Another Bird Blog

Friday, August 21, 2026

Coming Soon

Friends at Princeton sent me a list of new titles that will be available in the next few months, September-January 2027, to be exact. I share them with readers knowing that followers of this blog are probably first and foremost bird lovers but not without other diverse interests in the field of Natural History.

My readers are great travellers too and there are titles here, incoming soon that may satisfy their search for travel and knowledge. From sea shells through to insects, birds and dinosaurs, a journey taking in Britain, USA, Central America and places in-between. The titles are intriguing as well as exciting and by following the links, a chance to read pre-publication pages, a sneak preview to maybe compile a Princeton wish list.

I am especially excited by news of The New Unfeathered Bird, a completely new and inevitably superb book by my friend Katrina van Grouw. Read about it below but you may have wait until next January to get your hands on a copy.

Seashells: A Compendium of Five Thousand of the World’s Species by Paul Callomon and Gary Rosenberg.

Seashells - Princeton

The book covers thousands of seashells from all the world's oceans, including named variants as well as many species never figured in a general work and many only recently named. Featuring a breathtaking array of stunning photos and up-to-date information on all groups, this book uses cutting-edge classification and places similar species together for easier comparison. Written by two of today's leading malacologists, the book covers every marine mollusc group and world region. Publication date: 22 September 2026

Common Lichens of the Upland Southeast: Appalachia and the Piedmont by James Lendemer and Jason P. Hollinger.

Common Lichens - Princeton

This presents a new and simplified way to identify the key features of lichens. Describing 381 species, including many never before included in a field guide, this guide features hundreds of high-quality colour in situ macro photos, includes detailed discussions of natural communities, ecology, appearance, and comparable species, and draws on Lendemer and Hollinger’s decades of experience to address the difficulties and confusion commonly encountered when identifying individual species in the wild. Publication date: 29 September 2026

Insects of Britain and Europe: A Field Guide by Thomas C. John, Peter Mullen, and Paul D. Brock features more than 5,500 clear colour photographs illustrating 3,000 species to aid in species identification with photo annotations and clear, concise descriptions.

Insects of Britain and Europe - Princeton

This go-to guide for everyone interested in Europe’s insects also notes the habitat where each species is likely to be found and includes up-to-date distribution maps and flight-time graphics. Publication date: 29 September 2026

Costa Rica’s Rainforests: The Natural History of the Plants and Animals of La Selva by Scott Wesley Shumway features more than 800 stunning colour photographs. Covering flowering plants, ferns, fungi, birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, fishes, and insects, this book is essential for anyone visiting the Costa Rican rainforest and is accessible to ecotourists, students, and scientists alike. Publication date: 29 September 2026

Costa Rica's Rainforests - Princeton

The Atlas of North America’s Migratory Birds: Tracking Movement Across Seasons and Continents by Peter P. Marra and Amy L. Scarpignato compiles diverse data types from thousands of contributors. This treasure trove of data covers nearly 600 species and brings together banding data collected over the past century with information gathered using the latest tracking technology, stable isotopes, and genetic tools.

Atlas of North America's Migratory Birds - Princeton

Featuring eBird maps for every species, published here for the first time, this book is an essential and definitive resource for ornithologists, conservationists, and birdwatchers. Publication date: 3 November 2026

Birds of Madagascar: A Photographic Field Guide by Callan Cohen and Ken Behrens is the most comprehensive single-volume guide to the island’s birds, featuring every species ever recorded: the 266 residents and regular migrants, 39 recorded vagrants, and 16 potential vagrants.

Birds of Madagascar - Princeton

Featuring more than 1,300 stunning colour photographs and accessibly presents key information for quick field identification, the accounts include all essential information, including size, colouration, distribution, behaviour, vocalizations, favoured habitats, and key sites for observation giving a thorough overview of Madagascar’s habitats and birding spots, this is the first field guide to include Malagasy as well as French names. Publication date: 3 November 2026

The Language of Bees by James C. Nieh draws on decades of groundbreaking fieldwork, exploring how social bees rely on the remarkable signals to organise all aspects of their lives, from foraging and warfare to espionage and defence. From the famous waggle dance of honeybees to the secretive trails and potentially coded sounds of stingless bees, Nieh shows how their intricate communication systems reflect a delicate balance between cooperation and conflict and how a changing world disrupts these finely tuned systems.

The Language of Bees - Princeton

Blending personal insights with cutting-edge science, this illuminating and informative book reveals how the study of bees continues to deepen our understanding of intelligence, resilience, and the diverse ways that life communicates. Publication date: 10 November 2026

Common Mosses of the Southeastern United States by Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward, and Karl B McKnight enables even complete novices to make accurate identifications in the field, but is also invaluable for experienced naturalists, botanists, and ecologists.

Common Mosses - Princeton

This book features over 1,000 superb original photographs of all the species, as well as drawings and infographics covering more than 200 species. Publication date: 17 November 2026

The Princeton Field Guide to the Jurassic by Nan Crystal Arens and Paul M. Barrett profiles the breathtaking diversity of Jurassic fauna and flora. Featuring more than two hundred illustrations – from full-colour life studies and landscapes to detailed drawings of representative species – this book discusses dinosaurs, marine reptiles, early birds, pterosaurs, mammals, amphibians, insects, marine invertebrates, trees, and vibrant plant life.

Guide to The Jurassic - Princeton

The Princeton Field Guide to the Jurassic is a must-have reference book for anyone interested in the prehistoric world of dinosaurs. Publication date: 5 January 2027

The Grassland Queen: An Avian Love Story in the American Plains by Priyanka Kumar provides a naturalist’s lyrical journey into the world of the endangered long-billed curlew and the vanishing grasslands that sustain them. In this uniquely personal book, Priyanka Kumar brings the curlew’s poignant story to life as she tracks them over many years in New Mexico, the Great Plains, and the Great Basin in the United States.

The Grassland Queen - Princeton

Blending pioneering fieldwork with vivid storytelling and the latest science, The Grassland Queen offers an eye-opening look at how keystone animals keep this iconic ecosystem open, and a look into the sustained love of a lifelong naturalist for her “Zen bird”. Publication date: 5 January 2027

A New Unfeathered Bird by Katrina van Grouw is a sumptuous blend of art and science. Including around 600 illustrations, this entirely new and substantially expanded text is filled with up-to-date research. This new edition contains a new layout and design by the author, as well as a section on the genesis and creation of the book.

A New Unfeathered Bird - Princeton

A New Unfeathered Bird combines accessible scientific discussion with powerfully evocative nature writing. Publication date: 12 January 2027.

I am pretty sure that after reading this post there's a few scribbles on the nearest piece of paper plus mental notes made of titles that appeal. Keep a look out for reviews of one or more of the above on Another Bird Blog.

Bye for now.

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Europe, But Not As We Know It.

Many years ago and after learning of the wholesale slaughter and/or capture of migratory birds through the island of Malta I vowed to never ever go there. I kept that promise as did others.

Over the years wife Sue and I made dozens of trips to Spain, The Balearics, Cyprus and Greece; weeks and days of enjoying everything that sunny Europe offers the traveller with suntan cream, binoculars, camera, a field guide and a thirst to explore.

But I have yet to see an Ortolan Bunting.

It is a common enough species in warmer less northerly countries than The British Isles. As one whose days of chasing a tick list is long gone I never felt the absolute urge to see an Ortolan Bunting even on those very rare past occasions when a vagrant was discovered in the UK, a find rare enough to always generate a twitching frenzy.

However when a Facebook page about Ortolan Buntings and Europe popped up on the PC it aroused my interest. I quote here the page, word for word, a very disturbing, extremely sad, but mercifully short story with a trigger warning to all bird lovers.

“The Ortolan Bunting, which is a very rare species here, is a highly sought-after target for poachers in the Mediterranean region. When caught alive and kept in a cage, the bird doubles its weight to up to 50 grams within a short space of time if well fed. Known as the ‘fat ortolan’, it has been a favourite ‘delicacy’ among gourmet diners since ancient times. this day, this brutal practice continues sporadically in south-western France, where people pay over €200 for a single roasted ortolan!

In Lebanon, Ortolans are specifically hunted and eaten, and there are similar cases in northern Italy. In Malta, on the other hand, poachers trap the bird using clap-nets to keep it as a cage bird. It is estimated that more than 30,000 Ortolan Buntings are illegally shot or trapped each year in the Mediterranean region.

Through longstanding campaigns, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) has almost brought ortolan trapping in France to a standstill – with more than 200 Ortolan trapping sites were shut down within a few years. In Malta, too, the practice has now become rare.”

The pictures show a CABS activist with an ortolan decoy and also live ortolans collected in France.

Decoy

CABS is involved in many campaigns and bird protection camps throughout Europe that keep up the fight for migratory birds. CABS is almost exclusively financed with private donations, from nature and animal lovers, as well as foundations and nature conservation associations.

In order to stay independent, CABS do not receive public funds and refuse business sponsorships. CABS is recognised as non-profit, thus, donations are tax-deductible. You can read about their fantastic work, donate to their cause and even volunteer to help at CABS.

#committeeagainstbirdslaughter #birdprotection #antipoaching #komiteegegendenvogelmord #ortolan

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Καλές μέρες. Part Four

I found more Good Days pictures for another blogging visit to Skiathos 2026, I even included a few from previous visits that until now lay unpublished, undisturbed in a forgotten folder. Stay with it. This might be a long one but don’t forget to click the pics.

Skiathos is mostly unchanging, the people, the views, the special places we visit, the mostly cloudless blue skies that stretch to the horizon whereby a photo from years ago can fill the space needed to make a relevant point.

Skiathos has more than 60 beautiful beaches. It is said that many tourists aim to visit every single Skiathos beach during their stay, a holiday that can be as short as a weekend or as long as you like; beach twitchers, ticking off a new beach or two every day before heading home non the wiser about Skiathos or Greece except for an encyclopedic knowledge of the price of sunbed hire. It’s a way of life that sounds familiar to an old-school British birdwatcher.

Sue and I are not beach bums, we can take or leave them in favour of integrating into the daily life of Skiathos, enjoying real Greece, a someplace found if only people search and investigate rather than indulge in instant Internet fixes.

Early morning May can be quiet along Papa Street in Uptown Skiathos as we head to Foodie Cafe to see Christos and Mirella, the loveliest, most genuine and friendly people you could ever wish to meet. Their double cappuccino and breakfast pastries are well known throughout Skiathos and probably the whole of Greece.

Papadiamantis Street

Christos and Mirella

As we head off to explore the north of the island one of our first stops is Troulos Bakery and supermart situate at the T Junction of the coastal road where staff include two gorgeous hard working girls who greet us with their cheery smiles. Trying not to look at the incredible display of muffins, donuts, cheesecakes and sundry bakes, we order another two coffees, sit outside in the shade and watch the comings and goings of a Troulos morning.

Troulos bakery

Troulos Bakery Girls

Troulos bakery

Continuing north and just beyond Troulos from the open car window we hear Golden Orioles, Nightingales, Cetti’s Warbler and a Turtle Dove but choose not to stop. All three are incredibly difficult to see in any part of the world, not least in the lush growth of a Skiathos forest.

In Skiathos

Very soon we passed by land set aside for Skiathos donkeys by Donkey Club Skiathos, a non-profit sanctuary near the beautiful beach of Aselinos. A Donkey Club run by Panagiotis Kalogiannis (Peter), and his community of volunteers. Here, these beautiful animals are not used, exploited, or displayed, they are given the time, space, and care they need to live peacefully and with dignity.

Good thing we remembered to buy a few remaining carrots and green apples not yet plundered from Troulos supermart by other donkey enthusiasts who had learnt of the location.

A carrot please

More carrots please

Very soon we approached the northern beach of Big Aselinos, our favourite piece of heaven sometimes wild and prevailingly windy but almost always sunny with the odd surprise.

Cattle Egret

Yellow-legged Gulls

Jimny - Aselinos beach

The spring flowers here are quite a sight, millions of tiny flowers a botanist’s delight that carpet the landscape.

Amaranth – known since antiquity as “the flower that never fades” and symbolises immortality , timeless beauty and the strength of the souls. Combined with Helichrysum Mediterranean amaranth and Stoechas - butterfly lavender it creates a bouquet rich in symbolism and aesthetic intensity. Thank you Safari George for your expert advice

May at Aselinos

Amongst numerous red poppies and black-eyed daisies I found two yellow poppies, Glaucium flavum, bright, golden petals and distinctive, long, horn-shaped seed pods. Google told me it is a Mediterranean species commonly found only on shingle beaches, sand dunes, and coastal cliffs and does not grow inland or far from a coastal landscape.

Yellow Poppies

Goats

Goats and goatherd

Yellow Poppy

Red Poppies and Daisies

Amongst the many hundreds of common small butterflies we found a few very flighty Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius which proved hard to photograph.

Scarce Swallowtaill

We stopped to chat with Panos (Panagiotis), a well known guy of these parts who we christened years ago as "Mister Jasteri" from his non-stop but humorous championing of Jasteri Restaurant in Troulos that just happens to be owned by his nephew.

Panos

Using local bamboo that grows in profusion Panos and helpers set about repairing and/or making from scratch sunshades that shield both tourists’ and their sun loungers from the sun! Using reeds which grow here is a very resourceful and eco-friendly way of avoiding the use of plastics and fabrics.

Reeds for sunbed umbrellas

Sunbed poles

It's hot work -Panos and team

Recycling

Nearby a couple of donkeys seemed curious as to someone with a carrier bag reaching into the bulging contents. “Carrots” they thought; donkeys learn quickly.

Not so fast my four-legged pals. Stefanos had carefully chosen his posies of Amaranth then tied each one with a piece of ready cut string and saved them in his carrier bag that would ride on the handlebars of his moped.

Stefanos

Any carrots mate?

Posies

I assumed the posies were for Stefano’s family. Maybe so, but I managed to ascertain that most were destined for a restaurant like Bakaliko or Akrogiali in Skiathos Town where flowers that never die would decorate diner’s tables for weeks and months to come.

Akrogiali

We waved Stefanos off along the track that leads back to the metalled road, Troulos and then Town some ten miles away

Aselinos

If there’s been rain or wind blown tides there is a natural water channel with vegetation where birds can be found. On this day the usual non shows of vocal Marsh Warblers but a couple of spectacular birds including a Common Sandpiper a new one for the Skiathos list in my head.

Whinchat

Squacco Heron

Yellow-legged Gull

Black-headed Bunting

Spotted Flycatcher

Night Heron

Sardinian Warbler

Our 19 days had flown by until we do it all over again in September. With that in mind we called into Hotel Ostria, Agia Parskevi to see our long-time friends Litsa, Makis and daughter Sophia.

The Ostria's grounds and gardens looked fabulous, neatly manicured and ready to go any day as the hotel opens mid-May, a little later than we like to visit Greece, It's a win-win in getting to stay with best friends in both May and September. Sophia's sister i.e. Makis' and Litsa's other daughter is Anna Mathinou of Hotel Almira, Troulos featured in Part One https://anotherbirdblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/part-one.html.

One of these days I hope to get a photo of all four together, Mom, Dad, Sophia and Anna.

Sophia showed us a huge olive jar she recently acquired from the basement of an old Skiathos property. The jar was obviously very ancient but a quick sniff at the top confirmed the contents of old. Oil jars also known as amphorae have a long and fascinating history dating back to ancient times. The earliest of amphorae dates back to around 3500BC in the ancient Near East. They were originally used to store and transport various goods including olive oil, wine, olives and grain. They would have had wooden tops to help with the preservation of the contents, however none have survived.