Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Light reading and unsentimental approach July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm not quite as stunned as the other reviewers of this book. It's in A4 format and contains a series of short articles (one to two pages long) about individual bird's behaviours divided into the months of the year. Photographs and paintings by Peter Partington are liberally scattered throughout.
Couzens has a very unsentimental, striking approach. He compares the strife at the bird table in winter, as different individuals establish a pecking order, to desperate refugees fighting over humanitarian food drops. That Robin perching on your spade couldn't care less about you as a gardener- to the bird you're a substitute for a wild boar, disturbing the ground and bringing to light food.
Ultimately though it's a book to dip into as a pleasant read. It lacks real factual depth. whereas I agree with the other reviewers that it is a very pleasant book, it's not one that I wished to keep to read again.
 An excellent book September 3, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is a great read; the text is easy to read and is written in an engrossing style by the author. The illustrations really capture what the page is talking about. I can't see how anyone would not learn something about garden birds after reading this. It has made me watch my garden birds more closely. A highly recommended read.
Getting to know them... June 12, 2007
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
I am thoroughly enjoying the information provided by this book, which is very well-written and clearly based on a great deal of personal bird-watching experiences. The illustrations are also of a very high quality, the drawings are superb! While I consider myself as quite knowledgeable with regard to birds, I have already learnt some new facts which I have not found in other books, and am now getting to know birds intimately! Great book!
superb November 19, 2005
70 out of 71 found this review helpful
I get a lot of various species of bird in my garden and after spending years watching them, and their mannerisms, I treated myself to this book.
I have read it a few times, and now read each months section as we go into a new month. It has helped me understand the mannerisms of the birds and their reasoning for doing what they do. It's certainly given me a better understanding of the birds and what to look for, and has helped me to attract more birds into the garden.
A pleasure to read and extremely informative. If you enjoy our feathered friends in your garden, then this is a must for you. I'm now ordering more for christmas gifts.
Beautifully illustrated and reads like a novel July 18, 2005
65 out of 66 found this review helpful
This is the best bird book I have ever come across. I read it cover to cover and it held me enchanted until the last page. Field guides are good in that they give you instant information but this book immerses you right into the nitty gritty of the daily lives of birds. I gained a real understanding and sympathy of how they live and their struggles to survive. The text reads like a novel and the birds become the characters. I found myself following the characters as their stories unfolded. I felt joy at their successes, grieved at their losses, laughed at their attempts at romance and felt sad when they failed. I felt cross with the bullies and cheered on the underdogs. I willed them to survive and understood more fully their difficulties. They became my friends and now when I watch them I watch and listen with more insight and knowledge.The book takes you through the months of the year. Not only is the text utterly readable and absorbing but the pages are beautifully presented with photographs and wonderful paintings of the birds going about their activities. Buy this book, keep it out at all times and treasure it.
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