Birdwatching & birding guides
The Trip Tick birdwatching blog: practical advice on life lists, offline recording, patch listing and getting the most from your birding.
News
Birdwatching is cool now — why a new generation is picking up binoculars
Nearly 750,000 people aged 16–29 now birdwatch regularly. What is driving the boom, and where Trip Tick fits in.
Read articleIntroducing Leaderboards — compete with your birding friends
Our biggest release yet: invite friends and compare Life, Year, Month and 30-day totals.
Read articleMake the most of the Big Garden Birdwatch
How to get the most from the RSPB’s annual count weekend.
Read articleWhat to watch for as autumn migration begins
Visible passage, new arrivals, and where to see them.
Read articleHow Trip Tick keeps its species list up to date
Why we sync to AviList, the unified global checklist, every year.
Read articleHow to guides
How to add a location or patch
Tag a new site so every future visit adds to a running, per-place total.
Read articleHow to set up tags
Organise your locations by patch, reserve, county or country — however suits you.
Read articleHow to import your existing life list
Bring your history across from a spreadsheet or another app in minutes.
Read articleHow to record a trip in Trip Tick
A step-by-step walkthrough of logging a trip, from starting it to your first sighting.
Read articleHow to add a sighting
Log a bird quickly and accurately, with counts, notes and photos.
Read articleHow to view your reports
Find and read Trip Tick’s 21 detailed reports on your birding.
Read articleBirding tips
Life list, year list, patch list: what’s the difference and which should you keep?
What each list means, what it’s good for, and which ones a beginner should start with.
Read articleBirds are everywhere: how to start birdwatching on your everyday walks
Where to spot birds on everyday walks, how Merlin helps with ID, and how to log every sighting.
Read articleBirdwatching for beginners: it’s easier (and cheaper) than you think
The birds to learn first, the best free ID tools, and what beginner binoculars to buy.
Read articleKeeping a birding life list (and actually enjoying it)
A practical guide to starting a birding life list, keeping it accurate, and making it motivating.
Read articleRecording bird sightings offline — even with no signal
Never lose a sighting again. How to prepare for offline birding and sync when you’re back.
Read articleMoving your birding records from a spreadsheet to an app
Outgrown your spreadsheet? How to move your life list into an app — and let us do the tidying.
Read articlePatch listing for beginners: how to track your local patch
What a patch is, how to choose one, and how to track your local patch list through the seasons.
Read article