African Wildlife and Environment Issue 66

GENERAL

GENERAL

GOOD READS

Book reviews by Dr John Ledger

Cycads Hugo, Cornia (2016). Using cones to identify the indigenous cycads of South Africa. Self published by the author, Cornia Hugo, PO Box 32197, Totiusdal 0134, South Africa. Soft cover, 17x27 cm, 112 pages, illustrated throughout with high quality photographs. ISBN 978-0- 62069 -767-5. R315 plus shipping of R80; total R395 . How to order: visit www.cycadid-sa.co.za. There are 40 species of cycad in South Africa, and a number of them are extremely rare and sought after by collectors. They are accordingly valuable and subject to illegal removal from the wild, which is a huge problem for conservation authorities in South Africa. The author is Assistant Director of General Investigation North in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. She has assisted with investigations into the illegal trade in indigenous cycads and has represented the Department in several successful court cases. This book is a successor to Cornia’s Identification of the Indigenous cycads of South Africa . The cycads apparently take on different characteristics when growing in different habitats, but the cones are a very reliable feature for identification. The book includes a summary of the legal aspects

Birding in Kenya Ngarachu, Catherine (2017). 50 Top Birding Sites in Kenya. Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape

Birding in Namibia Sinclair, Ian & Joris Komen (2017). Pocket Guide: Birds of Namibia. StruikNature, an imprintofPenguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 11x18 cm, 144 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs and maps. ISBN 978-1-7758-4522-5. R160 Namibia is a vast, mostly arid country with huge areas devoid of people. In the East there is a finger of land that is completely different,

Town. Soft cover, 14x10 cm, 168 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs and maps. ISBN 978-1-775 8-4248-4. R180 The first detailed guide to Kenya’s best birding areas, this handy

pertaining to cycads in South Africa. The National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act, Act 10 of 2004 (NEMBA) declared all South African cycads as threatened and protected species. A number of activities related to cycads are restricted, and anyone wishing to conduct any of these activities must be in possession of a permit to do so. This is a very useful publication for anyone interested in these remarkable plants.

little book will assist local and visiting birders to find key bird species in 50 different sites. For each of the sites there is a detailed map, a list of the key species to be found there, a description of the habitat, ‘getting there’, visitor information (including advice on security and accommodation, if applicable), and then ’the birding’, followed by ‘other wildlife’. This is an innovative formula which works very well. The book also follows a logical sequence of travelling, starting in Nairobi, which is where many visitors would begin their birding trip. From ‘Around Nairobi’ we go to ‘The central highlands’, then ‘Northern Kenya’, ‘Southbound via Thika’, ‘Into the Rift Valley’, ‘West of the Rift valley’, ‘On and near the coast’ and finally ‘Inland via Tsavo’. This is an invaluable book for anyone visiting Kenya. It is very well produced with excellent photographs.

Autobiography Steyn, Peter (2017). Kingdom of daylight: Memories of a Birdwatcher. Self-published by the author. Distributed by Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 18x23 cm, 256 pp, illustrated by B/W and colour photographs throughout as well as maps.

writer and photographer. The book takes the reader on his amazing travels and adventures in Zimbabwe, from the ‘Timeless Amatobo’ with its incredible rock formation, Black Eagles and the grave of Cecil John Rhodes, to Hwange, Victoria Falls, the middle Zambezi and the eastern districts. Following his return to Cape Town, Peter was involved as a bird guide for Wilderness Safaris, and also undertook a number of trips on cruise ships as a lecturer and bird expert. He takes us birding in the USA, shares his impressions of Costa Rica, we continue to the Galapagos, Peru and Patagonia, then head to the Seychelles with its Fairy Terns and Tropic Birds. Hardly stopping for breath, we are off to Madagascar, the ‘Island of Marvels’, then to Australia a couple of times, New Zealand, then Ethiopia, and to St Helena and Ascension Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Phew! The book is lavishly illustrated with Peter’s outstanding photographs. There are also excellent maps showing all the places he has visited. There is a list of his publications from 1951 to 2015, which includes nine books, of which Eagle Days , Hwange Birds , Birds of Prey of Southern Africa , A Delight of Owls , Birds of Southern Africa , Nesting Birds and Antarctic Impressions are all classics of professional writing and photography. He has published numerous scientific papers, mostly in Ostrich , the journal of the South African Ornithological Society. He has also produced numerous popular science articles for many different publications, and the name Peter Steyn is synonymous with excellent writing and outstanding photography. But Peter is also a friendly and sociable person, a great raconteur, and the many friends and colleagues that we meet in his autobiography are an indication of his popularity and personality. Thank you for sharing this wonderful journey with us. An outstanding book, a must-have for anyone interested in nature, and an ideal gift for the coming festive season!

with the Zambezi River and vast floodplains of Caprivi being a habitat totally unlike the west. This explains Namibia’s rich avian biodiversity of some 690 species, of which 110 are endemic or near-endemic. This handy pocket guide deals with 357 species, focussing on those that are the most conspicuous and commonly seen. Each species is illustrated by a very good photograph, and the description includes identification aids, some details of habits and habitat; a distribution maps accompanies each species entry. This little book is highly recommended for the visitor to Namibia who is not a rabid ‘twitcher’, but someone interested in the country and its natural history, and who would like to know the names of the most commonly seen birds of this wonderful land.

ISBN 978-0- 62074 -256-6. R300 This is Peter Steyn’s life story, the journey of a man obsessed by birds from an early age while growing up in Cape Town. Like many others of that time, he collected birds’ eggs as a hobby and this gave way to bird photography. His first successful photo was a black and white print of a Cape Sugarbird in its nest at Kirstenbosch. While still at school, his photograph of a White-fronted Plover at its nest was published on the front cover of Bokmakierie , the popular magazine of the South African Ornithological Society. This did more than anything else to encourage him to pursue this art form. Peter then went to the University of Cape Town where he did a degree in English and history. He also acquired a motor car and was able to visit the Cape Vulture colony at Potberg in 1955 and take some great photos of the big birds. With a teaching diploma in his hands, Peter accepted a positon at Falcon College in then Rhodesia, and moved there with his young bride Jenny – they would spend 17 years in that country before returning to Cape Town. This book is a remarkable account of an energetic and enthusiastic man who has lived life to the full, and grasped every opportunity to travel with both hands. In 1970 Peter decided to leave Falcon College and embark on a freelance career as an ornithologist,

Succulents Smith, Gideon F, Neil R Crouch & Estrela Figueiredo (2017). Field Guide to Succulents in Southern Africa. Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. Soft cover, 15x21 cm, 464 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs, and distribution maps. ISBN 978-1- 77584 -367-2. R350 This is an expanded and updated edition of its predecessor published eight years earlier, in 2009. It is a magnificent piece of work that will provide enormous pleasure to anyone interested in natural history and the astonishing diversity of plants in our region. Indeed, southern Africa is the natural home of the richest and most diverse succulent flora in the world. This book deals with more than 700 species, focussing on the more interesting and commonly encountered succulents. So what is a ‘succulent’? The authors regard succulents as ‘plants that accumulate and store water in their tissues to survive droughts in the active growing phase .’ Many plants store water in their tubers and corms and survive drought in the dormant, resting phase. Such are

not regarded as being true succulents. The authors recognise the loss of habitat to development as a serious threat to the succulents of the region. A number of alien species have been introduced to southern Africa, and these are highlighted in the book with an ‘A’ next to their names. The succulents are arranged by family, and the photographs are excellent, with at least two and sometimes up to seven images allocated to each species. Highly recommended.

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