My Learning Curve - Part 1

8. Wildlife Guide Bibliography










































I detail below those wildlife guides I've found most useful to date. For each I score Ex 10 regarding their usability and information, mainly from the standpoint of identification and location of species for photographic purposes in the UK.

Dave Smallshire & Andy Swash. Britain's Dragonflies. A field guide to the damselflies and dragonflies of Britain and Ireland - 9.8. Simply the best identification book on these beauties I've found to date. WILDGuides Ltd, 2nd Edition

ISBN – 978-1-903657-29-4






Steve Brooks, Richard Lewington. Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland - 9. A very good guide with superb illustrations and information. A little less weighty than the above title and with an excellent review of sites to visit (its main strong point). British Wildlife Publishing - 2004

ISBN – 0-953-13990-5





Howard Inns. Britain's Reptiles and Amphibians - 8.8. Great identification book packed with super photo images and lots of great natural history information on each native species and details of non-natives that may be encountered. Also includes advice on finding and observing these often elusive subjects. WILDGuides Ltd,


ISBN – 978-1-903657-25-6





Anne & Simon Harrap. Orchids of Britain & Ireland. A field and site guide - 9.6. Stunning book, great detail, lovely images plus good site guide. A&C Black Publishers Ltd, 2nd Edition

ISBN – 978-1-408-10571-9





David Newland, Robert Still, David Tomlinson, ANdy Swash. Britain's Butterflies. A field guide to the butterflies of Britain and Ireland - 9. Super identification guide and lots of great information. Another great publication from the WILDGuides stable. WILDGuides Ltd, 2nd Edition

ISBN – 978-1-903657-30-0





David Streeter. Collins Flower Guide. The most complete guide to the flowers of Britain and Europe. - 9.7. A wonderful guide packed with superb illustrations and great identification keys. Quite a heavy book but still manageable for the rucksac if your a keen flower person. More difficult to use than 'beginner' identification books but once you get the hang of it it's worth the initial learning pain. Got to be one of the most comprehensive yet manageable guides there is. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 2009

ISBN – 978-0-00-710621-9




Paul Sterry. Collins Complete Guide to British Wild Flowers. A photographic guide to every common species. - 8.5. Good coverage of species yet small enough to carry in the rucksack. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 2006

ISBN – 978-0-00-781664-4





Roger Phillips. Wild Flowers of Britain - 9. Pretty Good coverage of species handily arranged by flowering time and well photographed, not really small enough to carry easily though. Pan Books Ltd, 1977

ISBN – 0-330-251183-x





Owen Johnson and David More. Collins Tree Guide. Probably the most complete field guide to the trees of Britain and Europe- 9.2. Jam packed with species illustrations and information of all trees likely to be encountered - native and non native. I would say a must have ruck sack sized tree guide for this country where many species are non native. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 2004

ISBN – 978-0-00-720771-8





Preben Bang, Preben Dahlstrom. Collins Guide To Animal Tracks and Signs. A guide to the tracking of all British and European Mammals and birds - 9. Great little book. Good size for the rucksack. Really helps you to see more when you are out and about. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 1970's

ISBN – 0-00-216106-0





Paul Sterry & Barry Hughes. Collins Complete Guide To British Mushrooms and Toadstools. A photographic guide to evry common species- 9. Good size for the rucksack, packed with great colour photographs covering a huge range of species. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 2009

ISBN – 978-0-00-723224-6





Paul Sterry. Collins Complete Guide To British Birds. A photographic guide to every common species - 9.3. Good size for the rucksack, packed with great colour photographs covering a huge range of species. Includes some very useful observation tips for most species. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 2004

ISBN – 978-0-00-781485-5





Lars Svensson, Killian Mullarney, Dan Zetterstrom. Collins Bird Guide. The most complete guide to the birds of Britain and Europe - 9.7. An amazing amount of information in a compact format being perhaps a third heavier than the above Collins text it's still light enough for the ruck sack. Packed with many geat illustrations for each species and covering a wider range of species than the above Collins publication. Includes details on hybrids, escapee's, introduced and vagrants. Harper Collins Publishers Ltd - 2nd Edition 2009

ISBN – 978-0-00-726726-2





Peter Hayman & Rob Hume. BIRD. The ultimate illustrated guide to the birds of Britain and Europe. - 9.5. This is not a field guide but a reference book for home. Packed full of information and great illustrations with at least one photo per species. Octopus Publishing Group Ltd - 2007

ISBN – 978-1-84533-338-6





Jonathan Elphick & David Tipling. Great Birds of Britain & Europe 200 Star Species - 8. This is not a field guide but more of a "birder's coffee table book". Good species information and many stunning images. Duncan Baird Publisherd Ltd - 2008

ISBN – 978-1-84483-686-4





Hakan Delin & Lars Svensson. Photographic Guide to the Birds of Britain & Europe - 9. This is not a field guide but a home reference book. Good species information and packed with really useful identification aid images. Chancellor Press - 2005

ISBN – 0-07537-0689-x
ISBN - 13-9780753706893