|Around the World in 50 Birds | By Mike Unwin | Laurence King Publishing Ltd | Available from Book Stores like Waterstones |

This is a first for me… I’ve never reviewed a jigsaw before. To be fair it took me a while to get round to it, as the box arrived in mid-summer. The thing is that mid-winter is a time when you want to relax, but the weather is shocking and you are all read out… that’s when I’ve been know to set monopolise the dining table. Lucky for me, Mrs Fatbirder has been known to dabble – preferring to hunt for the edge pieces, but often frustrated by the rest. You need patience to be sure.

So, the guilt of having left the project got the better of me and the dining table has been covered in squiggly bits for the last week.

Of course I love the topic and hate how some makers get this sort of thing so wrong. You’ll be puzzling over some bucolic Christmas scene in jolly old England to find an America Robin sat on a fence or, in these days of global commerce, a southeast Asian Pitta pecking up scraps discarded by a Dickensian chestnut roaster! It happens in film and TV too, South American jungles echoing to the calls of Coucals, Australian bush full of the sound of Macaws!

This, however, is an accurate celebration of 50 iconic birds and part of the fun is identifying them, or, if you are lucky enough to have travelled, remembering when you first encountered a Scarlet Ibis or Helmeted Vanga. If you are struggling, don’t despair, as their is a comprehensive booklet that reveals all.

This kiddo has a thousand pieces and is a toughie… but well worth the challenge. It was hard but most enjoyable and will be a great stocking filler for any birder! I loved it.

…and got there eventually!

Fatbirder