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Some Corners of a Birdwatcher's World

by Mike Holmes

225 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-1086; ISBN 1-4120-9332-5; US$17.90, C$20.58, EUR14.70, £10.29

The author has a deep interest in birds and knowledge of them. Here he brings to life many of his fascinating experiences with them in both Britain and overseas.

About the Book

This is the first of two books which Mike Holmes has written for all the people who, in one way or another, are interested in birds, be they beginners or experienced and knowledgeable birdwatchers. It includes those who make trips to the far corners of Britain and also overseas, sometimes especially in search of birds, at others when the birds that they see are just an interesting part of their travel.

The author grew up in the Berkshire countryside and birds were very much part of his family's interest. He describes how when still at an early age, he learnt to identify and note the habits of all the many species about him. Also, he was taken by his mother to see rarities, such as the butcher bird, which in the nineteen thirties, nested on Bucklebury Common. However, even the common species such as sparrows and starlings, always fascinated him and that fascination has remained with him as a lifetime interest. The result has been that wherever he has been in the world and whatever his occupation might have been at the time, he was able to observe the birds around him, to watch them and to take note of their ways.

Apart from stories about birdwatching and the habits of birds in many parts of Britain, Mike Holmes describes his experiences in Texas, India and Africa, also whilst at sea in the Merchant Navy and during his years as an airline pilot.

Throughout the book, the author's deep love of birds and knowledge of them shows up, as does his appreciation and affinity for the country around him, wherever in the world, that might happen to be.

About the Author

Mike Holmes grew up on the land in Berkshire as one of a family who were deeply interested in natural history and countryside lore. Whilst still at an early age, he was taught to recognise all the species of birds, which he saw and to take an interest in them, be they rarities or just the commonest ones. This became a fascination with him, which has continued throughout his life, so that wherever he may have been, he has continued to observe and learn about the birds around him, combining it with a great love of the countryside.

As a teenager during World War Two, he worked on local farms throughout the school holidays, as country boys had to when many farmhands were away in the Forces. This enabled him to learn even more about wildlife and the country.

Mike Holmes left school just as the War was ending and went away to sea as an apprentice in the Merchant Navy, which gave him a chance to watch and learn about birds in a completely new environment.

After three years at sea he came ashore and joined the RAF, training as a pilot in what was then Southern Rhodesia, where once again he was able to observe many more species and to note their behaviour in another new environment. Later he saw more service in Africa, parts of which he came to love, and which gave him more birdwatching opportunities.

On leaving the RAF, he became an airline pilot and in this book, describes some of the fascinating encounters that he had with birds whilst in that work. During his time off he was able to help for some years in the building of Hampshire County Council's Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, when that was in a very early stage of its development. This enabled him to observe and learn a great deal about the world of wetland birds and all that it entailed.

Apart from his travel whilst at work, he made trips to various parts of Africa, India and the USA, often specifically for the purpose of seeing the birds there in their natural habitat.

Retirement from flying gave him the opportunity to take up woodland management work in West Sussex, where he then lived. Here his aim was always to make natural history and conservation the most important part of the work, with birds top of the list for management schemes whenever possible .

He also became involved with the conservation of, and research into bats, working at one time as the Woodlands Officer for the Bat Conservation Trust. Bat survey work gave him more travel opportunities and took him back to India and the USA, plus various Indian Ocean islands.

Though now fully retired, Mike Holmes is still involved with survey work on birds in Chichester Harbour, where he monitors various aspects of bird behaviour for the authorities there.

As far as writing is concerned, he has written many magazine articles on aviation subjects and a book, Apprentice to the Red Ensign, which describes the Merchant Navy and his time at sea. Also, as a sequel to Some Corners of a Birdwatcher's World, he has written, Birds, Bats and Travel, which is to follow shortly.

Excerpts