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Hawkwatch, North Cotswolds To Coasts, 1988 - 2006

by Mark E. Turner

163 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); has colour inserts; catalogue #07-1714; ISBN 1-4251-4151-X; US$20.32, C$23.36, EUR15.84, £10.50

Mark's birding world in rural middle England had lacked the excitement of rarities turning up on his local patch for many years. When raptor populations recovered, everything changed.

About the Book

Hawkwatch, North Cotswolds To Coasts 1988-2006, documents one man's collection of field notes and observations of colleagues on birds of prey occuring in rural middle England. The recording area covers mainly southeast Worcestershire, north Gloucestershire and district of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Notes on raptors occuring in other parts of the UK are included as they are often relevant to circumstances in the bird world that is the Author's local recording area. This is particularly important for anticipating the arrival of migrants when incoming birds are first noted at coastal watchpoints.

As raptors are great wanderers by nature, the Author includes his observations from parts of southern England and Wales particularly as birds such as Red Kites for instance, reintroduced to various parts of the UK, often turn up in the Cotswolds and Wales, recognized by identification tags fitted to their wings as nestlings.

Hawkwatch gives an insight into the fortunes of regional residents and rare visitors to the Author's patch, a valuable reference for researchers. There are plenty of tips for birdwatchers looking to improve their field craft conveyed through a portrayal of actual events, often with graphic details.

Illustrations are the Author's own. He is a self-taught artist who strives to represent his subjects as realistically as possible.

About the Author

Mark E. Turner's favourite pastime during his childhood days of the early 1970s was playing out in the local countryside with his friends. They began to take notice of the local wildlife and, with encouragement from their parents, soon developed a keen interest in birds. Mark at least, continued to birdwatch into his adult years and when in the late 1980s a reduction on pesticide use and persecution by gamekeepers triggered a remarkable recovery of raptor populations, Mark discovered a new passion to focus on. Never before had he seen birds of prey in such numbers in his neighbourhood and so began the task of documenting the resurgence for posterity.