Birds of Kuwait - book review

I was lucky enough to be sent a complimentary copy of the new photographic guide to the Birds of Kuwait by my friends in Kuwait this week so thought it worthy of a mention in these pages!

Firstly, this is no field guide because it is a big heavy tome which will be much more at home on the coffee table than in the field. The first thing that will strike the reader is the stunning array of photographs that have been collected from willing contributors. They are amazing. The majority have been provided by resident birders in Kuwait such as Mike Pope (co-editor of the book), Pekka Fagel and Abdulrahman Al-Sirhan and depict every species to have occured in the state up to June 2012. Sections on the birding sites, photographing birds and conservation are also included but it is the species accounts and photographs that make up 90% of this visually stunning book.

I'd urge anyone with an interest on the birds of Kuwait to grab a copy while they can. It's print run has probably been quite small so I suspect it won't be available for long.