Current book reviews

The Refugees from Daffodil Cottage is a children’s fiction book told from the perspective of a flock of birds that lose their home. It teaches about the importance of friendship and the impact that human activity has on birds. It also shows the hardships of the changing seasons birds have to face every year. 

Ploughing a New Furrow primarily focuses on a series of case studies where the author, Malcolm Smith, seeks to gain an insight from farmers who overcome the myriad of challenges of managing a profitable farming business whilst conserving wildlife.

From the Gila Woodpecker excavating nest-holes in desert cacti and the Acorn Woodpecker jamming thousands of acorns into holes in ‘granary’ trees to feed on later, through to the flycatching woodpeckers, the woodpeckers are a more diverse family than one might initially assume. This message is adeptly conveyed in Woodpeckers by Gerard Gorman, with crisp colourful images and easily digestible text.

What are the values that people attach to birds? How do they change over time, and how are the underlying moral commitments then expressed in the legal and practical implementation of conservation? These questions are at the heart of Moral Entanglements by Stefan Bargheer.

Landfill, by writer, radio producer, and one-time ‘ornithological zealot’, Tim Dee, focuses on gulls. It is a far cry from other recent works (Gulls Simplified by Pete Dunne and Kevin Karlson, and Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide by Klaus Malling Olsen), in that although Tim Dee is undoubtedly knowledgeable about gull ID, behaviour and ecology, much of Landfill is devoted to the way gulls interact with humans and how they have woven their way into our history, culture and folklore.

The history lover inside me drew me to this title but I was pleased to find my ecologist’s curiosity satisfied many times whilst reading this book. The author delves into how birds fitted into the lives of people living around the Mediterranean during the classical era and it is one of the most comprehensive and detailed descriptions I have ever read. If you are of an inquiring mind then the reference lists will take you further but for the typical reader you will find most topics covered to your satisfaction.

‘Bat’ is an interesting dissection of the many different sides of bats, from both a biological and a cultural view point. The book is full of intriguing, bizarre and astonishing facts about bats, from biology, pop culture, mythology, literature and art. The main focus is on the interaction of bats and human life - the way they are portrayed within different cultures, the effect that has on the cultural opinion and what that means for their protection in the law or lack thereof.