The Birds of Scotland

I finally have my copy of The Birds of Scotland. Way back in August last year I ordered it for £45 (pre-publication and SOC member discounts). It finally arrived in Ayrshire just after I left at New Year. I went back home last weekend, with a half-empty rucksack, and brought the 8 kilograms of Scottish bird knowledge back to London. I won’t write a review at this stage, having just started to browse the two tomes.

This landmark two volume publication has 1600 pages summarising 200 years of Scottish ornithology, covering 509 species and illustrated with 900 photographs and 1500 graphs and charts! All this took a team of nine editors (Ron Forrester, Ian Andrews, et al), working with 157 writers, five years to complete. In addition to the species accounts, there are chapters on Scotland’s geography and habitats, fossil records, history, changes in the avifauna, weather and bird migration, movements, bird recording, surveys, research, conservation, and the history of bird photography in Scotland.

It is already starting to win awards and every birder in Scotland should own a copy. Serious birders elsewhere with an interest in Scottish birds should really own it too.Visit the website for all the information including samples pages on White-tailed Eagle and Evening Grosbeak, oh and free, downloadable species checklist:

www.birdsofscotland.org.uk