An antidote to Field Guides
published by Langford Press 2013
“The aim of the book is to encourage people to see more when they watch birds: to discover new things in the bird’s life and exchange the images we pick up from books, for those we discover for ourselves.”
“…The trouble is that an individual bird in the field rarely conforms to its identikit image in a book. It has little chance of being seen in exactly side view on the same level as the observer, and the odds are even greater against a flying bird presenting us with a perfect plan-view… Living birds present a far more fascinating range of shape and posture, colour and shading. More often than not parts of their anatomy are hidden by leaves, their plumage colours are changed by light, or their feet are out of sight under water. They would far rather hide from human eyes than be watched, and their plumage is mostly designed to blend with their surroundings. While this adds to the problems of identification, it can also be a great source of delight. It all depends on how you see.”
from the Introduction