It is awful to write that my publisher passed away on Saturday 9th December. He was not just my publisher but a great friend with so much in common from birds, butterflies and football. It all started back in 2011when I visited the Scottish Bird Fair where Ian had a stand. He had a great relationship with Scotland having worked for Scottish Natural Heritage based in several areas before joining Natural England at Peterborough . My neighbour, Ashley was going to the fair so I managed to get a lift. It was a small event in those days and so we had plenty of time to look around. Ashley was a wildlife artist so Ian's stand was visited several times as his books were world known. I started talkin
As many of you know I have whitnessed at first hand the feeding of eagles on 'lead filled' geese. The numerous letters to the Scottish Government have come to nothing so far but by sending the same complaint to a Member of the Scottish Parliament not involved in the subject I have managed to get this MSP to bring it up with the Environmental minister first hand. So Claudia Beamish South Scotland MSP will ask Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham for her views on this subject not a John Gray working for the secretary who always seems to be pro lead. It is said that this is more the approach that will work rather than from a member of the p
Published by Ivy Press Hard back, 256 pages Price £30.00 There has been several books out on owls but none this size as this is a coffee table book aimed at the owl lovers. There are many colour pictures and even a giant poster if you take off the cover and unfold giving you a Great Grey Owl! There are also images of wings inside the book giving proportion between the largest and smallest species.The instructional part of the book with food, habitat, breeding etc has full pictures of owls in habitat while the individual write up on each owl has a cropped image showing the bird [on stick/limb] with a plane back ground and a small distribution map. A small number of species apear with no image
Published by Princeton in their Wild Guide Series, Flexibound, 224 pages, Price £22.95 This national park is one of the best known in the world so finally we have a book which covers 95% of the birds you are likely to see here. All are photographs covering 295 species of bird and like many guides the book starts with habitats showing you where you are likely to see woodland, open plains and wetland birds. With 1.2 million visitors a year to the park the book will be a valuable help for the untrained eye and with a mammal book already printed in the series no one should go wrong identifying the species.
Published by Princeton in their Wild Guide series, Flexibound, 286 pages, Price £24.95 This is photographic guide to birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians and follows on from the Birds of Western Ecuador by the same publishers. As a country with so much to offer some one new to the area the book is a great starter to get you into the many families, habitats and regions where to find the species. Maps show you where 223 species of bird, 71 mammals, 37 amphibians and 40 reptiles are found and a section on biogeography gives you an idea of the terrain you will be traveling in. There is even a map to show you the roads and protected areas. A must buy for any one travelling to the country.
Published by Granta Books, Hardback, 352 pages, Price £20.00 Patrick has done a number of books which include wildlife [The Butterfly Isles, Badgerland] so when you see the title you think you are onto a winner here with islands visited like Orkney, Isles of Sicily, Barra, Eigg and even the Isle of Man but the book seemed to get lost on one particular man who was not interested in wildlife. Of course birds have to be mentioned on especially St Kilda and Ray Island in Essex where he had Little Egrets roosting above his tent. He lists the bird remains found in the Tomb of the Eagles which I had not found out about on my visit on South Ronaldsay so I did learn about many of these islands and s
Knowing Dan Brown as a British birder I thought I was getting his birding experiences but the book is his thoughts on 40 top habits and species to look out for with a gazetteer describing the many locations mentioned in the book. The sections are arranged in seasons with a ‘when and where’ section at the end of each chapter. The pictures make the book but some of the locations given for the chapters are a bit limited with the odd mistakes like Blacktoft Sands in Lincolnshire on page 97 but Yorkshire on page 193! The book is ideal for someone starting out in bird watching.
Published by Whittet Books, Hard back 250pages Price £30.00 This book is a reprint from Jeff’s first book printed in 2008 with many more pictures of Barn Owls and some new ideas by jeff regarding the development of the species and its distribution around the world. There are many colourful remarks about the species and why the population in Britain is so dependant on voles as a major food. There are lots of details regarding busy roads, nest boxes and even pollarded trees. If you love Barn Owls the pictures alone will make you want to have this book to add to your collection.
