I've never really been a fan of photo field guides. In the past, I've always gravitated towards the more nuanced interpretation of a skilled illustrator to highlight key features, to help me identify birds/animals/plants in the field. While that still largely holds true, photo-guides have come on in leaps and bounds since I first encountered them, and for many wildlife … [Read more...] about Europe’s Birds, An Identification Guide (Book Review)
field guides
Book Review: Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe
The Odonata, dragonflies and damselflies, is one of our most fascinating groups of insects. As adults, they're comparatively large and highly active, which makes them one of the most noticeable and easiest insect groups to watch.From spring, through summer into autumn, dragonflies and damselflies are on my radar whenever I'm out for a tramp around my local patch or … [Read more...] about Book Review: Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe
Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland
Bees have always been a source of fascination for me. I remember as a child spending hours in Dad's flower borders watching their busy antics, marvelling at the sights and sounds as they buzzed from one flower to the next. Of course I could see there were lots of different kinds of bee in the garden, but what I didn't have at the time, as a budding young naturalist, was a … [Read more...] about Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland
Book Review: The Helm Guide to Bird Identification
Have you ever struggled to tell your bar-tailed from your black-tailed godwit? How about differentiating your dabbling ducks, or getting to grips with gulls and grebes?No matter how experienced a bird watcher you are, there are always species that will prove tricky, and there will be times (sometimes lots of them) when you're not quite sure what species you're looking at. … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Helm Guide to Bird Identification
Book Review: Britain’s Dragonflies
Dragonflies and damselflies are the all-stars of the insect world. Large, mobile, active predators -- with the possible exception of cephalopods (octopuses, cuttlefish and squid) the odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) are about as exciting as invertebrates get.In Ireland we have 11 species of damselfly and 22 species of dragonfly, and while identifying some of them … [Read more...] about Book Review: Britain’s Dragonflies
Book Review: The Wildflowers of Ireland — A Field Guide
Plants are the cornerstone of our biodiversity -- the foundation on which all of our wildlife depends.They form the vital link between the sun's energy and almost all life on earth. Yet so often we don't give them the attention they deserve. Birds, mammals and our larger, more dynamic invertebrates tend to hog the wildlife limelight, while the plants on which they all … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Wildflowers of Ireland — A Field Guide
All aboard for the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland Blog Tour
I'm delighted to be taking part in the upcoming "Blog Tour" to celebrate the launch of the brand new bird field guide the Crossley ID Guide Britain & Ireland. I'll be reviewing a copy of the guide in the Book Review section of the site in due course... but the blog tour is something a bit different.Basically the publisher, Princeton University Press, has teamed up with … [Read more...] about All aboard for the Crossley ID Guide Britain and Ireland Blog Tour
Book Review: The Birds of Ireland, A Field Guide
For many people a desire to identify the birds they see visiting their garden, or when they're out and about, is the first step to an enduring fascination with nature and wildlife. It was birds that infected me with the nature bug way back when, and I still remember my first bird field guide... a small hardback copy of "The Observer's Book of Birds" that I got as a birthday … [Read more...] about Book Review: The Birds of Ireland, A Field Guide
