The Rarity Garden - Customer Reviews

Fri 23rd May, 2025

My book The Rarity Garden has been available for a few short weeks and I am truly heartened by the enthusiasm of many readers. Here are two reviews kindly sent to me. To find out more and buy a copy CLICK HERE

Jono Leadley. 11 May 2025

A dozen years ago, I had been drawn to The Great White Cape by a promising easterly wind, the holy grail for east coast British birders.  I was aiming to walk the hedgerows and grasslands of Flamborough Head, seeking grounded migrants and hopefully a rarity or two. But first, I was popping in to see Richard Baines at the Coastguard Cottages. I had only known Richard for a couple of years, but in what I now know to be his trademark generous and welcoming style, he suggested I swing by to borrow his CB radio. Before Smartphones and Whatsapp, radios were the way local birders kept in touch with each other to share news of exciting birds turning up on the headland, and knowing I would be birding the headland, he didn’t want me missing anything. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a huge smile and a warm hug. Exchanging greetings, Richard couldn’t contain his excitement, and his effervescence bubbled over with the news he had just discovered a Western Bonelli’s Warbler in his garden! Incredible! He shepherded me in through to his back garden, where we stood quietly for a moment, before a flash of lime green and silky white, revealed the tiny superstar. Richard then asked me if I wanted a cup of tea. This was my first taste or Richard’s Rarity Garden.

When I heard that Richard was writing a book, capturing tales of the development of his modest garden into an avian motorway service area for tired migrants and weary vagrants, I was thrilled. A short while later and I held the much-anticipated tome in my hands. And oh! What a book. I read the whole thing in a day – not bad going at over 240 pages, but the contents were captivating; I could not put it down. Richard’s twin passions for nature and conservation shine through so inspirationally. It is clear that Richard’s personality, humour and drive turned Flamborough from a ‘closed’ community of secret watchers of birds, to a progressive group working hard to improve the fortunes of all wildlife on the mighty headland. Months of effort, patient meetings and sheer graft have led to the headland as we know it today, with a network of wonderful wildlife habitats, mostly the result of Richard’s vision, enthusiasm and tenacity. As a frequent visitor, I have witnessed the improvements and the amazing impact they have had on wildlife and those who enjoy it. I hope local birders and the Bird Observatory will carry this important baton that Richard built and passed on.

Back to the book… I really lost myself in the pages, each printed on perhaps the most elegant and sexy paper I have ever held in my hands, and enclosed within a classic cover debossed, with a compass; it feels timeless. Extracts from Richard’s meticulous diaries over the years he lived at Flamborough are scintillating and, at times jaw-dropping, interspersed with cutting edge information concerning the featured species’ ecology and conservation.

The diary carries you through a perfect year at Flamborough Head, with stunning artwork by Cambridgeshire artist Ben Green, alongside Richard’s own beautiful pieces. The book is liberally peppered with hand-drawn maps and photos, many by Richard himself capturing the context of the photo’s subjects, which intensify the impact and interest of the image. Fantastic portraits of some of the more iconic birds by Richard’s photographer friends add serious ‘wow’ to the accompanying wonderful words. Richard’s wonder for nature runs threadlike through his writing, something that has clearly never diminished during his life, only grown with every wild encounter. For all those who spend time with Rich, this wonder is passed on generously, with knowledge, enthusiasm and humour and here he has conveyed this in writing, allowing many more people to share in his fascination with nature.

Jono birding on the east coast of Yorkshire

In summary, this is a book akin to a favourite album or movie; you do not want it to end. The Rarity Garden will occupy its own niche among that small number of classic books for birders and naturalists that I have treasured throughout my life and dip into frequently; books that captivate and inspire. As I type, two Swifts chase around over my small suburban garden. This book has motivated me to do even more to help wildlife on my small patch of land (I quite like the idea of a shallow, pebbly stream!); hopefully it will inspire everybody who reads it to do their bit too. But, if an easterly wind blows, I will be heading again to The Great White Cape, hoping for a rarity of two!

Keith Horton. 12 May 2025

The moment you pick up a copy of “The rarity garden” you will recognise the quality, the deeply embossed hardback cover and gold leaf lettering on the cover, the pages of heavyweight paper, excellent photographs and superb illustrations equalled by the prose of Mr Baines.

Richard does not have ecology in his blood; it is his blood. A man as happy to find four Dunlin enjoying his newly dug pond as he is to locate a scarce migrant. A man who would never preface any sighting with the word “Only”

This is not a birder’s list of sightings, but a journal of a decade of observations in and around Richard’s garden at Flamborough. The sections cover the seasons, with sightings set out in date order, ignoring the year. This gives a tale of a year detailing the birds, moths and butterflies found and various ecology projects completed during his time as Countryside Officer with East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

Each discovery is described in meticulous detail, not just the key points of identification but where the bird came from, its likely migration route and eventual destination, and why the creature is found at a particular location, be it for food or shelter.

Because of the chronological layout it is easy to see why an Icterine Warbler might be found in the August – October window but searching for one in February might be a fruitless exercise. Might be, as Richard will tell you there is no such thing as never in nature.

Buy this book, read it and then either keep it as a reference book or hand it to an aspiring naturalist and buy yourself another copy. A book for the naturally curious of curiosity of nature.