Wiltshire Ornithological Society
BIRDS OF WILTSHIRE
A major new book on the county’s birds
Birds of Wiltshire includes comprehensive accounts for each of the 309 species recorded in the county by the end of 2000. Some 300 maps show breeding distribution, relative summer abundance, and winter distribution and relative abundance for many species. Chapters cover habitats, Wiltshire’s early birds and ornithological history, survey methods, population estimates, an update for 2001-05, and much more.
Birds of Wiltshire is available at a special price of £30 for WOS members
To purchase a copy please contact John Osborne (01373 864598 or email josb@talktalk.net). Post and packing costs £9, or arrangements can be made with John to collect your copy locally within Wiltshire. Books will also be on sale at WOS indoor meetings.
The purchase price for non-members is £45.
Please ring 01628 529297 or e-mail sales@wildguides.co.uk. (To join WOS and take advantage of the special member’s price see the membership page.)
Extracts from published reviews of Birds of Wiltshire
“This is a Herculean effort of which WOS can be justifiably proud. It sets a new standard in the quality of the data presented. As well as being of great interest to birdwatchers, both locally and nationally, it provides strong evidence which can be used by conservation agencies in the county. As the WOS press release states, the Birds of Wiltshire may be regarded as a Domesday-book of the avifauna at the turn of the millennium – a firm basis on which all future surveys in the county can build.” JOHN CLARK, co-editor of Birds of Hampshire (1993), in review in British Birds, February 2008
“The extent of the information provided may initially be a deterrent to the non-specialist reader, but the text is highly readable, and the layout is of handsome clarity, not least in the key maps on the endpapers, which are much better than those in most recent county avifaunas...All will admire the organization of the team and its ‘tetradders’, whose work was brought to a triumphant conclusion.” DAVID BALLANCE, author of Birds in Counties... (1999), in review in The Ibis, journal of British Ornithologists’ Union, January 2008
“...sumptuous hardback...Even a glance at the book reveals the staggering amount of information that had to be collected, organised and summarised. It must have been an enormous task but it has produced one of the most detailed and comprehensive of all county avifaunas...Superb colour photographs of habitat, and the work of 35 artists...maintain the excellent quality of this book.' Professor ESTLIN WATERS, trustee of Great Bustard Group, in review in Otis 23, autumn 2007
“...this is a magnificent book and sets a very high standard for future county avifaunas. It evoked for me many happy memories of ‘dippering’ along the By Brook and of atlassing (for the first BTO Atlas) in the Wylye Valley and on the Imber ranges. Congratulations to all in WOS who brought about this outstanding publication.” STEPHANIE J TYLER, former WOS member in draft review for the Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society Magazine (WANHM)
“...it is a book with a feast of information for anyone interested in Wiltshire’s birdlife. You can learn some intriguing facts about the birds in your garden (read page 544 for the complicated sex life of the Dunnock), discover which are the 10 most numerous and 10 most widespread birds in the County and read about the changes in bird distribution and numbers over the years and how patterns of land use and climate change have affected these in the past and are expected to do in the future.” ROWENA QUANTRILL, chair of WOS, in WOS News, November 2007
A selection of unsolicited comments in letters
”...may I take this opportunity to congratulate all those concerned for the excellent Birds of Wiltshire. This massive volume is first class and must surely set new standards for other counties to match. It is hard to imagine the hours of work that have gone into it and the dedication of all those involved. I am sure you must all feel proud and extremely satisfied with what you have achieved.” KEITH MORTIMORE, WOS member
"Birds of Wiltshire is magnificent!" NIGEL REDMAN, natural history editor for Christopher Helm/A & C Black and member of editorial board of British Birds
“A copy of Birds of Wiltshire thudded through the door the other day...thank you very much. What a fabulous book! You must be extremely pleased with it. Very well done to you and your production team. It certainly sets new standards in presentation and design...” IAN LEWINGTON, one of UK’s leading bird artists, who painted the artwork for the BoW jacket
"As a return on the effort that I put into my few line-drawings, Birds of Wiltshire represents a life record - for it is a most remarkable book-cum-county atlas. All concerned deserve fulsome praise. I can't think of a county book whose text (and research) has impressed me more. It has to be the best ever. I wish it well." IAN WALLACE, author, artist in BoW and other books, and co-editor of Birds of the Western Palearctic
“It really is a beautifully produced book and everyone involved in its creation is to be congratulated. The quality of the paper, print and graphics is particularly good. Hopefully, it will also be a spur to those counties, like my own, that, despite years of discussion, have not yet got around to producing their own county bird book. Congratulations to you all.” RODNEY INGRAM, another of 35 artists who drew vignettes for BoW
Overlays for Birds of Wiltshire
To accompany Birds of Wiltshire we have produced a series of maps showing different habitats and geographical features. When printed on acetates, these can be overlaid on the species maps to assess, for example, whether the summer distribution of a particular species matches those of certain crops or the presence of woodland. The overlays can be downloaded from this page or obtained from WOS.
Download
Download the pdf file (to view the file you will need the software Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded from http://www.adobecrobat.info/uk/). The layout is in landscape format, so that two pages of overlays fit side-by-side on one side of A4.
The first A4 page of the pdf, showing keys and text, should be printed on standard A4 white paper. The following two pages should be printed on acetates. Dotted lines show where the acetates should be trimmed – creating three small pages. The acetates can be placed within the folded A4 page of keys and text, for easy storage between the pages of Birds of Wiltshire.
Birds Of Wiltshire OverlayNotes: Ensure that you have purchased the correct acetates for your printer – whether inkjet or laserjet. These are available from computer stores, or from larger high-street stationers. They are usually sold in packs of 20-50, costing £15-25, but some stationers will sell single sheets at about 70p. If you do not regularly use acetates, it may be more cost effective to obtain printed overlays direct from WOS (see below). The maps of the overlays should match the size of the species maps in Birds of Wiltshire exactly. You may need to adjust your printer settings if this is not the case. Some printers also have specific settings for printing on acetates.
Overlays from WOS
Overlays may be purchased from WOS at £2.50, including P&P. Please contact John Osborne (01373 864598 or email josb@talktalk.net). Overlays will also be available for collection at WOS indoor meetings, at a cost of £2.00.
Artwork for sale
Many of the black-and-white vignettes kindly provided by the artists for Birds of Wiltshire are for sale. Anyone interested in purchasing artwork should contact the artist directly via the details provided below.
Richard Allen richard@richardallen31.wanadoo.co.uk or 01206 826753
Richard Andrews richandrews@cvlbirding.co.uk
Norman Arlott naarlott@aol.com
Kim Atkinson kim@aberdaron.wanadoo.co.uk or 01758 760257, Ty'n Gamdda, Uwchmyndd, Aberdaron, Pwllheli, Gwynedd LL53 8DA
Ken Beint Artwork kindly donated to WOS
Nik Borrow n.borrow@btinternet.com
George Brown Farm View, Church Road, Black Notley, Braintree, Essex CM77 8LG
Chris Button Artwork kindly donated to WOS
John Busby johnbusby.artist@tiscali.co.uk
Daniel Cole danielcole65@tiscali.co.uk or 01726 852012, 34 Stannery Road, Stenalees, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 8SR
John Gale johngale@birdart.fsnet.co.uk
Robert Gillmor North Light, Hilltop, Cley next the Sea, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7SE
John Holloway 01857 616363, Castle, Stronsay, Orkney KW17 2AG
Rodney Ingram ingramecton@yahoo.com
Rodney has indicated that he will be very happy to donate a percentage of any sales to WOS
Ernest Leahy 01582 793144
Ian Lewington ian@recorder.fsnet.co.uk
Jim Lyes jimlyes@aol.com
Steve Message messagewildlifeart@btinternet.com
Chris Orgill 0115 9229839, 24 Farm Road, Chilwell, Nottingham NG9 5BZ
Simon Patient simon.patient@hotmail.co.uk or 01621 842560, 18 Wordsworth Avenue, Maldon, Essex CM9 6BZ
Dan Powell dan.powell@care4free.net or 01329 668465
Darren Rees darrenreesart@btinternet.com or 01786 870538, New East Frew, Thornhill, Stirling FK8 3QX
Dafila Scott dafilascott@yahoo.co.uk
Anthony Smith info@anthonysmith.eu
Philip Snow snowart@tiscali.co.uk
David Thelwell david@dthelwell.freeserve.co.uk or 01794 518042
Stephanie Thorpe artwork@hicking.plus.com
Ian Wallace
Artwork kindly donated to WOS
To purchase drawings by Ken Beint, Chris Button and Ian Wallace, please contact Rowena Quantrill: rowena.quantrill@btinternet.com tel no: 01225 866245