Birdwatchers Diary

Spring,summer,autumn,winter...for a birdwatcher,each season presents its own images of activity in the bird world.In this outstandingly beautiful book,illustrated by wildlife artist Peter Barrett,the naturalist Roger Lovegrove records his birdwatching experiences throughout a typical year.He recalls,for example,the frenzied courtship of the great crested grebes,the puffins chatting to each other like high-street shoppers,the acrobatic gannets,the accomodating pair of blue-tits which fostered three flycatchers,the lapwing cavorting like an immodest can-can dancer,the sinister water rail,the eerie conversations of owls on a winter's night and the hilarious sight of the male bearded tit,master of the fast descent,sliding down the reed stems with legs wide apart.

He describes the white collared doves who,like a besotted courting couple,could never bear to be separated,the house martin that seemed to mourn its dead mate,the snow-flecked raven sitting on its solitary nest,the jay whose wicked gift for mimicry had him completely fooled,and the green woodpeckers whose maniacal yaffling epitomizes for many of us the English high summer.The lively narrative is illustrated throughout by Peter Barrett's wonderfully observed field sketches and seasonal paintings,which will strike an immediate chord of recognition in all birdlovers:these are real living subjects,brilliantly depicted with all the freshness and character of an illustrator who is as much a naturalist as he is an artist.Sample page below.

FILMING AT MINSMERE
The BBC's Minsmere Birdwatch in early summer was the first of its kind.It was an exciting pioneer attempt to bring the thrills and frustrations of a day's birdwatching direct to the television screens back home,with live transmissions and recorded inserts presented at different times from dawn to dusk.There is nothing better calculated to set the adrenalin running than the prospect of taking part in live television when you cannot guarantee that your star performers will turn up.The fact that the whole day went so smoothly,with none of the crises,near misses,blunders or confusion that couls so easily result from such a highly complex operation,was an immense credit to the planning and skill of the BBC staff.Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect for the presenters - Tony Soper,Marion Foster and myself - was that we did not know whether the next bird we had to talk about was one we were actually looking at out of our respective hides or whether a 'better' picture would be offered from another camera.The result was that we had to		identify each bird by glancing surreptitiously at the monitor screens as we were taliking (knowing that the viewers at home were looking at an undoubtedly larger and better quality version of this picture than the one that we were trying to peep at on our tiny monitors. mapThe birds excelled themselves-but then,what a place Minsmere is! It is the obvious first choice for a programme of this sort,an RSPB reserve which probably offers the best opportunities for rewarding birdwatching of any single site in Britain.Throughout the preparations for televising Birdwatch and in the weeks building up to it there were cameras and cables seemingly everywhere and the reserve staff were marvellously helpful.On the actual day seven cameras were installed;one remote controlled,one on a high tower overlooking the whole reserve and five in hides overlooking the lagoons.It was difficult to believe that any bird could arrive or depart with out being on offer to us through one camera or another.The highlights of that glorious summer day were many;the plunging osprey mobbed by a furious marsh harrier and forced to drop its catch;the grace and elegance of the avocets around us all day and the buoyancy and delicacy of the common terns and little terns on the wing.These were the jewels.............
		Hardback.159pp.Excellent colour illusatrations £15.00 Post Free Uk Back to second-hand bird books

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