Will

@hashygeek

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Moorhens are blackish with a red and yellow beak and green legs. Seen closer-up, they have a dark brown back and wings and a more bluish-black belly, with white stripes on the flanks.

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The Montagu's Harrier is a slim, medium-sized, long-winged bird of prey. It has a long tail, is smaller than a Buzzard, and has more pointed wings than the similar Hen Harrier. The male is grey on top. In flight, it shows black wingtips and a black stripe across the inner wing. The female is dark brown. It is an extremely rare breeding bird in the UK, and its status is precarious. Each pair needs special protection. It seems increasingly to be nesting on arable farmland rather than on marshes. It is a summer visitor, and migrates to Africa to spend the winter. Montagu's Harrier are a Schedule 1 listed species on The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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The Mistle Thrush is a pale, black-spotted thrush – large and powerful. It stands boldly upright and bounds across the ground. In flight, it has long wings and its tail has whitish edges. It's most likely to be noticed perched high at the top of a tree, singing its fluty song or giving its rattling call in flight.

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The UK's smallest bird of prey, this compact, dashing falcon has a relatively square-cut tail and rather broad-based pointed wings, shorter than those of other falcons. Its wingbeat tends to be rapid with occasional glides, wings held close to the body. In winter, the UK population increases as most of the Icelandic breeding birds migrate to our warmer climate. Although recovering from a population crash in the late 20th century, it is on the Red List. It is a Schedule 1 listed species on The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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The Mediterranean Gull is slightly larger than a Black-headed Gull, with an all-black head in the breeding season. Adults have white wing-tips and underwings and the younger birds have more wing markings. It has a large, slightly drooping beak, bright red in adults. A very rare UK bird until the 1950s, it's now widespread in winter and breeding in ever-increasing numbers. Its present UK breeding population makes it an Amber List species. It is a Schedule 1 listed bird of The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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A small, brown, and streaky bird, the Meadow Pipit is the most common songbird in upland areas. Its high, piping call is a familiar sound. In flight, it shows white outer tail feathers and, in the breeding season, it has a fluttering display flight. In winter, they are quite sociable and gather in small flocks, often hidden among plants, suddenly flying up with their typical jerky flight. Meadow Pipit numbers in the UK have been declining since the mid-1970s, resulting in this species being included on the Amber List of conservation concern.

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This master singer is so rare that few people in the UK get to hear it. It looks similar to the Reed Warbler, but is whiter below, more olive above and has pale legs. Like other warblers it is highly active, searching its habitat of shrubs and dense vegetation for food. Though it's thought to have a secure population within Europe, the UK population of Marsh Warblers has fallen and is now of serious conservation concern. It is a Schedule 1 listed bird of The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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The Marsh Tit is a small, mainly brown bird, with a shiny black cap, dark bib and pale belly. In the UK, its identification is made tricky by the very similar appearance of native Willow Tits. They're so hard to identify that ornithologists (scientists who study birds) didn't realise there were two species until 1897.

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The largest of the harriers, the Marsh Harrier can be recognised by its long tail and light flight with wings held in a shallow 'V'. It is distinguishable from other harriers by its larger size, heavier build, broader wings and absence of white on the rump. Females are larger than males and have obvious creamy heads. Its future in the UK is now more secure than at any time during the last century, but historical declines and subsequent recovery means it is an Amber List species. Marsh Harriers are a Schedule 1 listed bird on The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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The Manx Shearwater is a small shearwater. Its straight slim wings are black above and white below. It flies with a series of rapid stiff-winged flaps followed by long glides over the surface of the sea, occasionally banking or 'shearing' (tilting in flight, with one wing held higher than the other). It breeds in groups in the UK, on offshore islands where it is safe from rats and other ground predators. Birds leave their nest sites in July to migrate to the coast of South America, where they spend the winter, returning in late February and March.

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The male Mandarin Duck has very elaborate and decorative plumage with distinctive orange feathers on the side of the face, a purple chest, large orange feathers that stick up like sails on its back, and pale orange flanks (its lower sides). The female is not as brightly-coloured, with a grey head and white stripe behind the eye, brown back and mottled lower sides. They were introduced to the UK from China and have become established following escapes from captivity.

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The Mallard is a large and heavy-looking duck. It has a long body, and a long and broad bill. The male has a dark green head, a yellow bill, is mainly purple-brown on the breast and grey on the body. The female is mainly brown with an orange bill. Mallards breed in all parts of the UK in summer and winter, wherever there are suitable wetland habitats, although it is rarer in upland areas. In the UK, Mallards may be resident breeders or migrants – many of the birds that breed in Iceland and northern Europe spend the winter here.

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With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there's nothing else quite like the Magpie in the UK. When seen close-up, its black plumage reveals a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers and a green gloss to the tail. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades – scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers. Non-breeding birds will gather together in flocks.

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The Long-tailed Tit is easily recognisable with its distinctive blush, black and white colouring. It also has a tail which is bigger than its body, and a bouncing flight. Sociable and noisy residents, Long-tailed Tits are most usually noticed in small, excitable flocks of about 20 birds. Like most tits, they rove the woods and hedgerows, but are also seen on heaths and commons with suitable bushes.

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The Long-tailed Skua is a medium-sized seabird and our smallest skua. It is the size of a black-headed gull, with slim wings and delicate tail streamers. It is greyish above and dusky below with a pale breast. It has a dark cap on the head and has a dark bill. Juvenile birds are greyer and more stripey than young Arctic and Pomarine Skuas, but are tricky to identify. It's a passage migrant to the UK, breeding in the high Arctic. Good numbers of birds spend the winter off west African coasts and off Brazilian and Argentinian coasts.

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The Long-tailed Duck is a small, neat sea duck. They have small round heads and steep foreheads. In winter, the male is mainly white with some brownish-black markings. It also has greatly elongated tail feathers which give it its name. Females are browner. When in flight, they show their all dark wings and white bellies. They don't breed in the UK, but protection of their wintering sites is important, because they're vulnerable to oil pollution at sea. They're a winter visitor and passage migrant to the UK, most commonly from Northumberland to northern Scotland. Long-tailed Ducks are listed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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The Long-eared Owl is a medium-sized owl, smaller than a Woodpigeon. It often looks long and thin, with head feathers (known as ear tufts, even though they are not ears) which it raises when alarmed. It is light brown with darker brown streaks and deep orange eyes. It breeds widely across the UK with fewer birds in the southwest and Wales. Northern birds migrate southwards, including birds from Europe coming to spend the winter in the UK, while southern birds are residents and only move distances to find food.

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This delightful chattering seabird is the UK's smallest tern. It is short-tailed and has a fast flight. Its bill is a distinctive yellow with a black tip. It's noisy in breeding groups, where it also performs its elaborate aerial display. The male calls and carries a fish to attract a mate, who then chases him up high before he descends, gliding with wings in a 'V'. Its vulnerable nesting sites and its decline in Europe make it an Amber List species. It is also listed as a Schedule 1 species in The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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The Little Stint is a tiny wading bird with a straight fine black bill and medium-length black legs. It is brownish-grey above (grey in winter) and it is very white underneath. Autumn birds have two pale stripes or 'braces' down the back. It does not breed in the UK, but is a passage migrant, with most birds being juveniles seen in autumn. It is much rarer in spring, when small numbers of adults are seen, and very few birds spend the winter here, most migrating to Africa. Often seen with feeding Dunlin.

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The Little Ringed Plover is a small plover with a distinctive black and white head pattern, similar to the Ringed Plover. It has a black beak and pale (not orange) legs. Close views reveal a distinctive yellow eye-ring. In flight, it shows a plain brown wing without the white wing stripe that Ringed Plover has. It first bred in the UK in 1938 and is now a year-round resident of a large part of England and Wales – thanks to man-made habitats such as gravel pits. It's listed as a Schedule 1 species under The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

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