“Hummingbirds” takes its readers on an expertly guided, lavishly photo illustrated tour through the lives and biology of these remarkable little birds. Covering all 101 genera and over two-thirds of the 369 described species of hummingbirds, this is book that will certainly be of interest to all those interested in birds and to hummingbird enthusiasts in particular.
What with the WildGuides imprint originally being a British publishing enterprise before joining Princeton University Press, it’s not surprising that their remarkably thorough and innovative field guides make their first appearances in the UK before being seen in the US. Such is the case with the forthcoming ‘Britain’s Insects; A Field Guide to the Insects of Great Britain and Ireland’ by Dr. Paul D. Brock.
Originally published to noteworthy acclaim in 2017, “Britain’s Spiders” from the Princeton University Press WILDGuides series has now been fully revised and updated into a second edition by the authorial team of Lawrence Bee, Geoff Oxford, and Helen Smith.
The first visit I made to England was for the 2005 BirdFair. Having landed at Birmingham Airport, I drove a right-side steering car (the first time ever!) to Uppingham – becoming briefly bewildered on the Leicester ring road along the way – where I found my lodgings and kipped for the night. The next morning I rose, consumed a breakfast sufficient to satiate three farmhands, and strolled down the high street, where I was stopped dead in my tracks by the most exquisite butterfly I had up until that point in my life ever seen – a Peacock (Aglais io).