Dear Friends of the Lizard,

Steve Townsend at Natural England has asked me to write and tell you about my new book, A Lizard Bird Diary: A Study of the Birds of the South Lizard Peninsula 1970-2015. Much has been written about the flora of the Lizard but apart from two breeding surveys, the birds have received comparatively little attention.

My book, which I hope in some measure will help to fill in this gap, summarises 45 years of fieldwork beginning in April 1970 with my first visit to the Lizard when I was a young 23 year old art student studying in Falmouth.

Fast‐forward to 2007 and with my shelves bulging with notebooks I felt I was ready to begin a project to synthesise all this data although I really did not expect that it would take up to November 2016 until completion and final publication.

The core of the book is the 270 species accounts. I have to stress that, with just a few exceptions, it is a singular overview since virtually all the data was gathered in the field by myself, hence the term ‘diary’. Nevertheless, my hope is that it is presents a relatively accurate description of the bird fauna of the South Lizard. With the passage of nearly half a century it is inevitable that not only a contemporary but historical perspective is also present in these accounts. There is a strong emphasis on migration (which has always been my principal focus) and this is supported by many histograms/graphs detailing passage and changes of status. I have also written introductory sections on the survey area, methodology, the charts, seabirds and seawatching. There are maps and photographs plus a small selection of my paintings and drawings

The book is softback and runs to 162 pages, printed in a signed, limited edition of 500. It is available directly from me at alizardbird@yahoo.com or from Amazon UK and the cost is £25 plus postage. ISBN 9781527200401.

Published: Jan 2017
Author: Brian Cave