Armenia and Georgia 24th June-3rd July 2004

• Georgia lies adjacent to, and to the north of, Armenia and after reading a gripping account of a visit by Phil Benstead (and noticing that Sunbird were leading tours to Georgia) I decided I must visit the area myself in search of the three Western Palearctic endemics found there: Caucasian Snowcock, Güldenstädt's Redstart and Great Rosefinch.....Chris Batty reports

Collins Bird Guide
Lars Svensson et al: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• An excellent field guide covering all of the birds of the region. Stunning drawings by the worlds finest bird illustrators. (and it shows.) Check out the Wheatears and Larks and some of the other difficult to identify birds of Georgia.

Birds of the Middle East
R.F. Porter, S. Christensen, P. Schiermacker-Hansen: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• If your going to this region you must buy this book. It is a great break through. Comprehensive and complete, it eliminates the need to carry too many books in the field: we know how important that is! The text is well written by experts, and many of the plates are fantastic; those by John Gale especially stand out; just dream about those raptors! Birds of the Middle East" is the first comprehensive field guide dealing exclusively with the birds of this region.