Review - Europe’s Birds

There is a brand new guide to European Birds due to cause a stir among birders ever eager to have the most up to date in field guides. Rob Hume Robert Still, Andy Swash and Hugh Harrop the four co-authors of the bestselling Britain’s Birds: An Identification Guide and British Birds have followed up with “Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide” - “the most comprehensive single-volume photographic guide to Europe’s birds ever produced”. 

Covering 900 species in 640 pages, 4,700 colour photos, 540 maps and at a very reasonable price it’s impossible to see how this latest WILDGuide can be anything but another winning-formula best seller. 

Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

 

Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

Before discussing the book and contents there’s a word or two of caution here that is probably unnecessary for most birders - buying bird ID books can be like buying the latest technology. 

Just as we think we have the latest and best camera, binoculars or telescope, a newer model appears that promises to surpass everything that went before. Just as optics change, usually without warning, so does taxonomy, the science that deals with the description, identification, naming and classification of bird species or families. Taxonomy is open for questioning whereby an element of previously “settled” science quickly becomes outdated and/or obsolete, just like that pair of Zeiss bins, the bees-knees of 2019. 

Now more than ever a buyer must accept that a date line is inevitably drawn with printed field guides and that keeping tabs on a species in the ever-evolving field of science isn't feasible through printed books alone. To this end buyers and/or readers should note that Europe’s Birds follows the treatment of species and sub species and scientific classification of BirdLife International rather than The International Ornithologists' Union or other bodies.  Confusions and disagreements over species and subspecies do and will arise, especially when discussions around a single global bird taxonomy system are still ongoing between ornithological institutions. 

Rather than rely upon print alone a birder must keep their ear to the ground by other ways, such as the Internet, bird forums & chat, and regular publications and decide when to lose a tick or claim a new one.  Of course there are many bird enthusiasts who simply want to enjoy birds and their own projects without stressing over  the seemingly endless splitting and lumping discussions between the birding “elite” and the hugely popular but unscientific twitching and listing scene.

Through this latest volume Europe’s Birds shows again how recent advances in camera optics and a photographer’s ability to fully exploit this progress have led to the demise of line drawn and painted guides, books that are not obsolete but now used by fewer birders.

The quality of the photographs from 350 worldwide photographers displayed in Europe’s Birds is mostly stunning, exceptional or simply the best on offer, so much so that I struggled to find one below the high bar set by this latest example of photographic art. I think that by 2021 the majority of birders are won over by photographic field guides as exemplified by the WILDGuides series. These are books that provide precise, enjoyable and reliable identification that simply wasn’t available, even less guaranteed through even the very best line drawn books of yesteryear. 

The style, format and layout of Europe’s Birds follow the winning ways of the many before, so to most people reading this review a description how and why this works so well is superfluous. 

For those unfamiliar with the splendid WILDGuides presentations, the pictures below serve to illustrate the point of their user-friendly layouts and information delivery. It may be unfair to pick out pages for special mention but I was particularly excited by my own favourites but also ones that fit the authors’ criteria for inclusion in choosing the most natural and informative examples. 

The Types Of Birds, Pages16/17 -  Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

 

Buntings, Page 510/511 - Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

Redpolls, Page 492 -  Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

Phylloscopus, Pages 434/435 - Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

 

Merlin & Red-footed Falcon, Pages 312/313 - Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

 

Starlings, Pages 378/379 - Europe's Birds - Princeton Press

 

Europe’s Birds is open to birdwatchers of all abilities and experience with many, many pages to simply enjoy or from which to verify, learn or check understanding - there is something for everyone.  And at just £20 or less from non-Princeton outlets the book will be bought by a huge numbers of birders. 

With 640 pages this book is a weighty tome and not very portable and I note that the sub-title is "An identification guide", rather than a "field guide". It's hard to see how so much information could be compressed into something that would travel easily unless a user buys the Kindle version.

Following the Covid pandemic there is huge pent up demand to restart travel, not least for locked down birders who long to return to the birding hot spots of Europe, armed with the best available field guide for their journey. This book is the one and I only hope that Princeton have done their homework and printed enough copies of Europe’s Birds to satisfy the demand of coming weeks and months. 

I confidently predict a sell out, so get your order in quick. 

Europe’s Birds: An Identification Guide 

Price: $29.95 / £20.00 

ISBN: 9780691177656 

Published (US): Dec 7, 2021 

Published (UK): Oct 12, 2021 

Pages: 640 

Size: 5.87 x 8.25 in. 

Illus: 4,700  colour photos + 540 maps 

Trip Over

We’re back from Greece. I’m catching up with the world as Sue unpacks suitcases while being careful I hope not to drop the two bottles of ouzo packed between the sun towels. There’s a question for Mr Sunak. Why is Ouzo 12 just £9 a bottle in Skiathos and £16.50 or more in the UK? 

An offer to help with emptying the cases is met with “You will just get in the way”. Outside its raining and will do so all day. Welcome back to Britain. 

Being absent for two weeks, I decided to revisit the blogging world and post a few photographs. In Skiathos we had 14 days of glorious sunshine marred one morning by a couple of hours of dark cloud and intermittent rain before the sun reappeared as temperatures rose to their normal early thirties. The wealth of sunshine and clear nights led to little in the way of bird migration, just small numbers of the usual – shrikes, wagtails, chats, swallows, Chiffchaffs, Spotted Flycatchers and Blackcaps. 

Red-rumped Swallow

The “best” bird of the two weeks may have been a single Magpie, glimpsed one morning flying overhead. Although Hooded Crows are common and Ravens less so, other members of the crow family are very rare. In any case, birdwatching and bird recording is not a pastime of the average Skiathan resulting in a poor bird list for this unwatched island. 

Red-backed Shrike and Spotted Flycatchers dominated our mostly casual birding during trips to various beaches and viewpoints.

Red-backed Shrike

 

It seems that the only shrikes left in late September are juveniles of the year and perhaps females as adult males have by now all left for Africa. The shrikes are mostly wary and difficult to bring into photo range except for the occasional and innocent youngster like this one near Aselinos beach. Aselinos is located in the rugged north of the island, and while it can be wild and windswept, it is simply beautiful. 

Aselinos

Aselinos

Likewise, Spotted Flycatchers were difficult to approach until we found this very confiding one in the same location, Aselinos. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Wheatear

Late in the day the goatherd brings his goats down to Aselinos and corrals them for the night so that this valuable stock cannot roam and revert back to their wild ancestry.

Aselinos

It was here at Aselinos that after brief morning showers we found a flock of forty and more Yellow Wagtails. The same species plus occasional Grey Wagtails could be seen and heard on a numbers of days in this and other locations but only where a semblance of water could be found.

Yellow Wagtail

Whinchat

Spotted Flycatcher

Now follows a set of non-birdy photos from Skiathos. Click each picture to get a feel for this beautiful and friendly island. 

Skiathos Town

The Bourtzi

The Old Harbour

Skiathos Town

Skiathos

Skiathos

Skiathos

The Bourtzi

Xanemos

Skiathos

View to Skiathos Town

Ligaries

Aselinos

Spiti Oneiro (Dream House)

Coffee and Cake - Fresh Cafe

Ferry to Thessaloniki mainland Greece

Ligaries

Papadiamantis Street

Bakaliko

Rain over Skopelos Island

Skiathos Town

I’ll be back soon with a new book review, WILDGuides Europe’s Birds. The book arrived mid-way through the holiday. 

Europe's Birds

Hopefully I can get a review out before the book arrives on general sale. 

Linking this weekend to Eileen's Blogspot and Anni in Texas.

 

Happy Holidays

Wednesday 15 September. Sue and I had jumped through hoops and clambered over obstacles to reach this point. There was no stopping us now as the jet finally climbed into the sky over Manchester Airport to leave England behind. We were on bang on time in our Boeing 737/800, along with 137 other hopeful holidaymakers on the way to Destination Skiathos.  

Three and a half hours later we arrived on the magical isle at 1355 local time to clear blue skies and 26 degrees. We trotted down the passenger staircase to waiting buses as the air crew wished us "Happy Holidays". We were set for 2 weeks in the sun, the crew to turn the plane around in an hour, fill it with fuel and more passengers, and then head back to Manchester. It's a hard life for some. 

We negotiated a few minor Greek hoops, (or maybe it seemed that way), grabbed our cases and quickly located Magda waiting at Arrivals with a Suzuki Jeep.  In high spirits if a little cramped by suitcases and photo gear, plus Sue's suntan creams & mossie sprays, we set off for Agia Paraskevi and Hotel Ostria, a 20 minute drive via Skiathos' Ring Road and the winding coastal route. 

 

Ostria Hotel

 

Agia Paraskevi is a tiny hamlet and tourist resort on the south coast of Skiathos at the start of the Platanias Valley, an unspoilt landscape that meanders inland through dusty unkempt tracks and scented pine clad hills to eventually reach the wild rocky north of Skiathos Island. That's for another day. 

The weather is hot, dry and sunny so not too good for birding or dropping migrants. The usual species crossed our path in small numbers – Red-backed Shrike, Yellow Wagtail, Whinchat, Little Owl, Chiffchaff and Red-rumped Swallow, Spotted Flycatcher.

Whinchat

Spotted Flycatcher

Red-backed Shrike

Aselinos

The highlight of Thursday was a a road runner, an Isabelline Wheatear at Aselinos beach. I call them road runners because of the characteristic way they run over the landscape in pursuit of prey rather than the wait and see feeding of Northern Wheatears. Unfortunately this one ran so fast that I couldn’t get a photo. 

Shopping and Skiathos Town today. Wish me luck.

 

Signed Off

That’s it for a while. When I finished at Cockerham today I packed the ringing gear away for a couple of weeks because Sue and I are off to Greece. There will be no ringing in Skiathos but for sure there will be a spot or two of birdwatching. 

Sunday was to be the last go at the Linnets so I started early in the half-light with zero wind and visibility across to the Lake District some 45 miles away. There was lots of noise when about 300/400 Pink-footed Geese lifted off the salt marsh and flew just half a mile away to land on farmland. We set our year calendars by the arrival of the Pink-footed Geese, always within a day or two of mid September. 

The “pinks” probably arrived from Iceland during the clear night after their 800 mile journey and then roosted out on Pilling Sands until breakfast time. I heard them later in the morning from a distance away so they found a spot safe from the guns for now until the shooters realise their wintering “sport” is back. 

Pink-footed Geese

 

I caught a couple of Linnets early doors but it soon became obvious that the numbers of up to 200 individuals didn’t equate to those of two days ago when the count was closer to 250 or maybe 300. 

In fact I finished today with seven new Linnets plus a single Robin. That makes 74 new Linnets (zero recaptures) caught here in this latter part of summer entering autumn, and 66 of those were juveniles/birds of the year. Such a high percentage of juveniles points to a highly productive year for this, a Red Listed species. 

I’m also sure that a number of those 74 Linnets have arrived from further afield, if not from Iceland, then certainly Scotland. 

Robin

Linnet

Birding was pretty quiet too although there was the now regular Sparrowhawk targeting Linnets. Flyovers came from a single Black-tailed Godwit and two Golden Plover. Also 14 Lapwing, 8 Curlew, 4 Swallow, 1 Buzzard, 1 Kestrel and 1 Grey Heron. 

The next post from Another Bird blog will be from Greece. Watch me fly!! 

Landing - Skiathos

Skiathos

No promises for bird pictures amongst the sunny Greek landscapes but I will try. 

Double Jobbed

I was out ringing on Tuesday morning but an urgent phone call sent me scurrying back home with just 5 birds ringed. 

The morning began with a blanket of mist. Brightness above the grey indicated the sun would quickly break through. The yellow blob cleared the mist in no time and a look in the nearest net showed a Chiffchaff and a male Blackcap side by side. 

 

Blackcap

 

Chiffchaff

Linnet

 

This excellent start continued with 3 more Linnets from a flock in the bright blue that quickly built to upwards of 150 Linnets with ten or more hangers on in the shape of Goldfinches. This was looking good. With 48 Linnets in the bag so far this autumn (42 first years and 6 adults), a half century was certain. A few other birds enlivened proceedings, the best of those being a double whammy of two Great Egrets and a male Sparrowhawk. 

And then the phone calls. The local Post Office had mislaid the packet of Euro currency ordered for our Greek holiday and I needed to retrieve paperwork from back home. After a swear word or three nets were stashed away and off I went.  Fortunately everything turned out OK when our Euros were found in the main office where an unnamed operative had stored the package for “safe keeping”. 

Fast forward to Thursday when the Doom & Gloom Forecast said “rain”, but I was not convinced so set off towards Cockerham village. At 0600 there was a light shower followed by much brighter skies and a very decent morning of zero wind. The mobile was switched to “off” and I switched on to where I left off on Tuesday. 

The Linnet flock was now more than 200 strong plus smaller groups and singles that became attached and then broke off, behaviour which makes for counting difficulties. The counting was even harder when Sparrowhawks appeared, tried to grab a Linnet and scattered the flock in several directions. Definitely two Sparrowhawks today, a female and then a noticeably smaller and more agile male, both of which came in low and fast in the element of surprise, but neither connected with a meal.

Sparrowhawk

 

Linnets

The overall number of Linnets in the area must have improved the catch with 19 new ones today. There was another Chiffchaff, this one a male with a wing length of 64mm compared to Tuesday’s 56mm female. At this time of the year wing length is the only way to sex a Chiffchaff unless a wing measurement falls half way between the two extremes when the bird becomes of unknown sex. 

Chiffchaff

 

Linnet

 

Other birds today - Buzzard, Great-spotted Woodpecker, 20+ Goldfinch, 2 Chaffinch, 3 Stock Dove, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Egret.

Back soon on Another Bird Blog. Don't go away.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday Blog and Anni in Texas.