At ELOC we are well aware of the difficulties faced by new or returning Birders and from time to time we add details of facilities, courses and outings which may be of help / interest to you.
Binoculars (or Bins)
A key piece of kit for the birder and one you should invest in as soon as you can. Prices range from around £30 to £oh my god!! but there is a genuine difference between the high end ones and the really cheap, mostly you do get what you pay for. There is an excellent page at
Which gives some great advice on the subject and it is worth while spending 30 minutes reading through this. The other thing is to make sure you try before you buy. Many of the big suppliers and the RSPB have sites where you can try a number of sets before buying. Keep in mind also that if you really get into this you could have this hanging around your neck for many hours, weight and comfort are important.
Birding Guides
There are literally thousands of Bird ID books out there and if you are going on holiday there are specific ones available for most countries or regions. However, to start with the RSPB’s Birds of Britain and Europe and Collins Bird Guide (for Britain and Europe) are very good introductions. Try to get the latest version available because the world of birds changes all the time. Keep in mind that it can be difficult at times to identify a specific bird as they can be moulting, dirty, in poor light or any number of other reasons. Don’t be afraid to ask, we have a Facebook site where you can upload a photo or just a description and someone will help if they can. Another place which is pretty good is the birdforum.net website, in addition to having general birding news and views there are forums where you can ask about ID.
Note Book
Always carry a notebook with you on birding outings, you can note down what you have seen (its very easy to forget) and they are handy for jotting down other items like weather, habitat type, small drawings of birds you can’t ID etc. A small pocket notebook with a pencil is perfectly adequate although waterproof ones with special pens etc are available.
Birding Courses
The BTO run a number of skills development courses to help with identification, surveying and so on take a look on here;
https://www.bto.org/develop-your-skills.
The RSPB also provide some learning and development advice and training; take a look here
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/
There are also a number of Youtube videos on birding and Bird ID, see;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl8QdQ9ZaBT65tF1yOmbMBQ
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1t-goRaF_qrFwwyxipvwow
There are also a number of phone apps available these days which can help with ID and birdsong recognition, look in your app store on iPhone or Android. I use Merlin but there are others.
Field Trips and Birding Events
For Field Trips around the ELOC area please take a look on the Field Trip item in the Club Activities Menu but do look here from time to time as there are other events such as an event at Stocks Reservoir which generally takes place every Summer.