Birds of a Feather

Colin Rees

Description

In Birds of a Feather, an informative and beautifully illustrated book, Colin Rees and Derek Thomas portray the changing seasons in the UK and US, bringing their observations together with some startling results. With images by artists Robert Gillmor and Ian Rees, the book will appeal to anyone with an interest in birds and their future in North America and the UK. Exploding flocks of Snow Geese rising from icy fields; the arrival of the osprey; the harmonies of the dawn chorus; migrating waders racing south before the surf - these are but a few moments evoking the sights, sounds and colours of the passing seasons observed and recorded over a year by two experienced ornithologists living on both sides of the Atlantic. In the context of their gardens, neighbourhoods and in larger landscapes, Colin Rees and Derek Thomas provide a month by month account of their birding year, commenting upon what they see and hear. They also consider how our world is radically changing the lives of birds. Birds of a Feather celebrates the gentle patter of raindrops, the scent and luminescence of spring, swallows of an evening and the first flight of young ospreys. They take the reader on walks through grasslands, forests, marshes, estuaries and along coasts and describe the effects of changing weather on flora and fauna, the unfolding of the breeding season, bird counts, the character of birders and bird organizations in the US and UK. They also address the challenge of conservation in the modern world. Over 45 million people consider themselves bird watchers in the US and 20 million watch birds in the UK making this book appealing to bird watchers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Sujets

• Sciences et techniques

Informations

• Publié par: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 22 mai 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781784626761
• Langue: English

Extrait

C OMMENDATIONS
Frank Gill, formerly Philadelphia Academy of Sciences and Vice-President, Science, National Audubon Society
The joys of the seasons are deep in our souls. Gilbert White s classic The Natural History of Selborne shared his astute diaries of nature s calendar. Edwin Way Teale s acclaimed books on The American Seasons inspired a generation of naturalists on this side of the Pond . Birds of a Feather now engages us in much the same way through the superior powers of observation and charming prose of two pals, here and there.
Stephanie Hilborne OBE, Chief Executive The Wildlife Trusts
Birds of a Feather is a poignant and moving reminder of how experiences of wildlife can grip the human soul and linger in our memories. Two friends thousands of miles apart share with us moments they will never forget. Their consciousness of, and love for, the natural world brings even the most unexpected places to life.
Mike Parr, Vice President for Program Development, American Bird Conservancy
This book will be a great read for birders from either side of the Atlantic who normally experience the birds of the other side through short trips during peak seasons. The book provides a flavor of the year-round diversity of species and habitats through the eyes of two experienced birders who understand how seasonal change drives the bird movements that make birding so much fun. The trans-Atlantic comparisons of two amazing birding locations throughout the year make this an even more compelling read.
Mark Avery, former Head of Conservation at RSPB, now a freelance environmental consultant and journalist
This delightful dialogue, back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean, demonstrates that wildlife is a shared pleasure wherever we live.
David Curson, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon Maryland-DC
The annual rhythms of nature provide a ceaseless flow of variety and change to our environment that stimulate and inspire us, wherever we live. Observing birds is surely one of the most exciting ways to enjoy the year s natural cycle, with bird migrations each spring and autumn delivering the color and sounds of the tropics and the Arctic directly to us. Birds of a Feather takes us, via delightful personal accounts, through the ornithological year on both sides of the Atlantic, juxtaposing the rich coastal plain of the Chesapeake Bay with the rocky coast, plains and mountains of South Wales. Along the way are valuable reminders that birds in both regions, and across the globe, are at risk from a similar array of threats, including habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.
Birds of a Feather
Seasonal Changes on both sides of the Atlantic
C OLIN R EES AND D EREK T HOMAS
Copyright 2014 Colin Rees Derek Thomas
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
Matador 9 Priory Business Park, Wistow Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire. LE8 0RX Tel: ( 44) 116 279 2299 Fax: ( 44) 116 279 2277 Email: [e-mail] Web: www.troubador.co.uk/matador
ISBN 978 1784626 761
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Matador is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd
Contents
PROLOGUE
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
UK EPILOGUE
US EPILOGUE
This book is dedicated to our wives, but also to our children and grandchildren in the hope that they may inherit a natural world that we were fortunate to experience a generation ago.
A BOUT THE A UTHORS
COLIN REES is a life-time birder having devoted his career to the conservation of the natural environment. He has worked for international organizations in many countries and written extensively on biodiversity conservation. He continues to work on the international scene as well as supporting efforts to conserve bird populations and their habitats in the State of Maryland, USA. He is a former President of the Anne Arundel Bird Club and currently Chair of the Long-range Planning Committee of the Maryland Ornithological Society. He lives on a creek in Annapolis, Maryland with his wife Valerie and Zorba, their Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
DEREK THOMAS has had a lifelong interest in natural history combining his career as an academic with his passion for birds and other wildlife. He has served at local and national level with many organizations, including The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, The British Trust for Ornithology and The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. Recently retired as Chairman of Wildlife Trusts Wales, he continues to work in wildlife conservation, and is currently the UK representative for the Smithsonian Institution s Bird Friendly Coffee Program. He and his wife Pranee live in a small cottage surrounded by the sea on the Gower Peninsula in Wales.
F OREWORD
Since our friendship began some 40 years ago, we have often compared seasons as they progressed on either side of the Atlantic. Only recently, however, did it occur to us to put pen to paper and record our experiences. Thus, for one calendar year, did we chronicle the rotation of the seasons, setting down our observations and thoughts, especially when incidents or events captured our attention. The result was often moving, sometimes disquieting. Though the entries in this diary of the passing seasons are centered on birds, our first love since childhood, as conservationists we felt compelled to write about the entire natural world and increasing global threats, including climate change. In doing so, we have found companionship and felt privileged to enjoy spectacles large and small in our respective environments. Indeed, by deliberately grounding ourselves we came to know better the places where we live reading what Coleridge once called the mighty alphabet of the universe . Equally, we found blithe disregard for the health of our natural environment profoundly troubling, more so given the numerous warnings by the scientific community. Consequently, in recording events of a year, we simply wanted to portray the intensity of wonder and feel a better identity with a community that tries to do its best for bird and wildlife conservation.
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Over many years, there are many on both sides of the Atlantic who unconsciously contributed to the outcome of this book. Family, friends, colleagues and even strangers all played their part in forming our view of the natural world. We must however mention childhood mentors. Colin s schoolteachers Alban Rees, Roy Sanders and Bill Davies lit his birding flame and interest in literature. Derek s brother Frank and Old Mr Felton , who kept hens and pigs in the foothills of the Pennines introduced birds and the natural world into his early life.
Friends read portions of early drafts and passed on insightful comments, especially Claire Trazenfeld. We thank Colin s son Ian for his evocative paintings of the birds depicted in the book, Derek s son Chris for providing the photographs, which inspired Ian, and Robert Gillmor for designing and producing yet another cover masterpiece.
Above all we would like to thank our wives Valerie and Pranee for their constant encouragement and provision of le mot juste . Their forbearance for time spent away from family duties can never be adequately redressed.
P ROLOGUE
In wilderness is the preservation of the world
- Thoreau
Chesapeake Bay
Dancing light playing on the most wondrous waters of the Chesapeake Bay drew Native Americans to its shallows to gather food and, in 1607, Captain John Smith was moved by its bounty, saying, Within is a country that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant places. Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man s habitation. Here are mountains, hills, plaines, valleyes, rivers and brooks, all running into a faire Bay, encompassed but for the mouth, with fruitful and delightsome land.
The Bay quickly became the cradle of US history, and for a long time held sway over the nation s future. As America s largest estuary, its rich blend of salty and fresh waters continues to nurture clams, oysters, crabs, and 350 species of fish, of which only 29 are year-round residents. Not surprisingly, the Algonquin Indians anointed it Chesepiooc , Great Shellfish Bay . More than 4,000 miles of shore line tidal marshes, creeks, or rivers, providing habitat for over 3,600 species of plants and animals, and within its 64,000 square miles of watershed lie large areas of forest, cultivated fields, farms, many towns, and the cities of Baltimore and Washington DC, all sustaining over 17 million people.
Despite the buffering effects of the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay has one of the most extreme annual temperature ranges known for coastal ecosystems. Water temperatures may reach 86 F in late summer and dip as low as 34 F during winter, when Arctic winds skitter across frothing whitecaps. In late winter or early spring, with an explosion of phytoplankton, alewife and American shad enter the Bay and move up the tributaries to spawn; they are quickly followed by striped bass and other spawning migrants, so that by late May most of the temperate and subtropical summer residents and their prey have returned.
On the edges of the Bay are over 500,000 acres of wetlands used by birds for shelter and food. Heron rookeries and colonies of terns occupy isolated islands dotting the Bay, and in the last 10 ye