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Field guide for whole indonesia (1 Viewer)

All the blank space on the description pages seems wasted and looks odd whilst the maps with the illustrations look overcrowded IMHO?


Andy
 
Publication is now listed for November. It used to be October. (New Guinea book is worse, shifted to 2017 without a month indication.)
 
Pre-order done
:)

Same here. 8-P

So, there is some progress in this matter. For those who have not received a notification from LYNX: Up until the end of this month, they have a pre-publication discount plus free shipping.
 
Big variation in the stated price of £62.95 (down from £69.99) on Wildsounds but £54.99 (down from £59.99) on the usually more expensive NHBS, adding the £5 postage it's still cheaper?

55.25 Euros down from 65 on Lynx and post free.

I'm told that the weak £ is forcing the price up for Brits.


A
 
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I was going to get mine from Wildsounds but as I still don't have an HMW6 and they don't seem to answer e-mails anymore I may go elsewhere, don't know what's going on with them?


A
 
The book is listed as "hardback." Makes me wonder if I should wait until a lighter paperback is available? James E. or others know if there is likely to be a lighter version?

I agree that for practical purposes in the field, a softcover version would be preferable. But that would probably be the first time LYNX would issue two versions of the same book. So I suggest don't hold your breath on this issue. Maybe a second edition later on when all the libraries have got their hardbacks?
 
The Wallacean guide is hardcover as well so no change there.

My supplier was expecting Lynx to despatch yesterday along with my long awaited HMW6!!!


A
 
Got my copy already, incredible

Lynx have really outperformed themselves this time. My copy arrived this morning. So here are some first impressions for those who need to wait somewhat longer:
My suspicion that there might be no flight pictures has proved wrong. Some groups, like shorebirds have lots of them that are new. In addition, those that have already been in HBW are included, like for the Caprimulgidae.

This is a rather heavy book, and the hard cover adds to its bulk. Thus, excellent for libraries, less so for the field. I have attached three plates as illustrations to some points I want to raise. The scans did not turn out quite the way the actual plates look like, and my attempts to adjust them have had limited success. Anyway, here we go.

It strikes me that there are no plate numbers, neither do they have page numbers. So one has to go by the page number of the text page opposite the plates. Not an optimal solution, I think. There is only one size of range map, unlike the solution chosen for the Illustrated Checklist. Thus, some maps look rather empty, yet they all take up lots of space on the illustration page. As a result, some bird illustrations come as rather minute ones, like on the dove page illustrated. There are many more illustrations than what HBW already had in stock. As the shorebird scan shows, there are not only the already mentioned flight pictures, but there are also non-breeding plumages now. The whites are all too often greys instead, just like in the Illustrated Checklist. The tropicbirds scan illustrates this only in part. The whites come across too light here, compared to the plate in the book. Likewise, the yellow (fulvus) morph of the White-tailed Tropicbird is way too dark. Again, just like in the "Checklist". I would think such issues could be solved. A Great White Heron should not come across as a "Great Light-grey Heron".

The book measures 23.7 x 16.7 x 3.0 centimeters. (With soft cover it would be about 23.0 x 16.0 x 2.6 cm.) The weight is 1204 grams, thus it is a rather hefty tome. That comes as no surprise with the area and species number covered.

Over all, I am very pleased to finally have a book that covers all of "Indonesia" (in the sense of the archipelago, not as a political unit). And even without any immediate travel plans, it will be consulted quite a bit in the near future. :)
 

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There is only one size of range map, unlike the solution chosen for the Illustrated Checklist. Thus, some maps look rather empty, yet they all take up lots of space on the illustration page. As a result, some bird illustrations come as rather minute ones, like on the dove page illustrated.

The book measures 23.7 x 16.7 x 3.0 centimeters. (With soft cover it would be about 23.0 x 16.0 x 2.6 cm.) The weight is 1204 grams, thus it is a rather hefty tome. That comes as no surprise with the area and species number covered.

This was my observation some time ago about the organisation of the pages. Bigger illustrations with maps on the facing page would have been better IMHO and I really don't like the look of all the empty space on some of the pages but it is what it is and it's much better than we had!.

Covering such a large, bird rich area and in the intended, desired and much needed detail was never going to make for a lightweight book. Perhaps there's a market here for e.g a standalone Sulawesi guide and other traditional groups the same as they did with e.g North American Sibleys? Could they, would they, think about a dedicated Java and / or Sumatra volume using this work as the base? I'm sure people would like the chance to buy regionally more precise works to avoid carrying the whole thing, not many will do a trip starting in Sumatra and including Sulawesi?

Looking forward to getting mine, hopefully soon!

Andy
 
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Covering such a large, bird rich area and in the intended, desired and much needed detail was never going to make for a lightweight book. Perhaps there's a market here for e.g a standalone Sulawesi guide and other traditional groups the same as they did with e.g North American Sibleys?

Was somewhat surprised they decided to cover Borneo, which already has more than one good field guide. Though excluding it would not have reduced the number of species much. Narrower regional guides would be nice, but considering how long it's taken to get any modern guide that covers many of these areas, I wouldn't hold my breath.
 
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Was somewhat surprised they decided to cover Borneo, which already has more than one good field guide. Though excluding it would not have reduced the number of species much. Narrower regional guides would be nice, but considering how long it's taken to get any modern guide that covers many of these areas, I wouldn't hold my breath.

The groundwork is done though surely, can it be a huge job to section the book up in to regions, I think it would be a popular decision?

Re Borneo, I suppose they had to include it as it was marketed as being the whole of Indonesia.

Andy
 
The groundwork is done though surely, can it be a huge job to section the book up in to regions, I think it would be a popular decision?

Re Borneo, I suppose they had to include it as it was marketed as being the whole of Indonesia.

Andy

The same could be said for lots of regional guides that could be put out but never have been (e.g. for parts of Peru or Ecuador or India). Also, the regions you mentioned receive less bird tourism than many parts of the world--esp. from the western hemisphere because it's a long flight. So the demand is likely going to be relatively weak.

As for being the whole of Indonesia, it's not--the guide already expressly excludes the Indonesian half of New Guinea.
 
As for being the whole of Indonesia, it's not--the guide already expressly excludes the Indonesian half of New Guinea.

Possibly a strategic agreement to avoid a negative affect on the imminent guide for New Guinea by the same publisher?


Andy
 
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