"Flora and Climatic Conditions of the North Pacific: A Collection of Scientific Papers" edited by A. N. Berkutenko et al. 2001. [book review]

native names. For example Maderan vs. Band-rumped Petrel or Parasitic Jaeger vs. Arctic Skua. The text here along with the rest of the book is good and clear. The author has added a table of accidental species for the two islands (31 on St. Helena and 46 on Ascension. This did not quite match my own list, but I think the difference is due to the political boundary that includes Tristan de Cunha and Gough Islands, thus adding several Antarctic species) The artwork consists of watercolours that are refined sketches of birds during their normal activities. This gives a better idea of their jizz than the more formalized field guide style of the recent books, and is more akin to the style of postwar books. Indeed, my favourite is a perky field sketch of a Java Sparrow that fronts the section of land birds on which you can almost count the small number of brush strokes. The reader can compare this with the more “finished” plate in the accounts section. I found it ironic that the endemic Madagascar Fody was introduced, not from Madagascar but from Mauritius (where it is an introduced threat to the endemic Mauritius Fody) and became so numerous it was part of the St. Helena cage bird trade. How convoluted we make the world. So why go to these remote places? First there is the attraction of wild oceanic islands. While they are no longer the lush paradise first seen by the Portuguese they still are dramatic. The rich brown cliffs surrounded by blue sea set off the white, guano-capped islands. Second, however diminished, there are good seabird colonies; always exciting places. And last, for the hard core, they are the only places to see Ascension Island Frigate and Wirebird. While remote, these islands are not inaccessible. There are some tours that include them on a cruise, although these are very expensive. Routine commercial sailings leave from Cardiff, Wales and Cape Town, South Africa a few times a year. They dock in St. Helena and Ascension for a day or two – enough time with this guide to see most of the islands birds