Birds of India - A Photographic Field Guide - A Review

After five visits to India and one to Sri Lanka I never tired of Indian subcontinent, the landscapes, its people or its birds. I did however become weary of the interminable flights of 22 hours door to door with unwanted stop overs in the Middle East. So even though flights to India are nowadays more direct I restrict holiday/birding trips to three or four hours on an aeroplane where I can bird the same day. 

A new field guide reminds me of what I am missing by not returning to India. With a great deal of time, money, luck plus a whole series of local guides with specialised knowledge, I might eventually see 13% of the world’s birds as portrayed in the book. 

Reviewed today is a book first published in 2016 in India by Om Books, “A Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh”, now given a wider audience by Princeton University Press and on sale at $45 or £37.95. The authors of Birds of India are Bikram Grewal, Sumit Sen, Sarwandeep Singh and Nikhil Devasar, four experienced and well-travelled birders and photographers. 

Birds of India - A Photographic Field Guide - Princeton Press

 

Trying to fit almost 1400 species into a single field guide is surely a well-nigh impossible task. With 792 pages, 4,000 colour photos and 1,300+ maps the authors and publishers have made a valiant effort but the book has a number of key failings. The major problem and perhaps to be expected is the sheer usability. Weighing in at almost 1.5 kg and nearly 2 inches thick, this is a heavy volume to lug around for any length of time and is more at home on a table top.

 Birds of India - A Photographic Field Guide - Princeton Press

Introductory pages by Carol and Tin Inskipp give a fascinating overview and history of ornithology in India and its immediate neighbours, the several pages illustrated with evocative thumbnail sketches. We are also reminded how the protection of wildlife has a long tradition in the history of the region and continues today in large areas of special protection in parts of India, Bhutan Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Birds of India - A Photographic Field Guide - Princeton Press

Unfortunately other parts of the book do not live up to this initial excitement and anticipation. From the Introduction the reader is plunged straight into the species accounts via the barest of a Contents list or even a brief explanation of the pages that follow. 

The taxonomy and nomenclature used is not described, whereby a summary of at least the families of the birds and the order in which they appear in the ensuing pages would be of great value to a reader new to India. As it is the pages appear to follow Inskipp et al of 1996 by using the order beginning partridge, quail, pheasant etc first, followed by ducks, grebes etc, etc. Rather confusingly the information about species contained in the book is held in not one, but two checklists, both of which are at the end of the book. The first checklist follows the classification and nomenclature of Birds of South Asia; The Ripley Guide of 2012, while the second and more modern one of 2016 follows the Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of Birds of the World. 

Almost as an afterthought, advice on how to use the book’s maps is contained in three lines at the foot of the Introduction, while the maps themselves are both small and often difficult to interpret or occasionally missing.

Birds of India - A Photographic Field Guide - Princeton Press

While there are many fine, even stunning photographs within the book, their use is inconsistent and often unnecessary, especially so when a single full page photograph takes up space that could be used to show the variation of age or sex within the same species. The lack of explanation and picturing of such normal variation is both notable and striking in many pages where it highlights the difficulties of producing a purely photographic field guide. The natural inclination of most bird photographers is to picture the conspicuous male while sometimes neglecting portraist of the mostly drab looking female or autumnal juvenile.  The inclusion of different plumages and age classes is a “must” for any field guide, especially so when a birder is faced with the unfamiliar species they might find In India.

Birds of India - A Photographic Field Guide - Princeton Press

Also lacking in Birds of India is a range of photographs of birds in flight, especially raptors and waders, in particular the difficult family of accipiters where a fleeting glimpse of a bird in flight is often the most a birder can expect. 

Having been rather critical of this book I must emphasise its many valuable points cantered around the top-class and sometimeds superb photography. Birds of India will remain with me as a comparative reference guide that contains very many high quality images, a book that that will slip easily into my birding library. 

In fact I recommend it as handy comparative reference guide, perhaps alongside a traditional illustrative guide, in this case another Princeton guide - Birds of India by Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp and Tom Inskipp.  I reviewed  this earlier guide on Another Bird Blog on March 4th 2012.

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Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

More Polls

Overnight had been clear.There was a slight frost on the screen as the instrument panel lit up - “beware of possible ice”.

I was travelling back to the hills today where I met up with Andy in the expectation of more finches and maybe a warbler or two; especially so since Andy’s ringing near his home on Friday produced 5 Meadow Pipits, a couple of Great-spotted Woodpeckers, a Tree Pipit, a Blackcap and a Willow Warbler. 

Tree Pipit

Try as we might we caught no Tree Pipits today nor did we catch a singing Blackcap, and one only of the 4 Willow Warblers around. So we made do with yet more Lesser Redpolls amongst the 19 birds of 5 species: 13 Lesser Redpoll, 3 Goldfinch, 1 Siskin, 1 Chaffinch, 1 Willow Warbler. 

Willow Warbler

Siskin

The very first Lesser Redpoll caught was already ringed but with ring number not of our own sequences. At number S295643 the record is now sent to the BTO who interrogate their data to discover the who, when and where. 

Just one Siskin today out of the eight or ten we saw and heard. At 8th April the species’ spring passage may be over. 

One of the Lesser Redpolls we caught had greyer tones than the other more typically brown and buff Lessers caught at the same time. The unwary might be tempted to call it a Common (Mealy) Redpoll but at this time of year and as a second year female the plumage is very worn by way of extensive whitish covert bars and fringes to the flight feathers. The bird was Lesser Redpoll size and “jizz” and we concluded it to be this species alone. Two images of the same bird below. The top one is taken in goodish sunny light, the second one in the shade of the car's hatchback.

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

Thankfully and not before time the Common Redpoll and Lesser Redpoll will be lumped back together as one species beginning in 1st January 2018 after the rather dodgy split into two species made in the year 2000.  I hope someone remembers to tell the birds before 1st January so that they can prepare for spring 2018, safe in the knowledge that it’s OK to begin breeding with the “other” species again. 

Are Redpolls Just One Species? March 2015.

"Mason and Taylor looked beyond the plumage into strands of the birds’ DNA in the most extensive look ever at the redpoll genome. Whereas previous genetic analyses of redpolls looked at just 11 regions of the genome (at most), Mason and Taylor examined 235,000 regions. (That impressive number is a testament to the exponential advances in DNA-sequencing technology, but the researchers are quick to note it’s still less than 1% of the total genome.)

In all, the duo compared DNA from 77 redpolls, including specimens from museums around the world, from the Museum of Vertebrates at Cornell University to the Natural History Museum of Geneva in Switzerland. They found no DNA variation that distinguishes Hoary Redpolls from Common Redpolls. Furthermore, another redpoll species found in Europe—the Lesser Redpoll—also had extremely similar DNA sequences. This extreme similarity among all the redpolls stands in marked contrast to studies of other groups of birds—such as Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees—which show differences at many regions of the genome.

In nature, one of the key differentiators among distinct species is assortative mating, that is, members of a group breeding with each other more often than they breed with members of another group. According to Mason, when it comes to Hoary, Common, and Lesser Redpolls, “There are no clear-cut genetic differences, what we would expect to see if assortative mating had been occurring for a long time.”

"The physical differences among redpolls are associated with patterns in their RNA, not their DNA. In other words, the variation in plumage and size is probably not a matter of genetic variation, but of genetic expression. It’s like how two humans might have the same gene for brown hair, but one person’s might be lighter than the other’s—that gene is being expressed differently.”

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes.

There’s a useful set of photographs of Lesser and Common Redpoll here.

On the way home via Garstang and the mosslands I saw my first Swallows of the year, a pair on wires close to farm buildings. Also, 3 different Kestrels and a pair of displaying Buzzards, one of them visiting last year’s nest.

Linking this post to Anni's Birding Blog.

First Willys

Preparation is everything for these early starts. I packed a bag with camera, outdoor breakfast and a vacuum flask primed with coffee & milk.  The alarm was set for 0500 allowing time for a rapid wake-me-up shower. A large mug of tea, a piece of toast and twenty minutes later I’m on the road heading for Oakenclough and a few spring migrants. 

As I arrived Andy was already on the move and keen for the off. According to the Beeb’s weather forecast, the morning would be dry but 100% cloudy. It was more of the BBC’s bogus information as we started off in bright sunshine but by 10am a belt of rain arrived and we took the nets down. 

We caught slowly but surely and ended up with another 20 birds in the field sheet including our first Willow Warblers of 2017. Once again, finches led the list at 6 Goldfinch, 4 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Siskin, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chafffinch, 1 Robin and 1 Coal Tit. 

Lesser Redpoll

Lesser Redpoll

 

Siskin

Willow Warbler

Birding was pretty quiet although we thought that Siskins and Lesser Redpolls were around in larger numbers than of late with upwards of 25 of both species either lurking or passing overhead. Just the two Willow Warblers we caught, zero Chiffchaffs on site today and still no Goldcrests! 

Otherwise - 15/20 Goldfinch, 1 Sparrowhawk, 2 Pied Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1 Song Thrush.

Linking today to Eileen's Saturday.

More Siskin News

Details arrived of yet another Siskin recovery. Siskins are well worth catching, a species that gives good recovery data, often from ringer to ringer many miles apart, rather than examples of bird mortality. 

Siskin

Andy and I have targeted this species at Oakenclough near Garstang and we now have a number of recoveries showing that Siskins moving through here in February, March and April are on their way to the Scottish highlands. The latest one is bang up to date as it concerned a Siskin we ringed in March 2016, later recaptured by a ringer in Scotland during March of 2017 just a few weeks ago.

As often happens, most of the intervening period remains a mystery other than the fact that after breeding in Scotland the bird would migrate the south of England or across the English Channel to the near Continent.  Lancashire in March is just a staging post in a Siskin’s long migration north.

We ringed Siskin Z860724 as an adult male at Oakenclough near Garstang on 31st March 2016. The finding date was 10th March 2017 in the Highlands of Scotland at Balnain, Glenurquhar. The duration is 344 days and a distance of 398 km. 

Siskin - Oakenclough to Balnain, Scotland

The weather is pretty mixed at the moment with showers and less than ideal wind conditions. Thursday and/or Friday are earmarked for a spot of ringing again at Oakenclough. Stay tuned and discover our catch. 

A Sunday Surprise

I did a circuit of a number of local spots this morning and then later on arrived home with a page full of notes. There was even a tick for my non-existent British List, Lancashire List and Fylde List. “It’s all in your head” as Sue is fond of reminding me. 

I drove through Pilling with nothing much to see until I arrived at Damside where the resident Kestrel looked for breakfast along the roadside. 

Kestrel

Kestrel

I’d only driven a few yards when a Great White Egret flew fairly high across the road but heading out towards Pilling Marsh. This wasn’t the same Great White that’s been knocking around Conder and Glasson for months now, from where it has hardly ventured and where I saw it a week ago. Almost certainly this morning’s bird would be a new one and part of the influx of both large and small white egrets in recent months and days. 

From Lane Ends car park there was no sign of the Great White, just the usual couple of Little Egrets hunched alongside the ditches, a Buzzard to the west near Pilling Water and a Chiffchaff in song. A walk along the sea wall may have revealed the Great White but there was no time – other birds waited.

Great White Egret

At Fluke Hall two or more Chiffchaffs monotoned their name over and over but it was no contest against a newly arrived Blackcap singing loudly for all it was worth. There was a Song Thrush in song and a pair of Chaffinches prospecting the hedgerow. 

Chaffinch

At Gulf Lane a check of the set-aside field where 18/20 Linnets and 2 Stock Dove still feed. There was another Kestrel here, not the one seen half-a-mile away at Damside. 

Behind the sea wall at Sand Villa were c1200 Pink-footed Geese, too distant and partly hidden by fences to spend time. 

There’s still a lot of water at Conder Green with just half-a-dozen Tufted Duck, a single Goosander, 2 Wigeon, 16 Shelduck, 30 Teal and several pairs of Oystercatchers to excite. There are without fail, one or two Little Egrets in residence. Today at the far side of the pool about 80/100 yards away and huddled against the bank was single small white egret which through the “bins” appeared to have a yellow bill. I’d already decided Cattle Egret when an always aggressive Little Egret confirmed it by chasing the other off and sending it into flight over the pool and then over the road towards the Lune marshes.

It was indeed a Cattle Egret, still something of a local rarity despite its multinational and still spreading status. I’ve seen Cattle Egrets in mainland Spain, the Balearics, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, Egypt, India and Africa, but never until now in Britain. With very recent multiple sighting here in the UK and even the North West, 2017 may be the long anticipated year of the Cattle Egret. 

Cattle Egret

 

At Glasson – 1 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Cormorant, 1 Goosander, 1 Chiffchaff. 

There were no Swallows or Sand Martins at Conder Green where one or two might have been expected over the pool or dashing north in the early morning. A drive down Bank Lane to the Sand Martin colony at Chris’ farm produced upwards of 120 excitable Sand Martins around the quarry face and over the water. 

Just half-an-hour later and on my way back from looking over the marsh to see just wagtails and pipits, there were no Sand Martins to be seen. The martins had moved on already - migration in action.

Meadow Pipit

 Back soon with more about birds, news and views on Another Bird Blog.

Linking today to Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.

Britain’s Mammals - A Review

On my desk for review today is a new Princeton field guide, a book which doesn’t feature birds but one that will be sought after by almost 100% of bird watchers. The book is the much awaited Britain's Mammals: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Britain and Ireland from Princeton Press. This is the latest in the series of best-selling WILDGuides. 

The authors of Britain’s Mammals are Dominic Couzens, Andy Swash, Robert Still, & Jon Dunn. Andy Swash and Robert Still were two of the authors of the hugely successful “Britain’s Birds”, first published in late 2016, a book which found its way into many a birders' library. This latest book is a companion to the bird guide and shares not only one of the authors, but also looks and feels the same as soon as the first page is turned. 

Britain's Mammals

Skipping introductory pages to books is a bad habit of mine, but on this occasion I found myself immersed in the Introduction to Britain’s Mammals. It really is essential reading by firstly reminding us that in comparison to birding, mammal watching is a minority interest with much to be discovered by those willing to devote time and energy. 

The Introduction explains in just a few succinct pages the life-cycle and biology of mammals together with a very useful explanation and diagrammatic display of the names and scientific classification of Mammalia. A handy text and photographic overview of the types of British mammals reminds the reader that in comparison to the comparatively easy pursuit of birding, the study of mammals requires different techniques. A potential mammal watcher must exploit various times of both day and night and often use different equipment and methods to find and photograph their elusive quarry. 

Britain's Mammals - Princeton Press.

Part of the Introduction, the History of Britain’s Mammals, describes how getting close to wild animals takes a great deal of concentration and patience to achieve any sort of result; watching mammals is infinitely more difficult than birding. There is a timely explanation of why. For seven centuries or more persecution and exploitation of both land and marine mammals was rife, with many species becoming extinct or their numbers seriously reduced. No wonder then that history has taught mammals how to avoid homo sapiens, their most deadly and persistent predator. 

I guess I suffer from many misconceptions about British mammals, the main one, borne out by a glance at the book’s Contents page, is just how many mammal species can be seen in the British Isles. It is easy to forget that the UK and Ireland terrestrial mammals like squirrels, voles, mice shrews, moles, hedgehogs, rabbit, hares, carnivores and deer are in the minority. Bats and marine mammals form the largest groups of British mammals, reflected in the 70 pages devoted to 30 species of bats and over 40 pages featuring 37 species of marine mammals – seals and cetaceans. 

Britain's Mammals - Princeton Press.

The field guide element of Britain’s Mammals has handy and up-to-date distribution maps on the species' page together with illustrations which denote both the status and size of the animal. A typical page contains tips and information on where to look for a particular animal, its habitat, habits, food, breeding behaviour and population status. Very often there is information and helpful advice on the tracks and signs that may give away the animal’s location and/or its identification.

There are seven pages devoted to illustrating animal tracks. The publishers even provides a ruler in the inside book cover for the reader to measure tracks they find and then compare with scale bars depicted at the illustrations on each relevant page at p46-52. What a simple but innovative idea from the authors to make this a fully interactive field guide. 

Britain's Mammals - Princeton Press.

I must make special mention of the photographs in Britain’s Mammals. They are almost without exception truly stunning given the difficulties of in the first place even seeing mammals in the British countryside. In particular, the photographs of bats, both in flight and at rest, are simply superb, as are the pictures of mice and shrews. These are animals which are rarely glimpsed by everyday field workers who spend many hours in the great outdoors. I can only marvel at the time, skill, effort and dedication devoted to taking these images. 

Britain's Mammals - Princeton Press.

In summary. The winning WILDGuide formula continues throughout this wide-ranging and attractively designed field guide that follows in the major footsteps of Britain’s Birds. There’s a fully photographic experience and high quality information from its approximately 500 colour photos and 325 pages. 

Britain’s Mammals is a book for simple enjoyment as well as for learning and I heartily recommend it to readers of Another Bird Blog. It is available now from the usual sources at $29.95 or £17.95 and is something of a bargain. 

Britain's Mammals and Britain's Birds - Princeton Press.

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Linkintg today to Eileen's Saturday Blog.

First “Phyllosc”

I met up with Andy for another ringing session at Oakenclough. After three or four night of clear weather and sunny skies to help migration along it was perhaps too much to expect a large catch. 

And so it proved with just 12 birds - 4 Goldfinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll, 2 Wren, 2 Blue Tit, 1 Siskin, 1 Chiffchaff. 

Wren

Siskin

Lesser Redpoll

The Chiffchaff was our first for the year here and although it was a male we did not hear it singing prior to it appearing in the net at 0900. By March 28th an early Willow Warbler might also be around. A cursory check revealed that appearance-wise our first “phyllosc” was clearly a Chiffchaff. On closer inspection primary 2= 7-8, and primary 6=emarginated, so therefore nothing but a Chiffchaff. It is not unknown that dull and dark-legged Willow Warblers can resemble a Chiffchaff, but also that Willow Warbler/Chiffchaff hybrids occur, even though they are very rare.

 

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

For phylloscopus enthusiasts and those with an interest in sub-species who may also enjoy scientific jargon, there was an interesting online paper recently. A dictionary will be useful to translate some of the terminology used by the authors. The paper is entitled “Patterns of genetic, phenotypic, and acoustic variation across a chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita abietinus/tristis) hybrid zone.” At http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.2782/full 

Ornithologists studied a “hybrid zone” in Europe where a number of subspecies of Chiffchaffs are known to occur and interbreed. The paper’s conclusion is perhaps far from surprising to most birders - a mix of genetic ancestry shows extensive ongoing and past gene flow with at least one of the previously described subspecies of Chiffchaff unlikely to be a distinct species. 

Also, subspecies identification of Chiffchaffs in this region based (and probably elsewhere in its migration range! – my italics) on appearance is uncertain, as even an individual with apparently distinct looks such as “Siberian Chiffchaff”, can have a considerable proportion of its make-up hybridised from the other subspecies. 

Birding wise this morning we noted 3 Pied Wagtail. Also a single Mistle Thrush in song, one Sand Martin dashed through on a northerly track north and then within a minute of each other saw both the male and female Sparrowhawks of the local pair.

Linking this post to Anni's Blog and Stewart's World Bird Wednesday.