Bill baileys remarkable guide to british birds.

226 Pages·2016·132.218 MB·English

by  Bailey, Bill

BILL BAILEY'S,-,-
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Remarkable Guide
to British Birds
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BILL BAILEY's
Remarkable Guide
to British Birds
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BILL BAILEY's
Remarkable Guide
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·to ·British Birds
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Written and illustrated by:
Bill Bailey.
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To my Parents
for instilling in me a love of the Natural World.
Contents
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Designed by Joe Magee
Introduction Viii
THE BI-RDS The Kingfisher 114
The Artie Tern 10 The Lesser Black-Backed Gull 118
The Bar-Tailed Godwit 14 The Long-Tailed Tit 122
The Barn Owl 18 The Magpie 126
The Barnacle Goose 22 The Mallard 130
The Bittern 26 The Osprey 134
The Black-Headed Gull 30 The Oystercatcher 138
The Blackbird 34 The Peregrine Falcon 142
The Blue Tit 38 The Pied Wagtail 146
The Buzzard 42 The Puffin 150
The Canada Goose 46 The Raven 154
The Chaffinch 50 The Red Kite 158
The Cormorant 54 The Red-Throated Diver 162
The crow 58 The Ring-Necked Parakeet 166
The Dipper 62 The Robin 170
The Feral Pigeon 66 The Rook 174
The Gannet 70 The Skylark 178
The Goldcrest 74 The Starling 182
The Goldfinch 78 The Swan 186
The Great crested Grebe 82 The Swift 190
The Green Woodpecker 86 The Tawny Owl 194
The Grey Heron 90 The Wheatear 198
The Herring Gull 94 The White-Tailed Eagle 202
The House Sparrow 98 The Wood Pigeon 206
The Jackdaw 102 The Wren 210
The Jay 106
The Kestrel 110 About the Author 221
Acknowledgements 222
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l.ntr-0.duction
•• •.. • . ·.. i"c
.., :--,----+0n~;;--
1ng;; ;;aikiog ho i iaa, in. th. j~i~-;~~r--fuaone
d~r sia'
-Jt-8.~--a~l.d-.f.r.i-end., -Jlsic.t0.r., .......... wh(}.-has..-lj_:v.ed--••i&-•th~-t~~&S-----·--~
iff},
for forty years, if there was anything he missed about
··-:sritaiin: 'Tne ·colotirs,----he··said. ~Everytfilng in the tropics~ -
A••-
... i,.s e:x:2~!-~, _yJv!d, in yot;t: face ..: I )Diss ~he _mutE3d __ shac;es of ____ -·-
_B ritain, the autumn, and mostly the delicate, subtle colours
·O"f 'British-b-ird:s; .. · · · - ·· ·· ~---· ··•······ ·····-·•.
It's true, in those latitudes, there is a profusion
:of colour; to the point of gaudinessT where-~the ex0tei,0. . -.....
:becomes commonplace. Vic's hankering for drabness stuck
in my mind, and when I got home, I found myself taking· ......
.. another look at. .. the .bi.i;:da.l. . '.'V~QJ!n µp watchlng_}n~~·--~-·- ~-····"·<
.back garden. Every shade of brown, every heathery hue,
· sparked ·o r r if rene--wea--1rp-prtrc"·ta:t1nm··o·f· ·ou-r·· O'Wll";''mcrr·e---d-o-wtiy-.- ·•--0c•-··-··-
a v ian c ompan~o11s. ... . _ _ .
And yet ...
The · ir ide·S€~nc.e .... ..o.£--a-.star..l.ing. ..~ e btigb:t . .j_e.J'LaLlb.ll-____._ - --··
is a goldfinch, the tiny flash of electric blue on a
a y '·s .w liig:-Ouf "native"'ffir7ls'-St'"i'Il". ..i ffi'n'ie77i~-a.... n-
_.,..,..,__~
. , under s t_a t_e dya,y. Not as spectacular as a Bird of paradise
---~"--"'"''~
perhaps, but just as beautiful, and a lot easier to see.
This is my scrapbq.ok, of fifty-'one of. my favourite
" · r:sritish. birds. • Most>of theJll.~are i'urly c.ollUIIOQ., · §oiiie'-retrs---,-.,..--.. ,--~
---~-so,.~.1,1-Lthe..1:.fllLl.!!!i".s~meth_!ng remarkable .• about them.·=-------
-t·~~. · ·
: Birds are al.l around, and the more you discover
1·t tre-··m-o·nr-ctney·-··w,ti¼. .. ~~&·:&~igl4~.. . -----·-· ·- ----·--··- ··. •···-· --~~--