Sunday 16 January 2011

THE BIRDS OF BEDDINGTON FARMLANDS





Images 1-4: The Birds of Beddington Farmlands. Image 5: Recent article in the Sutton Guardian.
The Birds of Beddington Farmlands by myself, Brian Milne, Derek Coleman and the BFBG is now available for purchase as a download or a hard copy at
http://www.lulu.com/browse/search.php?fListingClass=0&fSearch=Beddington+Farmlands

This complete avifauna of Beddington Farmlands is packed with information, photos, illustrations and paintings and has been created, produced and published independently by members of the Beddington Farm Bird Group.
The book begins with a historical account that charts the origins of the Farmlands from 1860, to the developing of a sewage farm from 1940 and then to it's recent evolution as a multi-waste management site which over the next few years will be restored and developed into a major urban nature reserve.
Another section deals with the annual cycle of bird life at Beddington with a particular emphasis on migration and the important influences of weather and habitat condition.
The bulk of the book is a systematic list which includes records up to 2007. Over 250 species are documented in detail. Particular emphasis is given to key species like Tree Sparrow and Yellow Wagtail and to key groups such as waders, wildfowl and migrants. Rare and scarce birds are also documented including extreme vagrants to London such as Glaucous-winged Gull, Killdeer, Lesser Yellowlegs, Rustic Bunting and Citrine Wagtail.

The book can be purchased on line and we will posted within 3-5 days of ordering:

4 comments:

The Urban Birder said...

Well done Peter!

I'll be ordering my copy soon. It always make me laugh when the press use such hackneyed headlines whenever they cover anything to do with birding.

Keep spreading the word fella!

Peter Alfrey said...

Cheers David,

I think they are just trying to potray birders in a flap and show that with our eagle eyes we study and watch the birdies so that we can conserve them and make a love nest for our feathery friends.

:-)

Factor said...

Looks nicely designed, too. The cover should definitely draw people in. A copy is on my shopping list.

Unknown said...

On shopping list, didn't know about it, so could be advertised (mentioned) on the Londonbirders Twitter maybe as other 'London' books are. My only claim to fame was finding your 2nd Great W Egret, when David Campbell was a bit late, not that long ago when the T.Sparrows were still plentiful. Andrew Verrall