Birds of Spain: a Celebration

This book was published in 2004 to mark the 50th anniversary of SEO – the Spanish equivalent of the RSPB. In its honour,Lynx Edicions, the publisher of the remarkable Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) series, has really gone to town by gathering together a superb collection of photos. In fact, I challenge anyone to find a more lavish and remarkable series of bird photos in a similar-sized tome.

The opening three pages are devoted to a foreword by Josep del Hoyo, which appears in Spanish and English, and from page 11 onwards there is virtually one large photo per page, simply captioned with the species name in Spanish, English and Latin, the location and the name of the photographer.

With the pages measuring 28 cm wide by 25 cm deep, this book is certainly intended for the coffee table but, unlike many offerings of a similar size, it manages to keep standard shots of birds in familiar locations and poses to a minimum and, instead, makes the reader eager with anticipation at every turn of the page.

Virtually every one of the 263 shots is an absolute gem, and all are taken in Spain, with 171 species featured and the work of 43 Spanish photographers published. There are multiple images of certain favoured species, and the series of Lammergeier photos is particularly amazing and includes close-ups, flight shots, groups of birds, a single bird with wings outstretched and one of a bird carrying a huge carcass. Move forwards a couple of pages and you will find a line of Griffon Vultures sunning themselves in front of a moody mountain backdrop, while beyond that there are remarkable close-ups of Black Vultures strutting their stuff with attitude.

Non-vulturine masterpieces include the likes of displaying Black-winged Stilts, Bonelli’s Eagle on its haunches tucking into a meal, Dupont’s Lark singing its heart out, singing Firecrest with crest ablase, European Rollers alighting at the nest, lens-to-eyeball shots of Eagle Owl, diplaying bustards, a huge raft of Red-crested Pochards, abstract flamingos, arty egrets, a close-up of Woodcock plumage and a Woodchat Shrike tackling a rodent that looks bigger than the bird.

In this book Lynx has compiled a collection of photos of a standard that equals those in HBW, and this book will be of interest to anyone familiar with the Spain’s avifauna

First published in Birdwatch 169: 52 (July 2006). For details of our full range of bird books please click here.

Tech spec

• Birds of Spain: a Celebration (Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, 2004). A collection of photographs with a foreword by Josep del Hoyo.
• 296 pages, 263 colour photos.
• ISBN 8487334563. Hbk, £29.