A Fieldworker’s Guide to the Golden Eagle by Dave Walker

Published by Whittles Publishing softback pages 246 Price £19.99

This is the second Golden Eagle book written by Dave with the first based on his experience working with the Lakeland eagles and now he adds his work with wind farms and dedication to some local territories in Argyll making 37 years in the field. The title is a bit misleading as the read is ideal for anyone interested in this iconic bird and when you look at fieldworkers may be there are only 50+ in the whole of the UK! Dave takes the approach that many previous examples of how to deal with this species needs to be questioned. In fact reading the book opens many questions that still need answering. Statements like the census figures are misleading, no need to go near the nest and that the Irish and new South of Scotland reintroduction will bleed birds from the main Scottish stock are something some may agree with while others may strongly disagree. I was amazed there was little on the effects of satellite tagging especially birds like Roxy even though a ‘sex change’ was certainly her! Also the impact of wind farms especially as there is clear evidence in Spain and California of deaths to eagles but overall it is a good read especially for the layman.