New issue of Birdwatch now on sale – with your FREE Birdfair programme!

August's Birdwatch is now in the shops, with great ideas for you to maximise your birding in summer and an ID guide to shearwaters as the seawatching season kicks in.

Not only that, but there's also a FREE 80-page official Birdfair 2017 programme, only available with Birdwatch away from the event itself.

We continue our series of ideas for each season with the summer holidays challenge. David Callahan demonstrates that, whether on your own or with family members, the summer holidays offer plenty of opportunities to see exciting birds, sample new experiences and enjoy many other forms of wildlife too.

Elsewhere in the magazine, we help you identify tricky shearwarters. With seabirds on the move again, particularly off western coasts, it is possible to see much scarcer species among the expected ranks of Manx Shearwaters, notably Great and Cory’s – two large shearwaters which are potentially problematic when they appear offshore at long range. Andy Stoddart’s essential ID advice will sort out this troublesome pair.

Another seabird whose appearances are unpredictable in British waters is the so-called ‘blue Fulmar’, a little-known form of our familiar breeding tubenose. Is it a colour morph, subspecies or even a species? Where does it breed and why is it so infrequently encountered on seawatches? Angus Wilson looks at the distribution and relationships of this fulmarine enigma.

And while you're visiting your favourite birding location, we offer food for thought: Britain boasts an excellent network of nature reserves and a wealth of sites are protected by a raft of different designations. Yet in the face of development and other pressures these can mean little or nothing in practice – and what will happen to EU protections post-Brexit? Rob Hume assesses the lie of the land and what it means for Britain’s most vulnerable birds and habitats.

Plus Black-winged Stilts in Britain, birding Guyana, great late summer itineraries, columns from Bill Oddie, Mark Avery and Lucy McRobert, plus Steve Young’s photo challenge, all the latest rarity sightings and big stories from around Britain, Ireland and the Western Palearctic with BirdGuides.com, news, views and book and product reviews, and expert answers for all your birding questions.

Birdwatch is Britain’s number one magazine for keen birders and presents in-depth articles to help you improve your birding skills, along with all the latest innovations, reviews, news and birding tips. Find out more at www.birdguides.com/store/latest-issue/birdwatch.