Hi Carl,
I've just had a look at this book at work, and it is, as Sue says in the
introduction, a purely subjective look at "fun" places to go birding. Light on
specific details of where to go and what is there, although that's not the
intention of the book. I did raise my eyebrows that The Rock NR is included in
the Best 100 sites in Australia - sure, I drop in every time I'm in the area,
but personally I wouldn't include it as a top 100 sites for Australia - perhaps
NSW, but that's just my opinion. (As an aside, I find the birding in nearby
Berry Jerry SF better than The Rock).
It's a nice read rather than a gritty "go here, turn left and look up the big
tree on the right to see X" read. In that regard, whereas I would use people I
know who've visited an area, Thomas et al, birding-aus, and eremaea when
visiting somewhere new, I don't know that I'd really miss anything by not
consulting this title. To be clear, however, that isn't the purpose of this
book - it's a journey through sites Sue has had fun birding, with personal
anecdotes about some of the locations and experiences she's had. I've visited
many of these sites myself, as will have many readers, and I agree that they're
good, fun places to go birding.
Personally I don't like the organisation - the sites don't appear to be ranked
(although Broome and Werribee are the top 2 sites, which would suggest that
they're ranked), and they are mixed up all over the place, not by state/region
or anything else I can easily establish. Some readers may find that refreshing,
I found it hard to quickly find anything, which limits its use as a tool for
researching what locations might be around a site. For instance Hattah-Kulkyne
NP is 8 places away from Wyperfield NP, and 16 more away from Bronzewing FFR,
yet they're all in the same, broad Western Victoria area. Perhaps a map with
the numbers of the sites keying them out could be included near the contents
page in a revised, future edition? Anyway - the book is not really meant for
that, so it's probably not that big of a deal.
3 stars.
Cheers
Troy
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of
Sent: Thursday, 10 October 2013 10:06 AM
To:
Subject: birding-aus Digest, Vol 91, Issue 15
20. Book- "Best 100 birdwatching sites in Australia" (Carl Clifford)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 10:02:19 +1100
From: Carl Clifford <>
To: Birding-Aus Aus <>
Subject: Book- "Best 100 birdwatching sites in
Australia"
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
In an email from Andrew Isles this morning, there is a title "Best 100
birdwatching sites in Australia" by Sue Taylor. Has anyone had a look at this
book?
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
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End of birding-aus Digest, Vol 91, Issue 15
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