BIRDS OF THE NENE WASHES

JP Taylor, SB, £10

Regular readers will know that our own Mike Weedon, and the whole BW team, have enjoyed many great days of birdwatching at the large expanse of wetland and meadow east of Peterborough, much of it owned and managed by the RSPB, known as the Nene Washes. The extensive site is the last consistent refuge of breeding Black-tailed Godwits in the country, and has a significant lowland breeding population of waders such as Snipe. Recently, it has also become one of the best places to watch Cranes in the country. But it is also an important wintering ground for wildfowl and more and has great potential for drawing passage birds. And the open rough grassland is attractive to a range of raptors and owls. In addition to a thorough history of the site and its management, this book does a great job of providing a systematic, species by species analysis of what's been seen there, as well as a general introduction to the habitats, flora and fauna of the area, and is well illustrated with graphs, line drawings and colour photography. Author Jonathan Taylor was a warden on the washes for 20 years, so has as good a knowledge of the area as anyone!