Field ID Guides

[William_Montgomery]

Which do you consider to be some of the best field guides for our native flora, fauna and funga?

I picked these two up a year or so back, and they are excellent. We've got the larger, more comprehensive versions at the house, but these 'pocket' guides have been really useful out and about. Particularly the wild flower guide which tends to live in my bag this time of year.

 

[Pattree]

I’m away from home and cannot remember the author of an excellent photo-ident book that’s been around for thirty years or more. (He’s done Herbaceous Plants, Grasses & Sedges and Fungii.) It’s so good that we weren’t allowed to use it in horticultural college.


A Tree in My Pocket is very good for a limited range of native trees.
If I strain the stitching I can get Tree in my Pocket and Food for Free into my shirt pocket.

Those two are almost worth a special belt pouch. Add a notebook and pencil and you’ve got a project!

 

[William_Montgomery]

cannot remember the author of an excellent photo-ident book

Roger Phillips?

 

[Pattree]

That’s the bunny!

 

[Broch]

I have a library of field guides on a very wide range of natural history and habitat subjects. Lately, all my go-to references are photographic editions. In current books the photos are so good they have replaced my 'illustrated' editions (though I still like them). All the Wild Guides books are excellent.

So, my current recommendations are:

Plants:
Harrop's Wild Flowers - Bloomsbury, Simon Harrop (my go-to book)
but you may need to go to a key for some of the difficult ones such as 'The Wild Flower Key' by Francis Rose and many botanists still use 'Wild Flowers of Britain & Ireland' by Marjorie Blamey

Britain's Ferns - Wild Guides, Merryweather

Trees
Collins Complete Guide to British Trees - Paul Sterry (photo edition)

Birds:
Birds of Britain and Europe - RSPB/DK, Rob Hume
Britain's Birds - Wild Guides, Hume, Still et al (more photos but less detail)

Dragonflies - Wild Guides, Bee et al

Mushrooms - Collins Complete Guide to British Mushrooms and Toadstools, Sterry & Hughes
Or Phillips of course, and for edibles especially Geoff Dann

Pond life - Freshwater Life, Collins Pocket Guide, Greenhalgh & Ovenden

Butterflies & Moths - Collins Complete Guide to British Butterflies & Moths, Sterry, Cleave, & Read

Insects - Britain's Insects - Wild Guides, Brock (the best general insect book, cover 1,653 species, however, any insect book can only cover a fraction of total species)

Mammals - Britain's Mammals - Wild Guides, Couzens et al

 

[Chris]

The three on the right I’ll carry out with me and the others stay at home for anything that I want to triple check.

Wild Food UK also have a great website and YouTube channel, both of which I highly recommend.

 

[William_Montgomery]

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The three on the right I’ll carry out with me and the others stay at home for anything that I want to triple check.

Wild Food UK also have a great website and YouTube channel, both of which I highly recommend.

I often have the Collins gem mushroom book in my bag over the autumn, really handy little book that one.

 

[Broch]

I have stopped carrying references in the field. I am a 'generalist' so I identify plants, fungi, insects, birds, reptiles, spiders, and amphibians ... - so now, I just carry a library on my phone, where necessary take photos, and do the full ID at home. The truth is the 'pocket' versions just do not include enough species. The AI apps are getting better by the day on such things as fungi and plants - in a few years time they will be more reliable than genera experts.

 

[William_Montgomery]

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The three on the right I’ll carry out with me and the others stay at home for anything that I want to triple check.

Wild Food UK also have a great website and YouTube channel, both of which I highly recommend.

Quite tempted to pick up a copy of that Wild Food UK foraging guide. Have you found it to be useful?

 

[Chris]

Quite tempted to pick up a copy of that Wild Food UK foraging guide. Have you found it to be useful?

I have - it’s useful as it covers trees, plants and fungi all in one and focuses in on the stuff that is particularly important to foragers, rather than being a comprehensive guide to all flora and fungi.

 

[William_Montgomery]

for edibles especially Geoff Dann

One of my favourite books on the subject. I'd highly recommend it to anybody interested in foraging fungi.

 

[Broch]

Yep, and his 'Edible Plants'. Geoff used to participate on the forum but I've not seen him on here for quite some time

 

[demented dale]

Which do you consider to be some of the best field guides for our native flora, fauna and funga?

I picked these two up a year or so back, and they are excellent. We've got the larger, more comprehensive versions at the house, but these 'pocket' guides have been really useful out and about. Particularly the wild flower guide which tends to live in my bag this time of year.

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What size are those William? i have had a few tree guides but always full of american and euro trees. Not seen an entirely british one in pocket size. DD xx

 

[William_Montgomery]

What size are those William? i have had a few tree guides but always full of american and euro trees. Not seen an entirely british one in pocket size. DD xx

They are around 190mm x 120mm x 20mm. I think they are a good balance between size and info.

 

[demented dale]

They are around 190mm x 120mm x 20mm. I think they are a good balance between size and info.

thanks. i checked em out . not cheap. even 2nd hand x