Birding library recommendations please? (1 Viewer)

[Quacker]

I do prefer British birds/birding, although not exclusively. I've been very quiet in recent years - almost out of the loop, you might say.

Seems a long time now since the Big Year and the Rivals & Arrivals books were purchased and as a result, was wondering if recent years had brought anything of that ilk to the birding bookshelf?

I do not twitch as such, though I do travel - but more for daytrips/weekends than just one rarity so enjoy any of those big list-types.

I have sufficient, How To, Where To and Field Guides (for now) so mainly tales, listing, twitching etc. - I have the Bill Oddie collection, and a few others such as Mark Cocker, Stephen Moss etc.

What have I missed in the past few years?

I will do my own research on Amazon etc. but always feel fellow birders recommendations are better than publishers reviews.:t:

Steve

 

[Keith Dickinson]

Hi Steve

I know you said you had enough field guides but here's one to think about

Advanced Bird ID Guide - ISBN 978-1-84773-607-9

under a tenner on Amazon it's worth the money. No pictures just bullet points for the id of the birds.

 

[Quacker]

Thanks Keith! - appreciate that one. (got another one now!) Long time no see - hope to catch up in the new year sir!:t:

I had hoped a few others would recommend some titles. Especially with Crimbo coming I read the reviews on the likes of Amazon, but would prefer to read genuine reviews form BF'ers.

My Birding library is in serious need of additions, come one people help me out here:eek!:

Steve

 

[King Edward]

Are you only after books on birding/twitching, or what about books about birds themselves e.g. their biology/ecology etc., rather than just identification. For instance, 'The Speciation and Biogeography of Birds' by Ian Newton is extremely good.

 

[andyliv]

There are two books I'd certainly recommend. The first is While Flocks Last by Charlie Elder. I found this to be a fantastic balance between being informative and humorous. One mans exploits as he tries to see some of the countries rarities before they are gone for ever.

My second choice would be the recently published The Eagle Watchers by Ruth Tingay and Todd Katzner. This publication is a compilation of stories by eagle researchers from around the world. A nice book to dip into.

I will have a trawl through my collection for other recommendations.

Enjoy!

 

[Quacker]

I like any and many books (not just birds) but am updating or rather adding to the library

I have many guides, the Bill Oddie/Stephen Moss type books, Migration, Where To.... guides, even a few dupes:eek!: I have The Big Year, and Arrivals & Rivals - could do with a few more of those type, i.e. twitching/listing etc.

I have two Collins (one for the car) and was surprised to see over 40 (75 if I include Durham Annual Reports)books. Some I'd forgotten about. I used to often add to the collection when visiting RSPB or WWT visits. I've also misplaced a few.

Anyway, primarily interested in UK birds/birding (I did buy 1 Sibley guide for Florida trips) I thought there may be one or two I'd missed in the past few years.

Anyway, thanks for suggestions so far (have ordered a load from Amazon) trawling through these archived pages helps:t:

 

[geordiebirder]

how there Steve, just joined and thought id recommend Crow country by Mark Cocker, The running sky by Tim Dee and Findings by Kathleen Jamie. All excellent reads for those cold winter nights.

 

[RICHAT]

Have you read "The Wisdom of Birds" by Tim Birkhead? An illustrated history of ornithology. That's a really good read. Can't think of anything else not mentioned by others on this thread. You obviously know of Moss's "Birds Britannica" and Ian Newton's New Naturalist "Bird Migration" I assume. I bought the last named four months ago and have yet to get round to reading it, but it has 5 x 5 star reviews on Amazon so far. Tim Dee's "Running Sky" was good fun as mentioned by geordiebirder.

 

[abi107]

I really enjoyed "Say goodbye to the Cuckoo" by Michael McCarthy which I read a few weeks ago. Better to save it til the spring though so as to all the more to appreciate his stories of summer visitors and birdsong.

Aoife

 

[YourBirdOasis]

I know a lot of birders that waited a long long time for a decent comprehensive guide to Brazil (in English!) and I have to say that Oxford's "Birds of Brazil" by Ber van Perlo is a great offering. It's not a perfect guide of course, is there such a thing?, but what it lacks in species account information, it makes up for in simply presenting all the species to be found in such a huge country in one bound volume. Birders that flip through this book only have to decide what region to visit first because the mystery and diversity of the avifauna is so grand.