This is another book in the excellent range of Where to Watch Birds guides. Scotland is a vast and varied landscape, ranging from mountains and moorland in the highlands to lowland vales, rolling hills and many miles of coastline including rocky indentations, steep sided sea lochs and cliffs, wide estuaries and firths and many off- shore islands. These all give rise to a huge range of habitats for the many differing bird species and birdwatchers can expect to find some of the best and least crowded opportunities for observation in the UK, possibly being rewarded with rare sightings. Indeed, more than 450 species have been recorded and approximately 175 regularly breed.
There are many birdwatching sites in Scotland and consequently all cannot be included in this guide. The author claims to have difficulty in making choices, but he made his decisions according to whether inclusion would cause problems which would be detrimental to birdlife; whether there were problems relating to site access, possibly exacerbated by increased numbers of visitors, and whether there was accessibility to the site with adequate vantage points. The sites were then graded according to bird interest, importance and suitability and decisions made as to whether they were main or additional asites. A reasonable distribution of sites was then made and included to offer a balanced number of entries.
"How to use this book" is an excellent feature in the guide which should be studied. This section describes how the sites are split into regions, such as Borders, Grampians and Highlands, and how each site is dealt with, explaining habitat, species, access, timing and calendar.
The book, originally published in 1989, has been updated twice and now contains more than 120 sites accompanied by maps and line drawings. It concludes with an up-to-date list of Scottish birds, local birds Recorders and reports, useful addresses, code of conduct for birdwatchers and other useful features. This guide certainly "has become indispensable for anyone birdwatching in Scotland." --Susan Naylor
