Bookshop's top 10 bestsellers of 2021
2021 has been a year of many notable book launches for the birding and the wider wildlife community, and sifting through the extensive list can be a daunting task for even the most avid birder. With this in mind, we've compiled the top 10 bestsellers of 2021 from the bookshop.
10. THE BIRDWATCHER'S YEARBOOK 2022
By Neil Gartshore
The Birdwatcher's Yearbook has been the essential work of reference for British birders since 1981. Whatever you need to know, you’ll find it in the Yearbook.
09. RESTORING THE WILD
By Roy Dennis
Roy was instrumental in returning Western Osprey, Red Kite and Golden Eagle to the British Isles, but the road to reintroduction isn’t an easy one. In what will surely be the seminal book on British reintroductions, Roy details the painstaking process of bringing back Common Goldeneye to Scotland, one duckling at a time, the die-hard determination needed to make a dazzling success of the Red Kite reintroduction and the leap of faith we will all need to make to accept sharing our forests and skies with large predators again. He also illustrates all that we have to gain by restoring our ecosystems to balance.
08. LIFE CYCLES OF BRITISH & IRISH BUTTERFLIES
By Peter Eeles
With detailed descriptions and photos of the adult, egg, caterpillar and chrysalis of each species, this book provides unique insights into a hidden world, illustrated with more than 1,300 high-quality colour photos that reveal the subtle beauty in something as small as a butterfly egg. While aimed at the butterfly enthusiast, the book's content has been successfully tested by conservation scientists who need to record all stages when measuring the impact of habitat management and climate change.
07. WHERE TO WATCH BIRDS IN BRITAIN
By Simon Harrap and Nigel Redman
This guide covers the very best birding sites in Britain. In a format familiar to readers of this popular series, each area is considered in terms of 'Habitat', Access' and 'Birds', allowing birders of all levels to plan successful trips anywhere in Britain, and to maximise the chances of getting the best out of each site and region. The book includes detailed maps of the larger locations, plus general maps of the regions covered, and is illustrated with attractive line drawings. This edition has been extensively revised, with several new sites added, together with information on disabled access for most locations.
06. WHERE TO WATCH BIRDS IN EAST ANGLIA
By David Callahan
This fully revised new edition by David Callahan is the definitive guide to the avian highlights of the region. It contains a comprehensive review of all the major sites, and many lesser-known ones, with maps, notes on access and information on target species and when to visit. Where to Watch Birds in East Anglia is indispensable for any birder heading to this famously bird-rich corner of England.
05. VAGRANCY IN BIRDS
By Alexander Lees and James Gilroy
The first comprehensive coverage of a phenomenon that has fascinated natural historians and birders for centuries. From Victorian collectors willing to spend fortunes on a rare specimen, to today's high-octane rarity-chasing 'twitchers', the enigma of avian vagrancy has become a lifelong interest for countless ornithologists worldwide. This book explores both pattern and process in vagrancy, drawing on recent research to answer a suite of fundamental questions concerning the occurrence of rare birds.
04. FLIGHT IDENTIFICATION OF EUROPEAN PASSERINES AND SELECT LAND BIRDS
By Tomasz Cofta
A richly illustrated, state-of-the-art field guide for identifying European passerines in flight. Opening up new frontiers in birding, this is the first field guide to focus specifically on the identification of European passerines and related landbirds in flight. Showcasing 850 stunning and remarkably life-like colour illustrations from acclaimed bird artist Tomasz Cofta, produced using the latest digital technology, backed up with more than 2,400 photographs carefully selected to show typical flight profiles, it provides detailed and unsurpassed coverage of 205 European passerines and 32 near-passerines.
03. EUROPE'S BIRDS AN IDENTIFICATION GUIDE
By Andy Swash, Rob Hume, Hugh Harrop and Robert Still
Covering more than 900 species, and illustrated with more than 4,700 photographs, this is the most comprehensive, authoritative and ambitious single-volume photographic guide to Europe's birds ever produced.
02. COLLINS BIRDS OF THE WORLD
By Norman Arlott, Ber Van Perlo, Gustavo Carizzo, Aldo A Chiappe, Luis Huber and Jorge R Rodriguez
This all-encompassing new field guide is an excellent addition to the world-renowned series – the ultimate reference book for birders and ornithologists. More than 10,000 bird species are covered, while 30,000 maps and more than 500 full colour plates make this a visual feast, as well as an authoritative resource.
01. GULLS OF EUROPE, NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST
By Peter Adriaens, Mars Muusse, Philippe J Dubois and Frédéric Jiguet
With a direct and visual approach, and an exhaustive abundance of beautiful colour photographs, this book provides thorough accounts of all species and subspecies of gulls found in the Western Palearctic. The guide compares similar taxa and addresses the complexities of identifying hybrids. Gulls of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East will be the standard work for identifying these birds for some time to come.
- Richly illustrated with almost 1,400 colour photographs.
- Thorough accounts of all species and subspecies of gulls found in the Western Palearctic.
- Up-to-date information for easy and accurate identification of 45 species.
Read the exclusive book extract 'Getting into gulls' inside the December issue of Birdwatch magazine.
