Bird Watching Sites

The advent of cheap travel brought with it the rise to prominence of nature watchers, enjoying the freely accessible world and all the wonders in it. Birding has one of the strongest and enthusiastic communities out there, and nearly no exotic location is overlooked in the search for the world's 10,000 species of birds. In recognition of the educational and wholly passionate websites which have resulted as a by-product of this exhaustive task, we're shining a light on the best birding blogs currently active and deserving of a Tripbase Travel Award.

• Ribble to Amazon!

  http://www.ribbletoamazon.com/

  Professional birding tour leader Colin Bushell shares with us some phenomenal sightings across the UK and beyond. His 35+ years of experience culminate in this terrific blog.

• Hasty Brook

  http://hastybrook.blogspot.com/

  While most of the award winners on our list pertain to well-known, global birding locations, we couldn't help but include Lynne's bird watching blog on Hasty Brook in Northern Minnesota. Read only a handful of posts and you'll see why!

• Bird Stack

  http://birdstack.com/

  An excellent (and successful) attempt to unite the birding community with an innovative tool allowing us to publish, review and compare bird watching lists from anywhere on the planet. The amount of implications this has is staggering and certain to bring a wealth of new opportunities to the hobbyist.

• Behind the Bins

  http://behindthebins.wordpress.com/

  Beverly is lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel all over the world in the quest for ticking off birds, and we're lucky enough to enjoy her regular journal packed full of stunning photography.

• Susan Gets Native

  http://www.susankwilliams.blogspot.com/

  A personal and passionate account of both bird watching and nature in general peppered with some great anecdotes from Susan's experiences.

• BESG Blog

  http://besgroup.talfrynature.com/

  The BESG (Bird Ecology Study Group) blog is an inspiring observational account of birding around the world. The multitude of posts alone can (and we suspect does) ensnare visitors for hours on end.

• Of Pies and Birds

  http://www.ofpiesandbirds.blogspot.com/

  Of Pies and Birds combines one man's love of two things. Can you guess what they are?

• Peregrine's Bird Blog

  http://www.peregrinesbirdblog.blogspot.com/

  Peregrine's Bird Blog is guaranteed to slake your thirst for birding photography, but on the slim chance it doesn't, the blog also contains the most comprehensive directory of photographers we've come across (neatly divided into geographical location on the right-hand side).

• The Birder's Report

  http://www.thebirdersreport.com/

  The Birder's Report stands head-and-shoulders above most other birding blogs thanks to its striking photography, some of which covering some rarer specimens many of us can only aspire to see.

• The Drinking Bird

  http://thedrinkingbirdblog.com/

  Irreverent and highly original, the Drinking Bird is immensely satisfying reading. Grade-A work and a blog you'll definitely want to bookmark.