While I held many delightful conversations at the recently concluded Birdfair with friends both old and new, one person I kept repeatedly missing was Mark Avery. Oh I had sightings – coming upon Mark and his friends from Birders Against Wildlife Crime as I was exiting the Authors’ Forum following the conclusion of Tessa Boase‘s brilliant presentation of her new Mrs. Pankhurst’s Purple Feather, stumbling upon him meeting with a table-full of fellows outside the Celestron stand. Unfortunately, each time our paths crossed, one or the other of us lacked the available time for a nice cuppa and a sit-down.
In any case, since my sojourn in Britain, Mark has posted two new book reviews. In the first of these he takes up a classic from Bernd Heinrich, Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures With Wolf-Birds. Published in 1999, this book is somewhat of a continuation of Heinrich’s observations of ravens upon which he began to comment in his 1989 Ravens in Winter. While Mark found it a bit longer than he would have liked, he was clearly intrigued by Heinrich’s observations and his curiosity piqued as to whether the observed relational behaviors of this fascinating birds might also be present in other avian species as well.
Then for his most recent review, Mark chose the new Bird Photographer of the Year: Collection 3. As a judge for the competition, is able to offer an interesting inside glimpse of how the submissions for these prestigious prizes are assessed. For example, as Mark writes regarding “the cover photograph, of American Flamingos at a flamingo sanctuary in Madrid by Pedro Jarque Krebs from Peru, was not only the winner of the ‘Creative’ category but was also the overall winner. We felt that it was a masterful use of photographic technique and digital software to create a stunning image. Even though last year’s winner was also of flamingos we all thought that this image was outstanding.”
Links to Mark Avery’s Sunday book reviews appear in The Well-read Naturalist by special arrangement. You can find all of Mark’s past reviews as well as a wide-ranging collection of his other writings on his Standing Up for Nature website. Mark’s opinions regarding the books he reviews are his own.
