Books Review – British Wildlife

DEAR READERS in North America,
How I envy you reading this column somewhere with the sun shining and enjoying its warmth. I am bundled up on a couch looking out to raindrops clinging on an empty clothesline. It’s on a soft wet July afternoon in the countryside in a village in County Carlow at a cousin’s house, and I’m very thankful to have a roof over my head listening to the radio playing folk times. I am an hour away from urban Dublin with its incredible mix of wildlife, from humans to scampering foxes by night and daytime sightings of rats in the recession challenged boomtoom. This month’s book review is courtesy of the bookshelf of a family member who enjoys the outdoors when he grabs time away from keeping the roofs of Dublin patched. I found two books by Collins published by Harper Collins Publishers at www.collins.co.uk.

The first one is the 2002 edition of the British Wildlife with 512 pages packed in a small paperback with over 500 pictures of British wildlife describing 500 species of bird, wild flower, tree, wild animal, insect, butterfly, moth, reptile and amphibian. An incredible ID fact file listings to explore the UK after the international wildness of celebrating the Queen’s 60 years jubilee and hosting the Olympics.

Next is the Complete Irish Wildlife by Paul Sterry with an introduction by Derek Mooney. First published in 2004. The essential photographic guide is 319 pages filled with over 1,000 colour photographs illustrating every species described. So what if the sun is on holidays while you visit the fair city, forget about fair weather relatives and so called friends, don’t fret about overpriced concerts and closed tourist sites due to budget cuts – you are one with the earth with these guides. Nature prevails if we open our eyes and ears to its presence. The bats fly for free along the riverbanks as one strolls with a cousin walking his aging dog. Turn off the DVD, get out of the house no matter the weather and enjoy the wildlife. We have still so much to learn from nature which blooms where we are planted.