Tag: Wildsounds

Books for Birders

With huge thanks to the generosity of WildSounds and Books, another crop of young Chinese birders now have copies of some great titles, including “A Field Guide to the Birds of China”, “Oceanic Birds of the World” and the “Collins Bird Guide”. One of these birders happens to work for the Qinghai government in the department responsible for protecting biodiversity, so he is sure to put his new book to good use!

Thanks again to WildSounds for supporting young birders in China.. a wonderful gesture that is surely helping to grow an interest in nature and inspire young people about the natural world.

  • Tao Liu with his new copy of A Field Guide to the Birds of China.
  • Chen Wen with her copy of Oceanic Birds of the World
  • Ding ShanShan with her copy of the Collins Bird Guide
  • Ren Jie with The Collins Bird Guide
  • Xing Chao with Oceanic Birds of the World
  • Gong Koucheng, an official with the Qinghai government, with his copy of A Field Guide to the Birds of China.

Books for birders: thank you, Wildsounds!

Whilst in north Norfolk, England, for Christmas and New Year, I met up with many local birding and conservation friends including Duncan Macdonald who runs Wildsounds and Books.  Last year, Duncan was kind enough to donate a selection of books for young birders in Beijing, including copies of the MacKinnon Guide, Birds of East Asia and the Collins Bird Guide.  This year, Duncan was again very generous by giving me eight copies of the Collins Bird Guide to take back (requiring a little jiggery-pokery with my luggage!).

Whilst focused on Britain and Europe, the Collins Bird Guide is of enormous value to birders in China.  For example, the avifauna of Xinjiang Province, in the far northwest of China, has a distinctly European feel with species such as European Bee-eater, Collared Pratincole, Red-footed Falcon and Red-backed Shrike, to name a few.  And, of course, vagrants to East Asia from Europe – such as the recent European Robin – do not feature in traditional bird guides for China.  In addition, the plates and text for difficult-to-identify species such as Yellow-browed and Hume’s Warblers, Red-breasted and Red-throated Flycatchers and Desert and Isabelline Wheatears are far superior in Collins when compared with local literature.

On return to Beijing, not surprisingly, there was strong demand for these books among local birders.  I’m delighted to say that all copies went to enthusiastic young birders: Zhang Lin (Shanghai), Huang Chenjing, Liu Chunhong, Lu Wei, Wang Cui, Xing Chao, Zhang Qianyi and Zhu Haoqiang (all Beijing).  Some photos of the happy birders are below.

Huge thanks to Duncan and WildSounds and Books!

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Thank You, Wildsounds!

When I was back in Norfolk, UK, for Christmas and New Year I was delighted to meet Duncan Macdonald of Wildsounds, an independent Norfolk-based supplier of wildlife books, audio, multimedia guides and audio equipment.  As well as being great company, Duncan was extremely generous in offering some Asia-focused field guides for me to take back to Beijing to give to Chinese birders.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and, after a competition via the Birding Beijing WeChat group, I spent a day whizzing around Beijing to deliver the books to the lucky winners.   Here are a few of the winners receiving their books:

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There is no doubt that these books will further enthuse the lucky recipients about birds and that can only be good for the future of birding and conservation in China.  A big thank you to Duncan!

The next time you are thinking about buying wildlife books, please do consider independent outlets like Wildsounds who, unlike some of the major retailers, pay their taxes and contribute to many conservation projects around the world!