Additions to the library
It's been a busy few weeks for the purchasing of natural history books - Mrs ND&B has quipped that we will need more shelf space for them, but the answer to that one is simple - she needs to ditch some of her gardening and cookery books... First up is the Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Western Mediterranean by Chris Thorogood (Kew). It is a weighty tome, and I was loathe to actually take it out into the field with me when in Majorca recently. However, armed with specimens or photographs, this really is the first stop when trying to identify those plants that you come across inbetween watching Bee-eaters, Audouin's Gulls and Woodchat Shrikes. At 600 plus pages long, it is packed with photographs and line drawings of over 2,500 species, largely from the camera and hand of the author. It is a monumental undertaking for a single person, and obviously was the fruit from a labour of love. If you visit the area on holiday, or just like to hold and enjoy a well produced...