Secret Lives of British Birds by Dominic Couzens
After already having read several books by Dominic Couzens I was happy to receive another book written by him. Although I live in Germany I am very interested in British birds. First of all, almost all British birds also occur in Germany. And second I love Great Britain. I have already been there three times ans saw many amazing birds.In this new book Dominic describes the life of many British birds, including for example Barn Owls, Golden Eagles, Gannets, Sedge Warbler and many more. The book covers different habitats and it's birds. Among the habitats covered are moors, farmland, mountains, still water, marshes, rivers, scrub, broad-leaved and evergreen forests, estuaries, sea cliffs and the open sea.
You learn a lot of interesting things, for example about the speed dating of the willow warbler, the impressive dives of gannets, kingfisher carousels, the problems of farmland birds with modern agriculture and much more. The author always writes in an easy to follow and very entertaining way which helps to remember what you have just learned.
I love the book. The only complaint I have is that sometimes I think the author finds the wrong words when describing raptors. For example, he describes the Goshawk as a "ruthless killer". I am sure the author likes raptors and does not mean any harm to Goshawks, but such words reminds me of people who hate the Goshawks and wants it to be killed and destroyed. So this might give the bird an reputation it does not deserve.
Beside this I highly recommend this to every British and European birdwatcher who wants to learn more about our birds. I also recommend this to anyone who does not live in Europe, but wants to visit this continent for birdwatching.
Book details:Secret Lives of British Birds Dominic Couzens Christopher Helm Publishers 160 pages ISBN-10: 0713675136 ISBN-13: 978-0713675139 |