Getting Started

It's easy to get started in birding - just look out of the window into your garden, go for a walk in the park or anywhere there are trees and vegetation. Birds are all over the place, even in built-up areas and city centres.  You just need to use your eyes and ears to find them!

It's a good idea to get hold of a book to help you identify birds. The current 'birding bible' in the UK is the second edition of the Collins Bird Guide by Lars Svensson, but this is quite heavy going for the beginner.

A much better book to get started would be the RSPB Handbook of British Birds or the RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds.  Both of these can be bought off Amazon for between £5 to £7.  You don't necessarily need to carry a book around with you whilst you are birding, particularly as you can now get versions of these books as apps for mobile phones.

It used to be traditional for birders to carry a notebook and pencil to record the features of the birds they see and where it was seen as well its name if they recognise it.  However, although hardcore birders still maintain that this is essential, most casual birders now take a photograph of some sort (often with a mobile phone) or enter the details straight into a birding app.

I would suggest that if you intend to become a serious birder you should make notes of sightings in the field.  This will allow you record the bird's physical features and behaviour and the habitat much better that a photograph.

The only other piece of really useful equipment is a pair of binoculars. My advice would be to stay away from really cheap binoculars costing £25 or less new as they often have defects that make them hard to see clearly and can put off beginners from using them.  The RSPB market a range of binoculars and they can often be tried at some RSPB sites such as Leighton Moss or Conwy.

That's it, nothing else is needed except perhaps some warm and waterproof clothing and decent footwear.