Searching for European Nightjar is an enthralling annual experience for any birder who keeps a year list or simply enjoys this spellbinding summer migrant. In 2025, volunteers for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) completed a national survey of this species. Now the results are in, Greg Conway from the BTO provides a fascinating update.

Although less well-known, Andalusian Buttonquail is equally alluring to birders with an interest in Western Palearctic (WP) avifauna. Having already vanished from Europe, this enigmatic oddball hangs on by a thread within the wider region. Having successfully searched for the species in what may be its last WP outpost in Morocco, Brian McCloskey shares his insights on this bird on the brink.

It is only natural to have vagrants in mind in May, so what better time to reminisce about one of the best birding springs of all time? Robin Chittenden shares his stories and photographs of Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Tree Swallow and many other megas from the epic season of 1990. If you were there too, it’s time to get nostalgic. If you weren’t, this is your chance to experience it.

European Red-rumped Swallow is a realistic yet highly prized overshoot to search for in May, whether picking the species out among actively migrating hirundines on the coast, or when rain drives them low over inland waterbodies. Richard Bonser provides a masterclass on separating ‘red-rumpers’ from their commoner – and rarer – relatives.

Simon Breeze gives timely advice on keeping the birding experience authentic as AI becomes more prevalent in the hobby in his feature on the ‘post-Merlin ear’. Auto-ID apps – including Merlin – have plenty of benefits, but there are checks we need to put in place as individuals, he says, to ensure we continue to learn and appreciate birds fully.

Advancing technology has also deepened our understanding of bird vocalisations, resulting in the publication of the second edition of The Sound Approach to Birding this year. Mark Constantine shares an excerpt from the book, detailing how one Victorian discovery still shapes our understanding of bioacoustics today. 

Josh Jones opens his new, regular column with an inland birder’s celebration of north-easterly winds in spring. Lucy McRobert discusses the coded – sometimes loaded – language that birders speak, while Mark Avery considers the implications of landmark changes to shooting restrictions.

On top of all that, this month’s issue also features detailed stories on recent rarities, including Ireland’s first Oriental Turtle Dove and Britain’s second Stejneger’s Scoter.