Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs

With wildlife conservation high on everyone’s agenda, here are some recommendations to introduce you to the natural diversity of your garden, and help you to create a haven for wildlife on your doorstep:

Guide to Garden Wildlife, by Richard Lewington, is a field guide to all the wildlife you might expect to encounter in the garden – from mammals, birds and insects to invertebrates and pond life. The species descriptions are full of useful detail, and Lewington provides the intricate illustrations that make this a real treasure of a handbook. There are informative sections on garden ecology, nest-boxes and bird feeders, and creating a garden pond.

Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and Other Beneficial Insects, by Jan Miller-Klein, homes in on practical techniques for encouraging insect diversity in your garden. A large-format tour through the seasons, with additional sections on tailored habitats, and species-appropriate planting, this beautifully photographed guide is perfect for every bug-friendly gardener looking to provide a good home for the full range of insect life.

RSPB Gardening for Wildlife: A Complete Guide to Nature-friendly Gardening, by Adrian Thomas, is a fantastic encyclopaedic introduction to how best to provide for the potential visitors to your garden, while maintaining its function for the family. A species-by-species guide to the ‘home needs’ of mammals, birds, insects and reptiles is followed by a substantial selection of practical projects, and helpful hints and appendices, to get your garden flourishing – whatever its size.

Dr Jennifer Owen’s Wildlife of a Garden: A Thirty-year Study, is a rare and illuminating book, in which is recorded – in scrupulous detail – the evidence of dramatic changes in populations in a single suburban garden in Leicester over a thirty-year period. An abundance of beautifully presented data, discussed in the context of wider biodiversity fluctuations, is balanced with numerous colour photographs, illustrations, and descriptive natural history of the residents of the garden. Modest in one sense, but unbelievably grand in timescale – and in its completeness – the rigorous effort and expertise that have been applied to the task of collecting and interpreting these data make this study a real one-off in the field of natural history writing.

As recommended for use in Phase 1 Habitat Surveys, Berol Verithin coloured pencils are essential field kit for those carrying out habitat assessments.  NHBS now offer the complete range of Berol Verithin pencils needed to carry out Phase 1 habitat surveys. So whether you’re after our unique Phase 1 Habitat Survey Set of all the colours (see list below), or need to top up a particular individual colour – either singly or in packs of 12 – we’ve got you covered!  Berol Verithin pencils have a special formulation which gives sensitive, controlled colour to the finest of detail.  Their hardwearing nature means they can be sharpened to a needle point, allowing you to accurately shade objects right up to the border.

NHBS Phase 1 Habitat Survey Essentials Kit

We’re also offering a special Phase 1 Habitat Survey Essentials Kit for those new to surveying. The kit features the complete collection of Berol Verithin pencils, the Phase 1 Habitat Survey Handbook and an A4 Weather Writer (choose between Portrait and Landscape).  This kit will provide you with the tools to get out surveying whatever the weather!

List of pencil colours required for Phase 1 Habitat Surveys:

* Black (VT 01)
* Indigo Blue (VT 05)
* Sky Blue (VT 08)
* Peach (the closest equivalent to Flesh [VT 25] which has been discontinued)
* Green (VT 31)
* True Green (VT 32)
* Carmine Red (the closest equivalent to Magenta [VT 45] which has been discontinued)
* Orange (VT 46)
* Pink (VT 49)
* Purple (VT 51)
* Scarlet Red (VT 55)
* Terracotta (VT 66)
* Yellow Ochre (VT 89)
* Canary Yellow (VT 80)

Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Bumblebees

by Oliver E Prys-Jones and Sarah A Corbet

What?

Revised 3rd edition of this guide to bumblebees, no. 6 in the Naturalists’ Handbook series.

Why?

Bumblebees are appealing insects, and a great subject for study. They are more approachable than honeybees and easy to observe in the garden or the open countryside. This revised edition of the classic Naturalists’ Handbook looks at species identification, ecology and conservation, and the variety of behaviours and lifestyles.

The information is presented in such a way that anyone with an interest in the natural history and conservation of bumblebees will be able to undertake their own useful investigations and add to the body of research which will hopefully allow these important pollinating insects to survive and thrive for future generations.

As well as colour plates for basic identification, there are further keys showing anatomical detail and species variation, and detailed range maps for regional identification.

Who?

Oliver E. Prys-Jones studied zoology at the University of St. Andrews and furthered a long term interest in bumblebees and their life histories with doctoral and research fellowship studies at the University of Cambridge. He subsequently qualified in medicine at Liverpool University and remains absorbed by bumblebees while working as a medical practitioner in North Wales.

Sarah A. Corbet has taught entomology and ecology in London University and the University of Cambridge. Her research interest is in pollination ecology, with a special focus on bumblebees.

“I think this hide is great value for money.”

“If, like me, you’ve spent time trying to conceal yourself from your wildlife subjects, then doubtless you will have found yourself wrestling with scrim, and swearing and cursing as it gets caught on tripods, zippers and Velcro. The other extreme – and until now the only solution – would be to buy a ‘blind’ – a wildlife hide with many of the complexities associated with putting up a tent – a puzzle of poles and guy ropes. As well as often confounding the wildlife watcher/photographer, the whole set-up was both expensive and heavy.

I’ve been aware of these Stealth Gear hides for a year or so now and judging by the high demand, they seem to have caught on – and for good reasons.

It’s a robust camping chair design with a fan of hoops that unfurl from behind and over the seat. This in turn drags with it the polyester fabric of the hide itself. There is a little mesh pocket on one of the arms for your beer, which also can function as a lens holder – pity it doesn’t have two of them! The whole caboodle comes in a Camo-Tree design (photo-realistic leaves and bark, and woodland scenes) which in my experience works, pretty much anywhere, to break up the outline of the unit – and, almost as importantly, hides the contraption and the watcher from the unwanted attentions of his own species!

I found it best to sit in the chair with my gear in front of me and simply flip the hide over my head. Once inside it can be a little fiddly, and your personal organisation is tested a little, but so it is in any blind. If you have big elbows, lots of gear, a mate or intend to be waiting a long while, consider the two-seat option, otherwise you might find it a little too cosy for comfort. But the one-man works very well for me.

There are five apertures through which you can peer or shove a telephoto lens, all of which can be opened or closed easily with Velcro attachments, either opening them fully or leaving a printed mesh panel in place which enables the hide user to see out, while nothing can see in. The five windows are adequate enough, but you can’t see behind – which would on occasion be useful. That said, it would be a bit challenging to turn around even if there were a rear-facing window, especially with a hide full of gear. If full, all-round vision is what you require then this is available in the two-seat version.

The hide comes with a bag of ground pegs, also in a Camo-Tree design. Come on guys, you put the bag down in the long grass because you are in a rush to set up, and of course the wind starts to blow and where are your pegs to secure the thing to the ground as it fills up like a balloon and its skirts start to ruffle uncontrollably in the breeze? In a camouflage bag! Which is where? Somewhere in the long grass, doing its best to be not to be seen… I’ve attached a piece of orange baler twine now I’ve recovered it, so hopefully this won’t happen again.

Slight niggles: stitching holes let through pinpricks of daylight, and water does come spattering through in a torrential downpour. Leaving the hide is difficult – keeping your set-up and not totally blowing your cover requires agility and contortional abilities that are beyond most naturalists over 40! But having said that, all these problems can be applied to all but the most expensive hides and blinds I’ve used, so on balance I think this hide is great value for money.

(Note: if you have children and are fed up with the gaudy primary coloured plastic wendy house that jars with your aesthetic sensibilities then there is a hidden bonus to this hide – 4 year olds love them! And being made of camouflage material, you can sit it in the corner near the shrubbery and barely notice it’s there. It kept my daughter occupied for hours!)”

Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde
Eduardo Garcia-del-Rey

This is a brand new field guide from Lynx Edicions, the publishers of Handbook of the Birds of the World, and Handbook of the Mammals of the World.

A quality compact hardback field guide, with detailed distribution maps and carefully illustrated colour plates. It covers all 573 species and subspecies of resident, nesting, migrating and vagrant birds.

Helm Field Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago, 2nd Edition
Martyn Kenefick, Robin Restall and Floyd Hayes

Helm do as they do best with this new second edition of Trinidad and Tobago (first published in 2007). Following a general introduction to the region and its habitats, tips for the birder, and a ‘where to watch’ section, is the ID guide in full. The essential identification of each occurring bird species is complemented by illustrated plates showing colour variations. 500 new or replacement images have been included in this edition.

Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Animal Tool Behavior

by Robert W. Shumaker, Kristina R. Walkup and Benjamin B. Beck

What?

A revised and updated edition of Benjamin B. Beck’s inspirational 1980 volume, which was the first to bring together and analyse the research on non-human tool behaviour.

Why?

This fascinating area of research opens up many questions for the behavioural sciences, and this collaboration brings the field up to date to 2010.

From the Preface:

“This book provides precise definitions of tool use and tool manufacture, a complete catalog of all reported cases of tool use and tool manufacture by extant non-human animals…This edition cites about 1,750 sources from roughly 3,000 articles…”

Who?

Robert W. Shumaker is the vice president of life sciences at the Indianapolis Zoo, the author of Orangutans, and coauthor, with Benjamin B. Beck, of Primates in Question. Kristina R. Walkup is an adjunct assistant professor at Drake University. Benjamin B. Beck is the director of conservation at Great Ape Trust.

Continuing our selection of the very best titles available through NHBS:

Butterflies of Britain and Europe: A Photographic Guide

by Tari Haahtela, Kimmo Saarinen, Pekka Ojalainen and Hannu Aarnio

What?

The definitive photographic guide to all 444 species of European butterflies.

Why?

The macro photography in this volume is simply stunning. The immediacy of the images and the vitality of the colour contrast will make butterfly identification even more of a pleasure. Species are generally pictured in the context of their habitat, with insets highlighting colouration details or sex differences, and the identification data and range maps are very user-friendly. Later in the book there is a focus on European Islands and Eastern European species, to cater for travellers who are looking for easy on-the-spot identification. And it all fits nicely into the average-sized jacket pocket!

Who?

Tari Haahtela, Kimmo Saarinen, Pekka Ojalainen and Hannu Aarnio are a team of dedicated Finnish naturalists that specialise in macro photography. They have travelled the length and breadth of Europe in search of butterflies for this book. Having already written several books on moths and butterflies in Finnish, this is their first English-language title.

As usual, the NHBS ornithology list has expanded over the last year to incorporate many fantastic new books for birdwatchers, conservation workers, and ecologists. We hope you enjoy browsing these, alongside featured classics and bestsellers. The Editor’s Choice selections pick out the very best recent and forthcoming titles in each main subject area.

Our wildlife equipment range is always growing – now over 2000 items – and you will find all the best bird-related gear on the Nest Boxes and Wildlife Kit pages of the catalogue.

A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Malaysia by John Bransbury – only three copies now available.

First published in 1993, A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Malaysia has proven to be a perennial favourite with our globetrotting birding enthusiasts, with its comprehensive annotated checklists and abundance of practical advice.

The book covers both West (Peninsular) Malaysia, and East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak). Each site section is introduced with a well-crafted and interesting written portrait of the area and its habitat, and a hand-drawn map – which makes this more than just a convenient reference.

Sadly, this  compact, detailed and informative guide has come to the end of its print run, and we now have just three copies left – so if you, or anyone you know, has an interest in, or is off to discover, the birds of this area, we recommend taking Bransbury along as a thoughtful guide and travelling companion.