Surreybirder
Ken Noble
I wrote the following for the Surrey Bird Club Newsletter, but I thought
there may be a few who are not SBC members who might get
some tips. Please feel free to recommend your own favourite sites:
Recommended web sites
So many people now have Internet access that I thought it might be worth
giving the URLs (addresses) of some sites that I have found particularly
useful or enjoyable.
Of course, there are the must-visit ones such as Surrey Bird Club’s:
http://www.sbclub.ukonline.co.uk/
RSPB:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/
BTO:
http://www.bto.org/
BOU
http://www.bou.org.uk/
One of the best and most comprehensive sites, which apparently gets
nearly a million ‘hits’ per month is Fatbirder:
http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/europe/england_surrey.html
Another huge site is Surfbirds:
http://www.surfbirds.com/
Recently I discovered BirdForum, which has many interesting features,
and discussion forums where you can give your views on all sorts of
birding subjects. There is also a gallery where you can post your photos
or admire other people’s:
http://www.birdforum.net/index.php
If you enjoy surfing without any particular goal in mind, three good
starting points are:
http://www.hbw.com/links/index.html
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/bird.html
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/links/links.jsp?page=l_eur_uk_en
For owls, try:
http://www.owlpages.com/Default.htm
And for a good selection of trip reports:
http://www.birdtours.co.uk/index.htm
If you want to keep abreast of what is being said in some of the many
birding newsgroups, without registering as a member, a good starting
point is:
http://birdingonthe.net/
This will link you to, for example, UKBirdNet at:
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/UKBN.html
Finally, not everyone may realise that Google, the search engine, also
has a facility to find images. If, for example, you want to find a
picture of a pygmy owl, type in “pigmy owl” and then click on images.
(Sometimes you can find unexpected sites by using the scientific, French
or German name for a species.)
All the above URLs were working when I checked them in April, but some
do expire as webmasters move to different ISPs.
There are literally hundreds of bird and wildlife sites, so prepare for
some long sessions. And if your favourite is not listed, post it in this thread!
there may be a few who are not SBC members who might get
some tips. Please feel free to recommend your own favourite sites:
Recommended web sites
So many people now have Internet access that I thought it might be worth
giving the URLs (addresses) of some sites that I have found particularly
useful or enjoyable.
Of course, there are the must-visit ones such as Surrey Bird Club’s:
http://www.sbclub.ukonline.co.uk/
RSPB:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/
BTO:
http://www.bto.org/
BOU
http://www.bou.org.uk/
One of the best and most comprehensive sites, which apparently gets
nearly a million ‘hits’ per month is Fatbirder:
http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/europe/england_surrey.html
Another huge site is Surfbirds:
http://www.surfbirds.com/
Recently I discovered BirdForum, which has many interesting features,
and discussion forums where you can give your views on all sorts of
birding subjects. There is also a gallery where you can post your photos
or admire other people’s:
http://www.birdforum.net/index.php
If you enjoy surfing without any particular goal in mind, three good
starting points are:
http://www.hbw.com/links/index.html
http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/bird.html
http://www.bsc-eoc.org/links/links.jsp?page=l_eur_uk_en
For owls, try:
http://www.owlpages.com/Default.htm
And for a good selection of trip reports:
http://www.birdtours.co.uk/index.htm
If you want to keep abreast of what is being said in some of the many
birding newsgroups, without registering as a member, a good starting
point is:
http://birdingonthe.net/
This will link you to, for example, UKBirdNet at:
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/UKBN.html
Finally, not everyone may realise that Google, the search engine, also
has a facility to find images. If, for example, you want to find a
picture of a pygmy owl, type in “pigmy owl” and then click on images.
(Sometimes you can find unexpected sites by using the scientific, French
or German name for a species.)
All the above URLs were working when I checked them in April, but some
do expire as webmasters move to different ISPs.
There are literally hundreds of bird and wildlife sites, so prepare for
some long sessions. And if your favourite is not listed, post it in this thread!