Top Ten Tips for Beginners

1. Join BirdWatch Ireland

• By joining BirdWatch Ireland, the national wildbird conservation NGO, you will be assisting one of Ireland's largest and most active wildlife conservation charities. Membership dues are extremely reasonable and as a member, you will receive an excellent quarterly magazine "Wings" containing interesting articles and conservation and birding information.

2. Attend BirdWatch Ireland Branch Meetings - Go on Outings

• This is quite simply the best way to get involved in birdwatching. There are always plenty of leaders with telescopes on outings who will be happy to share knowledge and their telescopes so you can see the wild birds up close. A list of branches and upcoming outings nationwide is available online here. Remember, you don't have to be a member to attend a BirdWatch outing or meeting ! Also, even though you are a member of one branch, you are free to attend any of the meetings or outings of any other branch.

3. Don't be intimidated - Ask questions

• To newcomers, birding can seem like the preserve of experts and twitchers. Not so ! In fact, birding is simple and any effort is immediately rewarded. Beginning birding is easy and relatively cheap compared to other hobbies like angling, photography etc. Don't be intimidated by other birders when at an outing or a bird reserve. Those birders started at the beginning too and will be pleased to share knowledge and to train newcomers in birdwatching skills and fieldcraft.

4. Have Realistic Expectations

• Beginners are often overwhelmed by the range of bird species and plumages, particularly as they change through the year. However, getting started is simple. Remember to concentrate on getting familiar with the common bird species first before moving onto more challenging species. Take it easy, there is a learning curve, but a little effort is very soon rewarded. When observing, really look at the bird and get to know its characteristics, colours, shape, sound and plumage. Birds can look very different depending on the time of year (plumage may vary), weather and light conditions.

5. Buy Good but Affordable Optics

• You have to able to see the birds to get the most enjoyment and satisfaction from birding. However the most expensive pair of binoculars may not necessarily be the best for you. The right pair for you will depend on cost, size, weight, eye comfort and magnification. Most birders choose 7x or 8x magnification. Get advice from others before you splash out, if possible try before your buy !

6. Become Bird-Aware

• Every day is a birdwatching day, whether it's a stroll in the park, looking out the bus window or listening to the dawn chorus as you awake. They're all birding opportunities and you will be amazed how bird-aware you will become after a short while. Use this to fuel your curiosity and practice your birding skills. If you see a new bird, ask yourself what it is and try to find out by identifying its key features and looking at your field guide. Start familiarising yourself with bird calls and songs. It will enrich your birding experience and make identification much easier. Get a bird sounds tape or cd. Also, there is an excellent online resource here with a huge selection of European bird sound files.

7. Take Notes - Use your Field Guide

• Use a notebook when birding to take notes, sketches, details of counts, weather and any other general observations in the field. Ideally your notebook should be of the small hardback pocket variety, but any type of pocket notebook will suffice. Over time your notes will build up into a valuable resource. After an outing, get out your field guide again and look over the descriptions and illustrations of birds you saw. Get to know the birds' identifying features. Good notetaking and patient study of your field guide will be rewarded on your next outing.

8. Watch a Local Patch

• Make a local area your own and visit it regularly at different times and in different weather conditions. Any place  will suffice - a patch of wasteland, a beach, a park, farmland or even your garden ! Get to know the geography and nature of the area. Over time you will begin to notice changes and this will improve your birding fieldcraft.  By repeatedly seeing a set of bird species over time in one area, you will get familiar with calls and songs, bird plumage and plumage variation, bird behaviour and migration arrivals and departures. If possible record your sightings. You might just see something unusual or rare !

9. Learn about Weather and Tides

• Birds are subject to the elements in the most dramatic way. An understanding of weather, wind and tides will help you learn more about birds and their ways. For example, if planning a trip to Bull Island, Rogerstown Estuary or some other tidal location, make sure you know the time for high tide. The best time for birdwatching at locations like these is during the three hours either side of high tide. Otherwise the birds will be too far away to see. To predict tides, download WXTide32 which is great free software for displaying tides for lots of world locations including many Irish locations. . There are also useful Irish weather forecast and weather satellite image links here.