Book proceeds to benefit the National Trust
Ornithologist Patricia Bradley and photographer Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet have launched their third book on the birds of the Cayman Islands.
The bird enthusiasts revealed their latest in-depth look at Cayman’s feathered population at an official book launch and book signing at Pappagallo’s in West Bay last week.
The full proceeds from the sale of the first 1,000 books sold will go to the National Trust of the Cayman Islands, said author Ms Bradley. At $30 each, this means a donation of $30,000 for the National Trust for the Cayman Islands.
Their first book, called Birds of the Cayman Islands, was published in 1985 and a revised edition was released 10 years later. Their latest book is not a revision, but an entirely new book, titled “A Photographic Guide to the Birds of the Cayman Islands”, Ms Bradley said.
The new volume is a Helm Field Guide and contains more than 500 photographs of birds that can be found in the Cayman Islands.
Mr. Rey-Millett said he captured most of the images of the birds in the book by “stalking”, rather than shooting them from bird hides.
He has also worked on bird guides for Jamaica and Cuba.
The book took three years to compile, Ms Bradley said, and contains information and images of birds that did not feature in the first two books.
Welcoming the donation from the authors, Christina McTaggart of the National Trust said: “We are honoured that Patricia has decided to give us a large portion of the proceeds of the books. The donation will go towards environmental programmes.”
The new book is based on information gathered between the first checklist of birds found in Cayman in 1882 and the last in 2000, as well as new and changing status data provided by the authors and the Bird Club.
In the preface to the book, Ms Bradley and Mr. Rey-Millett explained: “Despite their small size and low elevation, the Cayman Islands attract a disproportionate number of species due to their geographical position between North America and South America. Breeding species number 50, three of which are summer-breeding migrants, the remainder being residents. A further 195 species are non-breeding migrants.”
As well as featuring the birds that can be found in Cayman, the book also informs readers where to watch birds on all three islands. On Grand Cayman, for instance, the authors list Barker’s Peninsula and Morgan’s Harbour marina in West Bay, the golf course at SafeHaven, George Town harbour beach, Governor Gore’s Pond in Spotts, North Sound Estates, Pedro bluff cliffs, the Agricultural Grounds in Lower Valley, Mission House Pond in Bodden Town, Meagre Bay Pond east of Bodden Town, the Mastic Trail and Reserve, Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park and Collier’s Wilderness Reserve and Pond.
On the Brac, some of the best spots for bird watching are at the Westerly Ponds, the airport runway and grasslands, the coastal woodlands near the abandoned Divi Tiara hotel, Salt Water Pond and Walk, the marshes opposite Public Beach and several sites on the Bluff. The ponds on Little Cayman are also good bird-watching areas, as well as the airstrip, the coastal mahogany forest, Owen Island, Kingston Bight, the central bluff forest and the East End viewing area.
The first reference to birds in the Cayman Islands was a brief sentence by a visiting seafarer in 1582 historic mention of birds in Cayman, with the next mention coming 300 years later in the 1880s when founder member of the American Ornithologists’ Union C. B. C. Cory studied the local birds. He described 13 new species of land birds, all of which, bar one, were later found to be endemic subspecies. The single endemic species found in Cayman was the now extinct Grand Cayman Thrush.
The book is available in book stores and from the National Trust.
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