Bird Photographer of the Year

Hi Folks. Yes, Susie and I are back from Greece sporting sun tans but very few bird photos, a tale for another occasion. 

DPD knocked at the door. My friends at Princeton posted a book for review, The Bird Photographer of the Year, Collection 9. 

I discovered that the parcel had arrived a week after official launch date of 24 September and that news about the book plus the name of this year’s winner had featured in a number of daily newspapers and periodicals so as to give sales a kick start across the globe. Therefore apologies to my readers who may already know all about this book through reading Amateur Photographer, The Daily Mail or The Times! Maybe even via Positive News, a website devoted to helping more people to get a balanced and uplifting view of the world? 

The Bird Photographer of the Year, Collection 9 is a competition that celebrates bird photography from around the world and as the sub-title explains this is the ninth iteration. As might be expected this is a large format book of landscape size 11.25 x 9 inches, a perfect visual aspect that displays to best advantage the many wonderful digital images therein. 

 Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

As someone who claims to be a bird photographer but whose non-inclusion in the book came as no surprise, I took great interest in the images, keen to find out how the photographers acquired the many splendid, stunning images laid out before me. I wanted too the vital technical information of the lenses, cameras and the nitty-gritty of f numbers, ISOs and exposure compensations that camera geeks crave. 

This book features only the best of tens of thousands of images, including the winning and short-listed pictures of those submitted. It presents a vast variety of photos by experienced professionals and enthusiastic amateurs alike, reflecting the huge diversity and numbers of bird and nature lovers across the world. Most if not all of the entrants prove that the best images are won by investing in very expensive equipment; however those setting out in pursuit of birds with slightly less costly equipment should not be discouraged but instead take heart and advice from the stories here that luck, perseverance, timing and field craft are vital elements in taking that extra special picture. 

The competition divides into categories, a good way of allowing differing specialisms to make their mark. Hence there is Bird Behaviour, Conservation, Birds in Flight, Urban Birds, Young Bird Photographer of the Year, and even a Comedy Bird, etc, etc. - 8 Categories and 3 Special Awards. 

Categories - Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

Comedy Award - Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

Many of the images can be viewed at Princeton via “look inside”. 

Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

Tough Fight - Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

Cock of the Rocks - Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

The images here are more than acceptable from the point of view of promoting the book but do not approach the hard copy here in front of me or the copy you will buy after reading this review. The examples on the web are chosen to give a flavour only of the book, the images in the book the cream of the crop. 

There are many images which are indescribably fantastic and stunning – Bird with Attitude Takes a Walk on the Beach (Peregrine), Oystercatcher Graces the Arctic Sky (a beautiful photo from a drone), Air Traffic Chaos at A Gannetry, or Slow Glider (Northern Harrier). But I challenge anyone to find one image alone above so many others that they could categorically state their choice the best. It is all down to personal choice and a buyer's own bird specialism. 

Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

It is instructive to read a particular photographer's notes on the day of each photo and also to scrutinise the technical data of the actual photos. The latter can only serve to help less experienced picture takers with their choice of camera, lenses and settings. Perhaps too, less experienced toggers will learn something useful from the notes about the use of field craft, bird empathy and bird behaviour before trotting off into the wild on their new found hobby. 

And the Winner Is - When Worlds Collide’ by Patricia Homonylo. A striking image showing over 4,000 birds that died colliding with windows in Toronto. “Each year, more than one billion birds die in North America alone due to collisions with windows,” says Homonylo. “I am a conservation photojournalist and have been with the Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) working to save window-collision survivors. Sadly, most of the birds we find are already dead.”  

When Worlds Collide’ by Patricia Homonylo - Bird Photographer of the Year - Princeton

The organisation collected the birds and at the end of the year and created the startling display to increase public awareness. Reflected light poses a severe threat to birds. To a bird, a reflective surface like a window can appear to be a continuation of the landscape that is behind them. Consequently, birds may fly straight into windows at full speed. 

The winning photograph is not my particular favourite however I do agree it sends an important message about how the modern world sees birds as collateral damage of the New World Order. 

I was blown away by Bird Photographer of the Year. Collection 9. It is not simply “photography.” It is art via photography, art to make you stare in wonder, art to make you blink in awe at the scene and marvel at the skill employed in capturing the split second. 

A portion of  profits from this book goes to Birds on the Brink, a charity that supports bird conservation around the world. Please buy this book I guarantee you will be delighted and inspired alike.

At £30/$35 this is another Princeton Bargain Buy. 

Price: $35.00/£30.00 

ISBN:9780691263595  

Published:Sep 24, 2024 

Pages: 256 

Size: 11.25 x 9 in. 

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Book Review - Birds of China

Another Bird Blog today features a new release from Princeton Field Guides, Birds of China, published mid-December in the UK and mid-January 2024 in the US. 

There are two authors of Birds of China; Liu Yang, professor of animal ecology and ornithology at Sun Yat-sen University and a leading authority on the birdlife of China; Chen Shuihua is deputy director of the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, home to one of China’s largest collections of bird specimens. 

Birds of China - Princeton

 

Birds of China is the first complete English language guide to China’s fantastic birdlife and a testament to the massive strides the country has achieved in becoming a birding resource to its own people and a destination increasingly accessible to tourists. 

Birds of China in the year of 2023 is an English version, a translation from the Chinese National Geography (CNG) edition by the same authors first published in 2021. 

In China, birding and what is known as its “bird people” is a growing leisure activity that developed as recently as the 1990s when knowledge and identification was shared mostly by word of mouth.  Around that time J MacKinnon’s Field Guide to the Birds of China was THE guide to China but a book unlikely to be available to the majority of a population of some 1.66 billion people, even if they were able to find a copy in that vast country.  Given the huge advances in recent years about species, distributions and taxonomy the MacKinnon guide is now somewhat out of date and a newer and therefore more modern field guide was both overdue and very welcome. 

Upon opening the book there is a very useful, illuminating and rather charming two-page Forward - Chinese Birders - From Emergence to Citizen Science by SUN Lili, President of Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology. The Forward describes how birding is still very much in its infancy in China, home to 1400 species and 14% of the global total in a country of approximately 3.7 million square miles, a country that contains a huge and diverse variety of habitats.  China has three of the Earth’s nine major migratory flyways and the country is visited by 20-25% of the world’s migratory bird populations!

On scrutiny of the main text the translation from the original Chinese version works well however I will mention one or two potential drawbacks that might deter English speaking buyers. 

The Contents at Pages 11 and 12 list the species firstly in Mandarin Chinese followed by the Latin bird family e.g. Anseriformes, Galliformes, Gaviiformes etc. This means that English names do not appear until the individual species’ accounts and unless a reader is totally comfortable with Latin names they must turn to the Common Name/English Index at Page 651 to find the whereabouts of the family or species they seek. Other than this rather cumbersome process a flick through the pages will usually find the location of the waders, warblers and raptors etc in a familiar systematic order. 

Birds of China - Princeton

Because this single volume must contain information about 1500 species together with 4,000 illustrations & plates, the information is of necessity a little crowded into the 672 pages in order to make a portable book. Birds of China weighs in at a hefty 1.6 kg, making for a large contribution to a backpack of birding and/or travel gear. 

The guide follows a traditional layout of plates opposite the texts and, through annotations, points out salient ID features. The text is in Mandarin, English and scientific nomenclature for each species, making it accessible to a wide range of enthusiasts based in many countries. Here in the species’ accounts and on the illustrations plates I found the print a little small for my liking and also a pale shade of grey against the white pages where a black typeface would improve the reading experience. 

Birds of China - Princeton

Against the grain of recent bird guides based on photographs Birds of China boasts a set of painted plates from about 25 Chinese artists.  Without exception the paintings are very good, some exceptional  and where I was especially struck by the shrikes, herons, owls and raptors. The style of the paintings is very much alike throughout and it is difficult to see where one artist ends and the next begins. 

Birds of China - Princeton

Birds of China - Princeton

Birds of China - Princeton

Birds of China - Princeton

Upon delving further into the core of the book I was reminded of how many species we in the UK and Europe share with China, a point reinforced in recent years by the number of “new for the UK and the Western Palearctic species” which originate in the Far East. Birders travelling to China will encounter many familiar species among the exciting and vibrant birds they will surely see for the very first time. 

Relatively minor quibbles aside, I can thoroughly recommend this new guide, a ‘must-have’ for those with an interest in China’s birds but especially so for long-distance birders who like to explore exciting new places and opportunities. 

At £35 Birds of China is pretty much another bargain we have come to expect from Princeton’s output of birds and wildlife, a book that should find a place on many a bookshelf. 

Birds of China 

Price: $39.95/£35.00 

ISBN: 9780691237527  

Published (US): Jan 16, 2024 

Published (UK): Dec 12, 2023 

Copyright:2024 

Pages: 672 Size: 6.13 x 9.25 in. 

Weight: 1.6 kg 

4,000 colour illustrations