Fair Isle's 'Garden Birds'

To the ornithologist, Fair Isle really is something special. With his wife Sue, John Holloway ran the Fair Isle shop from December, 1977, until October, 1983. During that time the author built up a collection of field sketches of the island's birds and it is from this collection that most of the illustrations in this book are taken. Several of the species illustrated have not even been depicted in many of the British bird books. Where else but Fair Isle could one expect to look out of the bedroom window and see an Olive-backed Pipit striding around the grass, or from the kitchen window spot a Little Bunting feeding with local sparrows? Little wonder that visitors to the world famous Fair Isle Bird Observatory regard the isle as unique.

But for the island's new aero-generator this book would have taken far longer than the three months it took to complete. Much of the work was done during gales, often at night, when the generator was providing power for lights during a typically dark northern winter.