by Stephen Moss
At the_Guardian, I should also like to thank Celia Locks for her editing skills over the past 13 years or so, and for her relentless war against my occasional tendency to make the column read like a Christmas round-robin letter! Also at the Guardian: Tim Radford, Stephanie Kerstein, Bernard Hunt and Martin Page. And not forgetting my friend and former colleague Paul Simons, whose generous suggestion that I joined him in writing the Guardian’s Weather Watch column originally led to my association with that newspaper.
I owe great thanks to all those involved in the production of this book, including designer Peter Ward, copy-editor Wendy Smith and Managing Editor at Aurum Press, Phoebe Clapham. The doyen of British bird artists, Robert Gillmor, provided the delightful and striking cover illustration, while Jan Wilczur did the line-drawings that grace each chapter. As always my dear friend Graham Coster (himself a birder of growing enthusiasm and distinction) did his usual excellent editing job. And of course to readers of this column past and present; thank you for your kind and supportive letters over the years. Here, at last, is the book so many of you have requested …
Finally, as always, I owe a huge debt to my family: my sons David, James, Charlie and George; my daughter Daisy; and my wife Suzanne, with whom so many experiences in this book have been shared. I look forward to many more in the future.
STEPHEN MOSS
Hampton, Middlesex; May 2006
First published in 2006
by Aurum Press Ltd, 74-77 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF
www.aurumpress.co.uk
in association with Guardian Books.
Guardian Books is an imprint of Guardian Newspapers Ltd.
This eBook edition first published in 2014 by Aurum Press Ltd
Copyright © 2006, 2014 Stephen Moss
The pieces collected in this book were first published in the Guardian.
Illustrations by Jan Wilczur
All rights reserved
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
eBook conversion by Quayside Publishing Group
Digital edition: 978-1-78131-211-7
Softcover edition: 978-1-84513-360-3
