Wildlife magazines.

[Richard G.]

I’ve been trawling some of the old threads about wildlife magazines and wondered if there was anything new around.

I’ve been a long time reader of Outdoor Photography, which has a fair number of wildlife features, but is still a photography magazine at heart and has become a bit repetitive after several years, so I’ve stopped getting this now.

I have a subscription to BBC wildlife, which I like but, as other have said previously, it’s not solely UK focussed, so there is only so much of interest to me.

I’ve been getting British Wildlife for around a year, but to be honest, this one is not for me. It’s just too dry and academic for a casual wildlife watcher, such as myself.

I also saw a couple of mentions of Wildlife of Britain, which seemed to be having a (re-)run in 2007. I know some suggested this might be a little light on content and expensive for the entire collection, but just wondered if anyone did get the whole set and had any update on its worth? I know others suggested the money would be better spent on books rather than this magazine, but where to start? The thing is, I do want something to read, rather than just a reference book, if you see what I mean.

So, any other periodical or book recommendations with a UK bias?

[Hedge Witch]

Are you a member of your local wildlife trust - you get some reading material every couple of months or so.

Also some reserves have "friends of" news letters.

I realise that these publications may not be that "glossy", but subscriptions are in a good cause.

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

You could try the Countryman or the BBC country file, both published monthly. As the names suggest they are not dedicated to British wildlife, but have features on farming, being green growing your own and the British countryside as a whole.

BWD

[Richard G.]

Forgot about the Wildlife Trust and yes, I am a member. Hopefully going to a talk at my local trust next week in fact.

Countryman I have seen mentioned in some of the old threads, will look for it next time I get to WHSmiths and see if I can find a copy to flick through.

I suppose, as something of a novice, I'm looking for material aimed at that level really, hence the question about the Wildlife of Britain series, so did anyone collect this?

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi Richard,

I've got the WOB series. It's a nice glossy set full of photos. It follows the seasons from winter onwards and shows you what to look for in each.
I would say it is very good for someone who wants a general insight into british wildlife. It has been stated before that it is very expensive to buy weekly - but look in the Ad-mag type papers as i've seen it advertised for £25for the full set of ten volumes ( and I bet they'd take £20 ) which I think is a bargain.

neil

[Richard G.]

Thanks wildlifesnapper, why didn't I think of that!

[Dan Salter]

I agree with others.

I started with Wildlife of britain collection but was a little too dumbed down for my personal level and i do subscribe to british Wildlife which at times is a little too high a level ha ha..but as my education progresses i understand more and more.

BBC Wildlife gets the level about right but sadly is not just british as mentioned and i feel the articles are way too short...sometimes just half a page, and a large picture!?...i like a good few pages of proper reading.

Countryman i think is the star here...all british countryside AND wildlife is covered, modern articles and some rural history type stuff and the articles cover 3 or 4 pages or more!

And as mentioned Countryfile is not too bad but lots of adverts and gear reviews for rucksacks etc, i feel they should leave this out as there are at least 4 popular 'outdoor walking/outdoor gear' mags that cover this stuff, id rather see more wildlife/rural/farming type articles.

So the answer is no one mag is going to be the one for you?, but i think countryman coupled with either BBC Wildlife or Wildlife of britain (seen the whole set go on ebay cheaply quite often) should give you a good fix of native articles!

and i also agree, the wildlife trust's local and generic mags are great too!

[Richard G.]

Well a quick look on fleabay showed a full set of Wildlife of Britain just down the road from me and was secured for the princely sum of £20.

Think I have a little reading to do!

[Dan Salter]

Well done !