive breeding efforts to save the Critically Endangered Orange-bellied Parrot, Australia's rarest bird, with perhaps as few as 50 individuals in the wild - have suffered a major setback.
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After two years Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have submitted a planning application for a controversial new visitor centre at Spurn in East Yorkshire.
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Well as we took a two week break over Christmas and New Year and Mark is now on leave for a while it is neither a weekly roundup nor written by Mark! So Jon Dunn steps in to bring you up to speed on the last couple of weeks, and what a couple of weeks it was.
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Our rarity of the year poll has closed, votes have been cast and counted and we now have the results. What is rarity of year and who are the runners-up?
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We now have in stock a bespoke leather case for our recently launched s.QUAD pager. Get more details and order online or by phone.
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Its the final piece in our 12 Birds of 2015 feature and although the Fea's Petrel off Scilly in August was not the rarest bird of the year, the photographs blew us all away!
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In the penultimate 12 Birds article of 2015, we look back at a remarkable year for Nearctic thrushes that included three species in nine days in late spring!
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After one visit to Scilly already this 12 Birds, we return to the archipelago for Britain's second Great Blue Heron and to the delight of all, a twitchable one too!
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To Bardsey Island now in our look back at the years highlights and one of the birds of the year for those lucky enough to get to see it.
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Day eight of our look back at the year's birding highlights and we travel to the west of Ireland, to Killybegs, for a splendid Slaty-backed Gull.
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As we head into the second half of our 12 Birds feature its 'Norfolk scores a brace' with Britain's 2nd Citril Finch and nearby a Moltoni's Warbler.
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Austin Taylor describes finding Britain's fifth ever, and Shetland's first, Mourning Dove at Lerwick on Boxing Day
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Day 6 of our 12 Birds of Christmas and we look back at one of the stand-out birds of the year, the stunning Wilson's Warbler at Port Nis, Lewis.
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Day 5 and we look back at one of the blockers to fall in 2015. The Hudsonian Godwit at Meare in Somerset in April and May proved a very popular bird, as were two records for the Irish in July and Sep.
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Day four of our 12 Birds of Christmas and we travel to Orkney and Papa Westray where an autumn-arrival Chestnut Bunting looks like an excellent candidate for a wild bird and thus a potential British first.
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As another very exciting twelve months draws to a close so we would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas.
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Day three of our look-back at the year's rarest birds. It was a record-breaking year for Cedar Waxwings with multiple records stretching from Tiree to Scilly and from Pembrokeshire to Co.Clare.
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Day two of our look back at the year's best birds and we have two monster surprises, a Black-browed Albatross touches down at Minsmere RSPB and a long staying Crag Martin in Chesterfield.
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Where else could we start with our look back at the best birds of 2015 but with this one day wonder at Dungeness in Kent back in September.
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The RSPB has published its latest figures on illegal raptor persecution in Scotland highlighting the huge scale of the problem, it makes for shocking reading.
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A fifty year study of Southern Giant Petrels, on Signy Island shows its population has halved and its breeding success has declined in the last 10-20 years.
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Birds use sophisticated changes to the structure of their feathers to create multi-coloured plumage, using a process that could pave the way for the creation of paints and clothing colours that won't fade over time. More here >

Unseasonable weather means unseasonable birds and a Red-rumped Swallow in Norfolk, in December certainly fits that bill! Throw in a wintering Hoopoe and it all felt a bit weird this week!
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This week we learned of a mass poisoning of at least 34 vultures including 27 Critically Endangered Hooded Vultures and 4 Ruppell's Griffons in Eastern Senegal. More here >

This winter fewer people have been reporting Tawny Owls to the BTO's Garden BirdWatch scheme, so the BTO are looking for your help to keep track of their populations.
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Both the American Bittern and Rufous Turtle Dove played 'now you see me, now you don't' with plenty of other winter fayre around the country.
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More than three-quarters of the UK's butterflies have declined in the last 40 years with some common species suffering significant slumps, a major scientific study has revealed.
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Shorebirds gain new sanctuary in South Australia as the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary will be proclaimed a National Park.
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Northern Spotted Owl populations are declining in all parts of their range in the Pacific Northwest, according to research published in The Condor.
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The previously extinct Chequered Skipper could be re-introduced to England thanks to an ambitious project to protect some of our most threatened wildlife.
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Scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) have received new funding to enable study of seal deaths around the English coastline.
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A forthcoming study in The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows that Blackpoll Warblers that breed in western North America migrate east first to fatten up before migrating across the Atlantic.
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A study looking at how DNA changes with body size may help scientists to explain why taller individuals tend to have shorter lives.
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Long-tailed Tits are more successful at raising young when they alternate their feeding trips, scientists from the University of Sheffield have found.
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Another busy winter week with some lingering rares and some new surprises. A Black-browed Albatross in Kerry was a star turn as was a white Gyr on Western Isles.
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Romanian Hunters have agreed to a temporary hunting ban in one of the most important Special Protected Areas for Red-breasted Geese.
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A hotel in Newcastle is looking to deter the city's famous inland Kittiwakes from nesting on the Tyne bridge by using netting and electronic devices.
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Durham Constabulary and the RSPB are appealing for information about an illegally shot Peregrine Falcon found in County Durham.
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Wildlife authorities in East Java seized hundreds of plastic baskets crammed with 2,711 live native birds of various species from a passenger ship docked in the port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya.
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South-East Asia's largest waterbird colony, the 21,342 hectares Prek Toal has been designated as a Wetland of International Importance.
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BirdLife New Zealand partner, Forest & Bird is predicting a pest plague next winter and spring given the significant level of beech flowering occurring now
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The latest assessment of the status of all the UK's 244 bird species shows that 27% of UK species are now of 'highest conservation concern' and have been placed on the assessment's Red List.
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Highlights included a Western Rufous Turtle Dove on Shetland, American Bittern and Black Scoter in Ireland, returning Pacific Diver in Cornwall and Scotland's first December Barred Warbler.
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Information by the BTO shows that the spells of cool, wet weather in late-spring and summer left many birds struggling to breed, with more northerly populations faring particularly badly. More here >

The RSPB is calling for better application of the laws that protect UK raptors, as the Birdcrime 2014 report highlights that illegal persecution continues.
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After a successful public appeal for sightings of Hen Harriers over the spring and summer, with over 100 reports recorded, the 'Heads Up for Harriers' group is asking the public to help once again this winter.
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A despatch from Terry Townshend in Beijing where going birding can depend on the quality of the air, checking apps and wearing masks.
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Following the killing of a Red-footed Falcon in Cambridgeshire we are crowd-funding to help catch the perpetrators and to highlight the illegal persecution of Britain's raptors.
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The use of neonicotinoid pesticides may be contributing to the decline of butterflies in the UK, a study has revealed.
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At least 626 southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) calves died at the Península Valdés calving ground, Argentina, between 2003 and 2014. Intense gull harassment may have contributed to these deaths.
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The Chesterfield Crag Martin and Cumbrian Desert Wheatear lingered into the week but it was a week largely dominated by the wind and many eyes were looking out to sea.
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Following the original Winter Shorebird Count carried out in 1985 and NEWS counts in 1997/98 and 2006/07, the 3rd repeat of NEWS will be carried out this coming winter and the BTO need your help.
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Cambridgeshire Police, the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the RSPB are appealing for information relating to the shooting of a Red-footed Falcon near Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire in September.
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Jim Almond looks back on a three-week visit to the Isles of Scilly during the first three weeks of October 2015.
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For the third year in a row, the colonies at Souss-Massa National Park and nearby Tamri in Morocco, formed a record number of breeding pairs, reaching 116 pairs in 2015. More here >

A historic project, more than 30 years in the making, took place recently when 10 endangered Hawaiian Petrel chicks were flown by helicopter from their montane nesting area.
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New research has shown that male Great Tits plumage is affected by contaminating heavy metals. such as Mercury, copper and chrome may cause them to be less attractive to the females.
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For the first time, scientists have been able to reveal the migration routes European Rollers take between southern parts of Africa and Europe.
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The Scottish Government has published a long awaited report from the Wildlife Crime Penalties Review Group and it makes of number of recommendations for tougher penalties. More here >

The Chesterfield Crag Martin plays hide and seek whilst Cumbria scores its' second ever Desert Wheatear. Rest of the best include Pallid Harriers in Cleveland and Norfolk and the Orkney Northern Harrier heads to the mainland. More here >

On the 21st November, OSME are teaming up with British Ornithologists' Club and the Natural History Museum to hold their first joint winter meeting, free entry and all welcome. More here >

Following the recent announcement regarding severe cuts across DEFRA, the RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts have come together to highlight what it could mean for the environment. More here >

One of Scotland's rarest breeding birds, the Corncrake, has suffered a poor season this year with numbers dropping by nearly a fifth.
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BirdLife International and the Government of Seocheon County have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on the conservation of the Geum Estuary in the Republic of Korea.
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A new report by the RSPB shows that Europe's wildlife is already being affected by climate change and these effects will only intensify over the course of this century. More here >

The High Court has this morning [13/11/2015] ruled that Natural England acted unlawfully when it refused to issue licences to kill buzzards.
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BirdLife in Turkey is protecting one of the world's most threatened bird species, 30 km from the Syrian border.
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On Monday 9th Nov, LPO/BirdLife France volunteers were physically assaulted by a man with a shovel after they attempted to remove illegal poaching traps in a village in south-east France.
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We review this new identification guide to the Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America and we have a special offer for all RBA subscribers.
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A twitchable Crag Martin in the centre of Chesterfield is the undoubted highlight of the week. Elsewhere a Blyth's Pipit at Spurns adds to what looks like a record year for the species.
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Despite showing long-term declines the latest State of the UK Birds report shows UK bird populations are benefiting from innovative partnerships.
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On a stop-off to look at the local Peregrines at Chesterfield's iconic 'crooked spire' All Saints Church, Roy Frost finds Derbyshire's first Crag Martin.
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After an almost 200-year disappearance, the first Green-winged Macaws have been released in northeastern Argentina.
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A new search for a bird not seen for over 60 years, the Makira Moorhen, failed to produce any sightings. However there were a couple of encouraging indications.
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Long-term monitoring of one of the country's most charismatic birds has revealed that the River Tay is possibly their largest stronghold in the UK.
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With just 25 adults left in the world and as few as 5 fertile pairs the Fatu Hiva Monarch is on the brink of going extinct.
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The Chestnut Bunting hung on for another couple of days, with highlights elsewhere including Hudsonian Whimbrel and Blyth's Pipit in Cornwall, multiple Pallid Swifts and Hume's Yellow-browed Warblers and a dapper adult male Pied Wheatear in Suffolk.
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Red-necked Phalaropes have bred at RSPB Scotland's Balranald nature reserve in North Uist after an absence of three decades.
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