Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland

“Yet another book on bird identification” was my first thought when I picked this book up, but this one is aimed at the more novice birdwatcher, not hardened “twitchers”. The book covers 285 species described with clear text and has over 1,000 illustrations by Dave Daly. The illustrations are excellent with a few exceptions (e.g. the Caspian Gull which does not seem to have a back!). However, there are no photographs.

At the top of each entry, there are measurements (from bill tip to tail tip), followed by notes on where and when to find the species. These notes are...