Please recommend a guide to British birds.

Tony try your local RSPB site or website. If your local wildlife center has a shop they have a good selection of books,bird foods,feeders and binoculors etc.

Howard

I really expected that some innuendo would have been contributed to this thread by now - given the title.

Times change I guess.

If you really want an innuendo then Deane, I'm more than happy to give you one.

Shouldn't we start an innuendo thread rather than hijack this one Steve?

The pedant's answer is: The Reader's Digest "Field Guide to The Birds of Britain".

The painted illustrations are very clear and make recognition far easier than glossy photos. It was our indoors recognition bible when we lived in the middle of a field ourselves.

We planted a broad selection of hundreds of trees and dug ponds in the edge of the large marsh which attracted many new birds (and butterflies and amphibians). I was well into the mid 70's in varieties of birds seen in our garden and immediate area when I stopped counting. Thís was due to the incredible variety of habitats.

You'll probably need a pair of binos to get close enough to see some of them to be sure of recognition. Though we regularly fed great tits, blue tits and robins from the hand. We deliberately avoided having a cat. Local farm cats were also actively discouraged. Our tame robin fell to a local moggy just before we left our end of the world paradise for the middle of another field in another country.

Hello Tony,

For a general guide to the more common birds, I would recommend for a beginner - "Field Guide to The Birds of Britain and Ireland" by John Gooders (Kingfisher Books)

For a more manageable volume try "The New Birdwatchers Pocket Guide to Britain and Europe" bt Peter Hayman and Rob Hume.

If you are venturing abroad then try either "Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East" by Lars Jonsson or the Collins "Most Complete " Bird Guide to Britain and Europe by Lars Svensson et al. Jonsson has always been one of the most highly rated of bird artists and his illustrations generally show different stages of plumage and the likely "confusion" species that may be encountered. Photographic field guides generally only show how the bird should look at its most colourful ie in the breeding season and not in winter etc.

All of the above should be on Amazon either new or used but it is the way of things that DVD's are the new field guides to use - try

http://www.birdguides.com


I think that if I had a quid for every bird or tit comment I had heard over the years I would be looking for a 552/500 by now.

Have fun

Ron

No wonder you're all twitchy.

I find Collins "Garden Birds of Britain & Europe" very good for identification. It has pictures rather than drawings and good descriptions. isbn 0-00-770386-4
It's only £8.99, but don't let that put you off.

P.S. Tony, there are mortgage lenders who will be happy to help you build a house in your field.

I use and recommend the RSPB's Birds of Britain and Europe by Rob Hume and a useful pocket book for in the field is The New Birdwatcher's Pocket Guide by Hayman and Hume. The RSPB web site is a must and also try
http://www.birdguides.com/
David

Hi Tony,

I agree with Ron, the Collins Bird Guide - The most complete field guide to the birds of Britain and Europe by Svensson, Mullarney et al. is the guide to look for. In this book you will find all birds of Europe and the illustrations are excellent.

This is the guide for the keen birdwatcher.

Best wishes

Manfred

The trick for begining birdwatching is to find a guide that contains the birds you are likely to see and excludes the ones you aren't. It is difficult to find a decent guide which is restricted to British birds, and that is what you need.
The BBC publication "Birdwatcher's Guide to the birds of Britain and Ireland" by Jonathan Elphick is a great starter's choice. It is the only book you'll need in your first year or so.
It is also cheap (10 quid), so you can take it out and lose it without worrying. I love this book, even though I now have the big expensive ones too.

As mentioned, you also need binos (even for the garden) and these will cost a bit more than the book.