STEPHENSON’S ROCKET
EX-STRICTLY judge Darcey
Bussell, like all celebrities, is travelling the country in search of a fee but her Wild Coasts of Scotland (More4, Monday) was more Ullapool than Blackpool. It takes more than a Scottish jig to engross an audience, or indeed a lesson on a tartan loom. Darcey described it as a “piece of meditation”. Before too long I was also peering into the middle distance longing for a wee dram. We also had litterpicking to save otters which, while a worthy subject, didn’t really cut it – with respect to otters everywhere. Darcey’s old pal Len would struggle to give it
a “Sev…en.”
Birdwatchers have many ways of describing sightings they cannot put a name to when shapes flash by on fluttering wings.
Some note the mystery birds as “hoodwinks”. Others call them “wotzats”, but most shrug their shoulders and, like anglers, accept they’re the ones that got away.
Many raptors (birds of prey), seabirds and herons are distinctive enough to be identified on the wing by competent birdwatchers. Experience in the field and home study – using traditional bird books – helps build knowledge of the flight patterns and plumage features of these larger species.
Yet songbirds and their near relatives are a different proposition. Besides being smaller and quicker, most spend less time in the air while flitting from tree to tree or diving into cover.
Luckily a new book, Flight Identification of European Passerines (the proper name for songbirds), recently published in the excellent Wildguides series, finally gives birders an essential tool to take on the challenge of putting a name to these flying conundrums.
It’s a truly sumptuous volume, running to 496 pages and filled with 2,400 colour photographs along with 850 remarkable illustrations from author and bird artist Tomasz Cofta.
In total, 205 species of warblers, thrushes, sparrows, wagtails and their close relatives, along with 32 other land birds, such as woodpeckers and swifts, are examined with a remarkable eye for detail.
What impresses is the way the author has digitally crafted his artwork to give such a detailed perspective of birds such as swallows, swifts and martins from different flight angles. It is a remarkable achievement by Cofta to have assembled each bird as if a jigsaw from countless photographs.
It may be tempting to skip the introductory chapters and go straight to the superb pictures. However, it is in the introduction that we are given a masterclass in flight patterns and characteristics, flocking behaviour, aerial calls and how to understand the shapes and structure of birds on the wing. It really is indispensable.
Flight Identification of European Passerines and Select Landbirds by Tomasz Cofta (£38, Princeton University Press)
Over 200 species are examined here with a remarkable eye for detail