BirdSpots: What’s It All About?

A compendium of places to see wild birds.

But not just see birds: to have quality birding encounters in beautiful natural settings.

Our philosophy is that the whole birding experience is valuable, not just ticking species off a checklist. Is the forest or beach or wetland worth spending time in, regardless of the birdlife or wildlife? The latter can then only enhance the experience. Are the birds relatively easy to spot or approach? That helps from an identification and photography perspective. Does the place offer the possibility of a rare species or good probabilities of getting a good look at a bird that is uncommon elsewhere? That gives a sense of excitement and potential.

These considerations feed in to how we review a birding spot and whether we recommend it, as well as more prosaic aspects like how easy is the place to get to, to park at, to walk around in, with maps to support all that – aspects that are often overlooked but practically important – also influence what makes a high quality BirdSpot.