Book reviews

Book reviews

Read reviews of the books we hold in the Chris Mead Library, written by our in-house experts. A selection of book reviews also features in our members’ magazine, BTO News.

All the Birds of the World

Featured review

Lynx have had a long-term project to produce an exhaustive guide to the birds of the world. It started out with the 17 volumes of the Handbook of the Birds of the World (1992-2013) which has family and species accounts for all birds. This was followed by the two volumes of the Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World (2014-16). They have now published the third and final stage of this avian odyssey with this current book.

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            Woodland Flowers: Colourful Past, Uncertain Future

            Author: Keith Kirby

            Publisher: Bloomsbury, London

            Published: 2020

            This is a book for anyone curious about the lives of our woodland plants, and the processes and pressures that affect them. Keith Kirby’s career as a woodland ecologist gave him vast experience of woods and their conservation throughout Britain. This is the eighth title in the British Wildlife Collection series that already has a reputation for finely produced, informative, readable books. Keith Kirby’s book is a thought provoking, personal and richly illustrated contribution to it.The breadth of the book is somewhat greater than the title might imply. It is far more than a natural history of flowering plants. Although it focuses on plants of the woodland floor and climbers, there is much information about the trees themselves. Two chapters describe types of British woodland and their characteristic plants including the trees. The book is essentially a grand tour through the many ideas and issues relevant to understanding why, in Britain, we have the woods and woodland flora that we do. To give an indication of the scope, there are chapters dealing with the history of woodland botanising, past woodland management, what goes on below the ground, impacts of storms, grazing animals, the nature of primeval forests, the European context, newly created woodland, and human recreation. I liked the frequent use of concise illustrated essays focusing on a carefully selected plants that inform the reader about a particular concept or idea.Perhaps surprisingly, no single chapter is devoted to climate change though it features strongly in a chapter primarily devoted to atmospheric pollution. Keith Kirby points out that there is little evidence that the distributions of woodland plants, unlike those of birds, have started to change. Perhaps this is because the microclimates are more stable inside woodland than in more open habitats, or that many plants are relatively long-lived and have the reserves to tide them over unfavourable periods. Nonetheless, in the longer term, changes are to be expected. We could see species that are currently restricted to southern England expanding northwards, and non-native species of southern climates escaping from gardens into woodland. There is a discussion of ‘nativeness’ in an earlier chapter. Given the high probability of many introductions by humans of plants in past millennia, and the fact that garden escapes can obscure natural distributions, this topic is far more complex for plants than it is for birds.     Whilst recognising that many woods have undergone damaging changes in recent decades, including the replacement of broadleaves by conifers and massive increases in grazing pressure, an optimistic outlook is adopted. Woodland flowers have fared much better than those of farmland over the last 60 years and Keith Kirby is hopeful that recent plantings will eventually give new opportunities.    Book reviewed by Rob Fuller 

            Uplands and Birds

            Author: Ian Newton

            Publisher: William Collins, London

            Published: 2020

            Once again, Ian Newton has produced another brilliant book. As always, it is packed with facts and ideas presented in a clear and easy style that both grips one’s interest and deepens one’s understanding.The uplands are often thought of as more natural or unspoilt than the lowland landscapes of Britain, their state determined largely by their topography, geology and climate. But Newton shows how today’s upland landscapes have been created by human activities over thousands of years. He deals with the management, ecology and birds of grouse moors, deer forests, hill farms, native woodlands and conifer plantations and with the conflicting aims and views that different people have about their management. As in the lowlands, changing land-use has much affected the distribution and numbers of birds, sometimes by deliberate intent (such as the persecution of birds of prey) but often unintended (such as the loss of eagle territories following blanket afforestation).Newton has taken as his task not the promotion of particular solutions to the contentious arguments about upland land-use but the full presentation of the facts that need to be considered if we are to arrive at solutions that satisfy our conservation objectives and society’s needs. As an example of his approach, we may take the management of grouse moors, the hottest topic in upland land-use, at least for birdwatchers. Provision of grouse-shooting is competitive, for the value of the land (about the only financial benefit that the moor delivers to its owners) depends on the numbers of grouse available to be shot. To try to produce large numbers, managers burn vegetation, drain peat, control predators (both legally and illegally), put out grit medicated with antihelminthic drugs and control ticks using acaricides on sheep and by culling hosts such as Mountain Hares. Unlike farmers and foresters, who are greatly supported by the tax-payer, the shooters of grouse (and deer) fund their own expensive hobbies. And, although their activities impose costs on the wider community (such as the treatment of peat-laden water originating from the drainage of moors and the damage to trees by deer), they bring employment to economically deprived communities in places where other land-uses may not be feasible.  Newton concludes that “Management for Red Grouse arguably causes less damage than any other form of upland land use as currently practised, apart from rewilding.” But this does not present us with a simple solution to upland management for “Raptor killing is the main issue that divide grouse-moor managers and conservation organisations, which otherwise have much in common.” Although the entrenched positions of the two sides make it difficult, “Only dialogue and compromise on both sides is likely to lessen this conflict.”Any birdwatcher will enjoy this book and benefit from reading it. No hunter, farmer, forester, conservationist, politician or public servant should pontificate on how the uplands should be managed without carefully studying what Newton has to say…Book reviewed by Jeremy Greenwood 

            Lincolnshire Bird Atlas 1980-1999

            Author: Lincolnshire Bird Club

            Publisher: Lincolnshire Bird Club

            Published: 2020

            Published soon after the series of local atlases that coincided with Bird Atlas 2007–11, you might think the Lincolnshire Bird Atlas would span a similar period. You might expect a lavishly illustrated atlas with up to date distribution maps. You’d be wrong on both counts because this is a very different atlas, one from a different era. An atlas that nearly never was.There’s a temptation with any atlas to jump straight to the maps but I always recommend readers look carefully at the introductory chapters so they understand how to interpret what follows. This is especially important with the Lincolnshire Bird Atlas because it details the rocky road this project took, from inception in 1980, mothballing in the late 1990s, and three failed revivals in the 2000s before the project was finally brought to publication during 2017–20.It describes how ‘IT archaeology’ was required to access and extract maps and species accounts produced in the late 1990s. These have been faithfully reproduced, providing a snapshot into the past – not only revealing what bird distributions looked like in the late 20th century, but also what the experts of the day knew about the birds of their county. It documents the distribution of 129 breeding species based on fieldwork between 1980 and 1995, plus short accounts for a further 241 non-breeding species recorded up to 1999. Without the benefit of latterly arriving egrets, buzzards and kites, it is a stark reminder of what we have lost - wall-to-wall Turtle Doves, Redshanks breeding in every saltmarsh-dominated tetrad, and Swallows in over 90% of tetrads.This book is an important baseline documenting the status and fine-scale distribution of birds in England’s second largest county. I grew up in the Lincolnshire Fens, and fieldwork for this atlas was the first systematic surveying I ever did, so I am delighted to see it published. It brings back memories of finding breeding Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and searching for Long-eared Owls in Fenland spinneys.The Lincolnshire Bird Atlas may not be as colourful or elegantly designed as some modern atlases, but there are very good reasons for that and I think it would be a mistake to judge it harshly. It contains a wealth of information that was almost lost, but here it is preserved for future generations of researchers and birdersI recommend this book to everyone who took part and to anyone with an interest in Lincolnshire’s birds.Book reviewed by Simon Gillings 

            Pembrokeshire

            Author: Jonathan Mullard

            Publisher: William Collins, London

            Published: 2020

            Jonathan Mullard Softback http://www.nhbs.com/product?id=236817%3Fbkfno%3D236817&af_id=26943 £ 528 35.00 2020 William Collins, London 9780008112820

            Atlas of the Mammals of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

            Author: Derek Crawley, Frazer Coomber, Laura Kubasiewicz, Colin Harrower, Peter Evans, James Waggitt, Bethany Smith & Fiona Matthews

            Publisher: Pelagic Publishing, Exeter

            Published: 2020

            This is the first national Mammal Atlas to be published since 1993 (Atlas of Mammals in Britain by Henry Arnold) and documents changes in recorded distribution between 1960 and 2016. It is aimed as an essential reference for ecological consultants wishing to know which species of protected mammals could potentially be affected by a development in a particular area.It is a culmination of many years’ worth of work in compiling data from records made in a variety of ways; from the old-fashioned method with pen and paper to taking advantage of modern developments in ‘citizen science’.  From the foreword, it is clear that this has been a passion project for many people. Initially spear-headed by Derek Yalden, the previous president of the Mammal Society (sadly deceased in 2013), it has been a large collaborative effort between hundreds of organisations and contributors.This is a concise book, covering the broad strokes of the distribution of all mammals (both terrestrial and cetaceans) found in the UK and includes summaries of vagrant species, those without established populations and feral colonies and populations.  84 species are covered in further detail with two-page species accounts giving concise summaries of distribution, ecology and identification. Also included in the species accounts is a distribution map and a graph showing the seasonal distribution of records (only between 2000-2016). The resolution for the distribution maps is 10 km, so it is not suitable for those looking to see species distribution at a county or local level.The data are sourced from many places, including public bodies, conservation organisations, universities, local biological record centres and by members of the public using publically available recording tools such as iRecord and the Mammal Tracker app. This has resulted in a vast amount of data contributing to the Atlas which have been verified by the Mammal Society. There are only a small number of species that have been included which have not been verified as they are unlikely to be misidentified (Moles Talpa europaea, Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, Badger Meles meles, Foxes Vulpes vulpes and Hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus).In the methods chapter, the authors admit that ‘There may be discrepancies between the Atlas maps and the known distributions of some species’, without stating which species may be inaccurate. This is explained to be due to a variety of reasons, including the possibility of false presence records if the species can be easily misidentified and that some data-sharing agreements mean that some records might not have been accessible. Therefore, the authors state that ‘the maps will only be as good as the available records… many will represent the actual species distribution as well as, to some extent, the distribution of observers’.However, this Atlas provides a good summary of the mammals found in the UK and can be treated as a starting point for investigating a specific species’ distribution. Bibliographies have been provided in each species account which can be used to gain a more accurate and up-to-date picture of where the species is distributed and how healthy their populations within the UK are.Gillian Birtles 

            An Indifference of Birds

            Author: Richard Smyth

            Publisher: Uniformbooks, Axminster

            Published: 2020

            In this brilliant book, Smyth shines a light on the relationship between birds and humans. In particular, on the roles we have played, and continue to play, in bird lives and histories. In doing so, he gently challenges mainstream narratives in modern-day conservation, prompting the reader to examine their own notions of value and motivation. Smyth looks at the various ways in which we have given to and taken from birds, tipped the balances to favour some birds to the detriment of others. Ideas such as shifting baselines, re-introduction and naturalness are explored and teased out. In doing so, he exposes some of the inconsistencies that abound in our regard for and treatment of birds (and for the world that they and we live in). These ideas are also looked at from a “bird’s eye view”, setting them against the moment-to-moment struggle to find food and shelter, to raise young, to stay alive. Smyth returns repeatedly to the eponymous conclusion of the book; that in spite of our profound impact on their lives, individual birds are supremely indifferent to us. At the same time, he eloquently, artfully, joyfully celebrates birds, and what they mean to us. The book is short (I finished it in a single weekend), reading like  a short series of lectures. But, brevity notwithstanding, it takes the reader along very different paths from those trodden by other nature-oriented contemporaries. I whole-heartedly commend it, and the author, for the quality of his writing, the clarity of his thought, and his passion for those indifferent birds!Book reviewed by Mark Wilson 

            Is That a Bat? A Guide to Non-Bat Sounds Encountered during Bat Surveys

            Author: Neil Middleton

            Publisher: Pelagic Press, Exeter

            Published: 2020

            There has been some ground-breaking development in bat detector technology in recent years, such as the Audiomoth and Echometer Touch, reviewed in BTO News, Spring 2018, which have enabled a much wider audience of non-bat specialists to become interested in bat sound identification. Newcomers to this are supported by a Facebook page ‘Bat Call Sound Analysis Workshop’ which was set up by Rich Flight for anyone to be able to receive comments from the wider bat community on sound recordings, and by two excellent books published by Pelagic Publishing. The first by Jon Russ on British Bat Calls: A Guide to Species Identification, and the second by Neil Middleton, Andrew Froud and Keith French on the Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland (the latter book reviewed in BTO News 312).However, for new and experienced observers alike, there can be unfamiliar sounds. These may relate to difficult to identify bat species, but insects, birds and terrestrial mammals may also be recorded as ‘by-catch’ during bat surveys. This includes calls that can be confused with bats. Is That a Bat? also written by Neil Middleton and published by Pelagic Publishing, is the first attempt to pull together and summarise the current knowledge of many of these other sounds that are likely to be recorded during bat surveys. This is a complex area of study, where there is still much to learn. However, this book and downloadable call library does an excellent job in highlighting the potential for identifying other sounds, in a very entertaining book. Knowing that Neil Middleton was working on this book for some time and working myself on the sound identification of small mammals and bush-crickets, it has been a great opportunity to collaborate with Neil over the past couple of years. Many of the recordings collected by Neil have been built into software that I have been working on for the automatic sound identification of bats and other species groups, which is already being used to process ‘bat’ recordings. This has now been developed into our cutting-edge acoustic monitoring tool, the BTO Acoustic Pipeline.Admittedly, this is an area of study that fascinates me, but this is the book highlight for me this year.Book reviewed by Stuart Newson

            Moult and Ageing of European Passerines

            Author: Lukas Jenni & Raffael Winkler

            Publisher: Helm, London

            Published: 2020

            Moult is a pivotal stage in the annual cycle of all birds and understanding the effect of moult strategy on plumage is an essential tool for ageing birds in the field for birdwatchers and ringers alike.The first edition of Moult and Ageing of European Passerines was published in 1994 after 16 years of collecting data from 140,000 birds captured at ringing stations in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe, as well as specimens held at several European natural history museums. High quality colour photographs illustrating different moult stages for 58 species of European passerine accompanied a detailed guide to understanding the function of moult, different moult strategies and how the quality of different feather generations can be used to age live birds. Needless to say, before selling out, the book was in high demand and remains so on the second-hand marketplace today.The long awaited second edition builds upon this already high bar by not only incorporating data on moult from another 40,000 birds but also adds another 16 new species accounts. The introductory sections incorporate much new material drawing on the findings of field observations and research carried out over the quarter of a century that has passed since the publication of the first edition.The first part of this phenomenal, large format guide provides a comprehensive overview of moult with chapters on the function and consequence of moult; terminology and methods in moult research – new for the second edition; adult moult; and moult during the first year of life. There is significant focus on moult sequence and strategies, and how moult fits in with other events occurring within the annual cycle.Part two concentrates on the principle of employing an understanding of moult strategy, and the identification of different feather generations in the wing, to ageing birds in the field. The bulk of this part however, and indeed the book, is comprised of the species accounts for 74 species of passerine occurring in Europe; replete with informative descriptions of the extent of moult at different life stages and how this knowledge may be applied to ageing individuals encountered in the field.  Uniquely amongst ageing and sexing guides the species accounts include an extensive series of colour photographs which present readers with examples of juvenile and adult plumages illustrating post-juvenile, post-breeding and pre-breeding moult where appropriate.The guide clearly distils decades worth of personal ringing data and from that perspective it makes an excellent reference work for any ringer not already fortunate enough to own the first edition of this legendary work; and even then, there are good reasons to upgrade. For those however, who have started ringing more recently or others seeking to further a deeper interest in passerine moult then this outstanding book comes highly commended.Book reviewed by Justin Walker 

            Emma Turner : a life looking at birds

            Author: James Parry & Jeremy Greenwood

            Publisher: Norfolk & Norwich Naturalists' Society, Norwich

            Published: 2020

            Emma Turner was a pioneer: one of the early bird ringers; one of the early bird photographers; one of the first 15 woman fellows of the Linnean Society (January 1905) and one of the first four female members of the British Ornithologists’ Union (May 1910). All this when women were considered very much to be second class citizens. It is noted in this book however that there is no indication that Emma Turner played any significant part, indeed any part, in the campaign for women’s rights which was going on in the early 20th Century.It seems that rather little is actually known about her especially the early years. However in 1900 when she was 33 she decided to take up photography and especially of birds. Over the next 20-30 years she lectured widely using her own photographs, spent several weeks in spring and summer for many years on a houseboat on Hickling Broad in Norfolk and a couple of summers living in a small hut looking after the tern colonies on Scolt Head Island off the north Norfolk coast. As a result of these various projects she wrote several books, the most well-known of which are Broadland Birds (published 1924) and Birdwatching on Scolt Head (1928), numerous chapters in other books and articles in such as British Birds and Country Life.The authors of this short biography have concentrated largely on this period of bird watching and photography and her activities on these subjects. They have managed to find various diaries and notebooks as well as photographic prints and negatives (all now deposited in the BTO archives) and have pieced together what they could on her overall life. The result is a comprehensive summary of her birdwatching activities in a period when natural history was becoming more popular as a field hobby actually looking at and studying birds rather than just shooting them, and very much a period when the whole subject was still heavily dominated by men.The book includes a comprehensive bibliography and many of her photographs, some published for the first time.Book reviewed by Peter Lack 
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