Russell Slack is a gifted student! While studying on the MSc Ornithology programme he has been busy completing his first major book. Rare Birds: Where and When has been published this week and has already been described as the most up-to-date and detailed account of accepted bird rarities in Britain and Ireland ever published. It is tipped to become the essential reference work on rarities for years to come.
Russell has been working on the book for a number of years and although an acknowledge expert in his field he decided to join the MSc in Ornithology programme to widen and deepen his knowledge of Ornithology.
The 480 page book is described as being “full to bursting with rarity accounts”. It comes with a foreword and historical perspectives by Ian Wallace, a fascinating chapter on cutting edge theories on vagrancy patterns for passerine and near-passerine rarities by Alex Lees and James Gilroy, and a behind the scenes peek at the workings of the British Birds Rarities Committee and the British Ornithologists’ Union.
Volume 1 deals with all the passerine and near passerine rarities in Britain and Ireland. For those that have been seen less than 20 times, there is a complete list of records by location, date, age, sex and, if applicable, racial attribution. More regular rarities have in-depth analysis with a detailed historical review of the first and subsequent records, and discussion of occurrence patterns and geographical distributions illustrated with histograms, graphs and links to trends. European and Western Palearctic records give further insight and establish the context of notable arrivals and trends. Added spice comes from numerous first-hand finders' accounts and observations from past and contemporary literature and some never before published.
Book website: http://www.rarebirdbooks.co.uk/
