This is a very evocative book about a part of Hampshire I know well. I was chiefly interested in it from that point of view and what it showed about Edward Grey, rather than about birds, which is its major subject. ( )

This is an unusual book. At its core is a nature diary that was kept by Sir Edward Grey and his first wife, Dorothy, of their time (mostly weekends) at a cottage on the river Itchen in Hampshire. It was published privately in the early 1900s and the editor has tracked down a copy and had more widely published. Beautifully illustrated with watercolours and period photographs, it records their travels on foot and by bicycle, records the seasons on the local flora and spends a great deal of time recording the bird song and sightings they make.
It also betrays that age-old preoccupation of the British with the weather. A good proportion of the entries give the weather and the impact on the country side. It was frequently too wet, too dry, too cold - we're never happier than having the weather to moan about. I was most struck by the frosts, as late as May and as early as October. I know we had a hard winter last year, but the year before I think I counted 5 frosty mornings in the entire season.
There are some footnotes from the person who has tracked this originally privately published diary down, and I think I wanted more of his notes. They were on the way that the countryside has changed, how the bird species mentioned have fared in this part of Hampshire, on one occasion how a new species has extended its range. In one case he was in the same place described 100 years after the Greys had described it. The notes were all useful and informative.
The Greys themselves are interesting. Edward was the Foreign Secretary at the start of WW1 but there is little of his public life in here.
I imagine this would appeal to the naturalist and those who have a passing acquaintance with the area . ( )