New Titles

                                                 
1) Oddie, Bill. Bill Oddie's Birds of Britain & Ireland (Second Edition). 2012. New Holland. Paperback: 240 pages. Price: GBP 12.99 (about $20.38 U.S.).

SUMMARY: Individual descriptions of 250 species of British and Irish birds, arranged in taxonomic order. Concise details on appearance, song, habitat, breeding and behaviour are given and each species is illustrated with specially commissioned artworks showing differences of sex, age, season and breeding plumage. Includes a unique "confusion species" feature, to compare and contrast birds.
RECOMMENDATION: A well illustrated introduction to the birds of the region!

                                                 
2) Paterson, Andy. Pelagic Birds of the North Atlantic: An Identification Guide. 2012. New Holland. Spiralbound paperback: 32 pages. Price: GBP 9.99 (about $15.67 U.S.).
SUMMARY: Pelagic birding is an increasingly popular pastime in both Europe and North America, with ever greater numbers of people taking boat trips offshore to see birds such as the various species of petrels, skuas and shearwaters. This innovative new guide, printed on waterproof paper to withstand the rigours of oceanic trips, gives annotated illustrations (black & white line drawings) of every plumage of every pelagic species, including vagrants, which could be encountered in the North Atlantic, from the Caribbean and Cape Verde Islands right up to the Arctic. In total 56 species are covered, from albatrosses right through to phalaropes.
     A prototype illustration sheet of the book, prepared by Andy Paterson, received high praise from a world expert on seabirds, Hadoram Shirihai, who saw it in action off the coast of Madeira. He declaimed how useful such a simple, waterproof guide would be if it were to be widely available. In short, this is a must-have guide for serious birders on both sides of the Atlantic.
RECOMMENDATION: Pelagic birders should find this waterproof guide useful.