British Wildlife Magazine Review 'The Rarity Garden'

Fri 29th Aug, 2025

Books on garden wildlife are an interesting part of natural history publishing. The benchmark is, undoubtedly, Jennifer Owen’s Wildlife of a Garden: A Thirty-Year Study, begun in 1972. Monitoring a standard family garden in suburban Leicester, she recorded 2,673 species over that period, ranging from plants to mammals. Subtitled ‘a journal of wild obsession’, Richard Baines’s Garden nature diary is more restricted in scope, since as a ‘mad keen birder’ the focus is naturally on the birds he saw; together with the butterflies and moths he recorded, when he considered that ‘the migration tap’ had been turned off. Richard’s geographic coverage is also wider than his garden on Flamborough Headland, although that remains the focus throughout the book, since his self-imposed criteria included both species that were physically present in his garden and species that were seen, or heard, while standing within his ‘ownership boundary’. Indeed, his criteria were so rigorously applied that in 2007, on finding a Bittern in the new habitat of Northcliff Marsh, he rushed home to see if he could see it from his son’s bedroom window and add it to his garden list! Using a telescope from the top windows of his house meant that his ‘home patch’ actually covered a large area of the Outer Head, the eastern extent of the headland near the lighthouse, but on this occasion he was unsuccessful.

The book is structured around the months and seasons of the year and includes what Richard considered his most memorable sightings of birds and insects over a ten-year period, between 2004 and 2014. In all, he recorded 215 species of birds, 242 moths and 20 butterflies in, and viewed from, his garden. In this Richard benefited from the fact that his garden was not a suburban patch, like Jennifer Owen’s, but located only 200 metres or so from the chalk cliffs and the lighthouse.

The Headland is one of the most important sites for studying seabird migration and there are large movements of Scandinavian and Siberian birds in May and from August to September. In a typical year over 200 species are recorded. It is also the first landfall on the east coast of England for birds such as thrushes, chats and warblers, which have crossed the North Sea. A better location for a keen birder would be difficult to find.

Highlights for Richard over the years, amongst many others, included a female Hen Harrier in 2004, a Common Crane in March 2009, a male Baikal Teal in April 2013 and, memorably, a Pallas’s Warbler which was ringed by another birder, Mike Pearson, only 125 metres east of his garden in May 2004. Unfortunately, it could not be seen from the house and added to the growing list. Another one turned up in Richard’s Garden though in October 2009! There are numerous examples, where he just seems to have been in the right place at the right time, but that is the joy of living and working somewhere as special as Flamborough.

During the period covered by the book, Richard was employed as a Countryside Officer for East Riding Council, with a remit for working with the community on practical conservation projects. This meant he was able to combine what he describes as the thrill of creating and improving wildlife habitats with sharing his passion for birding and the natural world. Richard, apparently, refused to join the new Flamborough Bird Observatory until they created a Conservation Officer role for him and allocated a percentage of the membership fees for practical work on the ground. He got his way.

The book has been self-published to a very high standard, with a hardback, embossed, cover, good quality paper and full colour used throughout. The cover is wrapped with a coloured paper band. The book also includes, apart from Richard’s photographs, a number of excellent paintings by Ben Green, whose work is regularly published in British Birds. I was disappointed though to find that there was no index, which would have added greatly to its useability, especially when trying to find all the sightings of a particular species. Surprisingly, Richard’s garden is not marked on any of the hand drawn maps, but perhaps that is sensible given the attention it might generate.

On hearing that I was reviewing The Rarity Garden, a friend of mine mentioned that it could be too personal, but it is the outcome of Richard’s desire to communicate, in meticulous detail, his excitement of what he saw during those ten years living on the Outer Head and to inspire others. And, on both counts, I feel he has succeeded. If you want to know more about what birding on Flamborough Headland is like, this is the book for you.

Reviewed by Jonathan Mullard

Jonathan Mullard was Heritage Coast Officer for Flamborough Headland from 1985 to 1990 and has retained an interest in the area ever since. He is the author of three books on Wales in the Collins New Naturalist series and Forgotten Forests, a book on the woodland history of Britain and Ireland.