New offerings from WILDGuides

Five new titles from WILDGuides have just arrived on my desk -:


1) Britain's Sea Mammals, by Jon Dunn, Robert Still and Hugh Harrop (priced £12.95)

2) A Field Guide to the Wildlife of South Georgia, by Robert Burton & John Croxall (£17.95)

3) A Visitor's Guide to South Georgia, by Sally Poncet & Kim Crosbie (£19.95)

4) Birds of the Masai Mara, by Adam Scott Kenedy (£17.95)

5) Animals of the Masai Mara, by Adam & Vicki Kennedy (£17.95)

All are highly presentable, very well-produced, in full colour and highly informative and of a size that easily allows you to take them into the 'field' or pack within a small bag.

The Sea Mammals book is particularly impressive and focuses exclusively on the 34 species of sea mammal recorded in Britain and Ireland, detailing and highlighting the 14 species that are most readily seen. Its 128 pages include more than 100 fabulous photographs and introductory chapters explore how, when and where to look for each species. Individual species accounts summarise the key identification criteria and include useful information on status, habitat requirements and distribution. It is an essential guide to the Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises and Seals found in coastal Britain and Ireland and at just £12.95, an essential companion volume purchase to those field guides on birds, mammals, butterflies and moths.

South Georgia is the most spectacular of the world's subantartic islands and these two new WILDGuides publications are the first to comprehensively charter the region's exclusive wildlife and provide a photographic guide to identifying them. The 200-page Field Guide features no less than 368 lavish photographs of more than 180 different species, including 65 birds, 20 Sea Mammals, 60 insects and 40 plants - each individual account giving a brief, but concise, guide to identification, status and distribution. The Visitor's Guide gives more of a history of the island, with detailed maps highlighting the key sites and presents a range of specialist expert contributions on the ecology, wildlife, vegetation, historic artefacts and topographical features of the archipelago. There is an excellent section on visiting arrangements and an invaluable guide to the Key Sites, accompanied by detailed maps and top-quality images - absolutely essential purchases for anyone thinking of travelling to the area.

The two Masai Mara productions are very much as they say 'on the packet' - photographic guides featuring the birds and mammals likely to be encountered by visitors to the hugely-popular Masai Mara National Nature Reserve in Kenya. Over 200 species of bird and 65 of mammal are included thus proving indispensable to visitors to this famous park. The photographs used are of a particularly high standard and the design format is unique and eye-catching and perhaps most useful was the detail supplied on key sites for specific species of mammal.

WILDGuides are to be congratulated in providing such outstanding, high-quality, near-pocket guides.

All titles are now available from Princeton University Press