By Neil Glenn, with John Miles | Buckingham Press | Paperback | May 2017 | 340 Pages | 120 Two-tone Maps | ISBN: 9780956987679
The Publisher’s View: This guide to England’s most extensive county is the biggest in the Best Birdwatching Sites series at 340 pages. No fewer than 88 sites are assessed, with more than 120 detailed maps ensuring that readers get all the information they need.
Main author Neil Glenn, who was highly-praised when his guide to Norfolk’s top birding areas was published in 2002, brings the same birding knowledge to a wide range of Yorkshire sites. As one reviewer put it; “Neil’s work is chatty, accessible, but always to the point – it is genuinely like having an expert guide to hand to talk you through some of the more daunting aspects of birdwatching […]”.
John Miles, who wrote the Best Birdwatching Sites: Solway guide to Cumbria and Dumfries & Galloway covered 14 sites, including Dalby Forest, Ingleborough and Wykeham Lakes. Together, the authors have created the most up-to-date guide to Yorkshire birding sites.
The new volume naturally gives in-depth coverage of famous coastal locations such as Spurn Point, Flamborough and Filey Brigg, but, as with other books in the series, the authors have sought out less well-known sites such as Blacka Moor, Rother Valley Country Park and Paull Holme Strays to assess their birding potential.
* Up-to-date information on 88 birding sites
* Birding tips for each site based on the authors’ practical experience
* Detailed maps (more than 120 in total) and access information
* All sites evaluated for wheelchair access
* Target birds for each site – and how likely you are to see them
* What birds to expect – month-by-month
* Public transport options
Fatbirder View: I have little to say and it’s all positive! This book has been a long time coming mostly because of life’s vicissitudes thrown at the principle author. I know the publishers are now pleased that they can finally retire having decided to a couple of years back when this book was still in production. (Buckingham Press Ltd remains in business and in their ownership. They are simply retired from producing new books, but obviously they’ll stay trading while there is still demand for their ID cards and BBS guides.) Because of delays a second author was recruited and Neil had to re-visit some sites to make sure all the information was still current. So, it is the most comprehensive and real picture of birding in the vice-county. Well done all.
The info is there, the maps are there and, as if that wasn’t enough, its delivered in a very reader friendly way. You can imagine being in the pub the on the eve of a day’s birding with Neil telling you the best spots to make for and what you might see and all for the price of a few decent pints. A must for any UK birder’s bookshelves.
Fatbirder