Today's are in four groups:
1) Bill Oddie! It's very fashionable to dismiss Bill's contribution to UK birding, but his first two books in particular echoed my own approach to the hobby: youthful local patching, leading to writing a daily bird logbook, listing and then twitching. He writes with an amusing, conversational style and his drawings and field sketches are delightful. The 'Big Bird Race' is one of the most gripping narratives I've read: it had extra interest for me, because one of the team members (Bill Urwin) preceded me as Y6 teacher at Acle Primary School.
2) Keeping it local! I've always bought any book that might help pin down a local rarity or steer me towards a new site. Linda and I were early members of the Cley Bird Club and enjoyed chatting to other members in the Beach Cafe: we have a full set (AFAIK) of the newsletters.
3) Narratives! While Linda and I were intent on building big life lists (at the time when 300 was the benchmark) I found other people's exploits truly fascinating. If you've not read these, you've missed a real treat. I particularly enjoy Adrian Riley's account of his 'friendly' competition to be the UK's top year lister in 2002. His 'Bug Alert' is a much-missed resource...
4) Twitching! These are just a few of the books that I read again and again back in the days when a drive to Sussex or a boat trip to Lundy were considered 'essential travel'! Linda and I spent several years making rare bird videos, and all of these were inspirational.
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