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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cantelo" data-source="post: 1376460" data-attributes="member: 2844">I think this judgement a little harsh - it still covers most (all?) species a beginner is likely see in the areas you mention even though that the maps don't show distribution is an admitted drawback .  Despite the 'NW Europe' in the title, it's still, surprisingly, useful for Mediterranean birds too.  Of the 35-40 'core European species' missing most are relatively scarce or obscure (i.e. real birders' birds) and restricted mainly the the Balkans and, to a lesser extent, Iberia.  In fact, with 2 species per page and fewer pages than most other guides (298pp) it's surprisngly they've never published a slightly larger edition to cover the whole of Europe as you'd only need 20 odd more pages.  (Incidentally, the Dutch did much the same thing with the old Shell Guide, but somewhat puzzlingly, this was never taken up as a European field guide in the UK),In my view, the larger illustrations, clear layout and fewer unecessary 'confusion' species more than makes up for  any shortfall in the species covered as far as the inexperienced are concerned.</blockquote>