This book was published last year but I missed it. It’s a beginner’s guide – like it says in its title. By that it means that although it covers all the damselflies and dragonflies of the British Isles it concentrates on those species that are most common and widespread – just to get you started.
It’s a good idea. How many times have you struggled through a field guide, decided on which species you saw, only to find that it lives in one small distant part of the country so you’ve clearly got it wrong! We beginners need all the help we can get. And I am a serial beginner with this group of insects. Each year I learn a few, think I’ve got them clear, but come next June and I am starting again as though all that knowledge shrivelled up in the cold days of winter.
So, I think this is the book I need every year with its clear photographs, distribution maps, flight periods and indications of habitats in which the different species will be found.
Also it really is pocket-sized. You can slip this thin book into the back pocket of your jeans or into a coat easily and without it being a burden. And it’s pretty cheap too – the price wouldn’t put you off buying it just to see how you get on with these flying predators.
A Beginner’s Guide to Dragonflies and Damselflies of Britain and Ireland by David Chandler is published by Pisces Publications/Nature Bureau.
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