This is the bird guide to end all bird guides. Nearly 400 pages of beautifully illustrated text covering the birds of Britain and Europe are accompanied by information on size, habitat, range, identification, voice, distribution, breeding, wintering and migration, with so much attention to detail that it is difficult to imagine how any more could have been squeezed inside the covers. The Collins Guide has rapidly become my favourite bird book, but if I have to make one criticism, this is not a book for the long-sighted. Fitting 3,500 illustrations into a small format has resulted in some sacrifices having to be made and some of the layouts are incredibly busy, with literally dozens of paintings crammed into spaces normally reserved for one or two pictures. Indispensable to anglers with even the slightest interest in birds.