Raptor — A love letter to British raptors and ornithologist William MacGillivray ****

As a birder and particularly a lover of all things raptor, a book with the title ‘Raptor’ would always catch my fancy. The cover promises that it is ‘a journey through birds’, and displays some beautiful imagery of some of the birds of prey that the United Kingdom has to offer. I was hooked on the spot and decided to buy this book.

Reading the book does not disappoint. It sounds like quite a daunting task: describing all fifteen nesting raptors in the UK. The book is set up brilliantly for it. James Macdonald Lockhart starts his journey all the way up in Orkney, and travels through the UK searching for each individual raptor species. Each chapter is dedicated to one particular species, and Macdonald Lockhart does a lot more than just tell us about the bird. He tells us about the landscape and the relationship the raptor has to that landscape. He tells us about the history of the relationship between raptors and humans, and how this has developed in recent years. This can sometimes be a bit depressing, as humans and their actions have brought so many of Britain’s raptor species to the brink of extinction. There is room for optimism, too: humans are also involved in the return of species like the red kite, the buzzard and the osprey, with many initiatives to protect them throughout the UK.

While reading each chapter, you feel like you’re right there birding with him, and you feel like you’ve become part of the bird’s life. The amount of knowledge in this book is astounding, and I have already been able to use some of the acquired knowledge during my own birdwatching.

This book is also a love letter to the late Scottish naturalist and ornithologist William MacGillivray, who in 1819 set out for a walk from Aberdeen to London to visit the British Museum at the age of 23. On this journey he kept a diary, and there are many fragments from this diary included in ‘Raptor’. MacGillivray was a fantastic observer of all things wildlife and plants, and his notes really add an extra layer to the book. Sadly, MacGillivray never really got the recognition Macdonald Lockhart successfully claims he deserves, and as a reader you do wonder why you have never seen his name before, especially as a birder. ‘Raptor’ also features some of the watercolours MacGillivray made during his life, which are now apparently hidden in storage at the Natural History Museum and are never seen by anyone. I for one would love to see his watercolours, and am determined to get myself a copy of his most famous work ‘A History of British Birds’. MacGillivray intended for the watercolours to be included in this book, but didn’t have the money to make this happen. However, his descriptions of these birds are so vivid that you don’t actually need to see it at all. This is a rare gift, and I can only hope that other readers of ‘Raptor’ will join me in trying to get more attention to his work.

Even for people who are not generally fond of raptors there is a lot to enjoy in this book. It’s beautiful prose, and any book that is written by someone with a clear passion about the topic will draw you in regardless of whether you are actually as passionate about the topic yourself. Warmly recommended.

Title: Raptor
Author: James Macdonald Lockhart
ISBN: 9780007459896

The Otters’ Tale — A masterful look into the life of the elusive otter*****

As the saying goes, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Yet, it was the cover of The Otters’ Tale by Simon Cooper that drew me towards it, featuring a beautiful watercolour painting of a curious otter by Mark Adlington. As someone who loves nature writing and has a lifelong wish of seeing an otter, I knew this was one of those books I had to read. I felt that it might shed some light on the life of an animal I knew very little about, except for the fact that I wanted to see one more than anything.

This book did more than simply shed light on the life of the ever elusive otter, however. While reading it, I felt like I was part of the otters’ lives. Part of their landscape. Simon Cooper obviously cares a lot about his subject, and describes every aspect of their lives in great detail. From being separated from the mother, to finding their own territory, to starting a family of their own, to abandoning their pups at some stage, Cooper has it all covered.

But he does a lot more than simply describing every step of the way in an otter’s life. He describes the landscape that surrounds them, the lives of the creatures the otters prey on. You get to know every single thread that is connected to an otter’s life. What makes one season completely different from the other, apart from the obvious factor of the weather. Why they prey on some creatures during one season, but different ones in another. Why, in order to survive and keep the species going, seemingly difficult decisions have to be made by otter mothers. I say seemingly, because as harsh as it may seem to us, to the otter it’s nothing more than common sense.

This is exactly what makes this book such a delight. Cooper really tries to understand the otter for what it truly is. It is very clear that he has observed otters in extreme detail, and understands them better than most of us ever could. Reading this book really makes you feel stronger about wanting more otters in Britain. Cooper’s enthusiasm is truly infectious. What a privilege for him to be able to get to know these beautiful animals so well. And what a privilege for us to be able to read about it.

Title: The Otters’ Tale
Author: Simon Cooper
ISBN: 9780008189716 (Hardback) and 9780008189747 (out in paperback 22/03/2018 in the UK)

Foxes Unearthed — Fascinating book that is as much about foxes as it is about Brits *****

As an outsider who has now lived in Britain for over a year and a half, one of the things that have mystified me the most is that fox hunting is actually a topic that is discussed during election times. Fox hunting? Seriously? The current prime-minister, Theresa May, has stated that she wants a vote on the current ban on fox hunting, and people have spoken out strongly in agreement or disagreement. It really made me wonder why this topic is even important at all. The answers to these questions are in Foxes Unearthed, a beautiful study by Lucy Jones, in which she enlightens us on so many aspects of the relationship between British people and foxes.

Fox hunting has existed along other forms of hunting for hundreds of years. There is, however, a strong difference with some other animals, such as the beaver, that British people used to hunt for. Whereas most were killed for either their fur or their meat, foxes were killed usually for neither. Fox fur has hardly been seen in Britain, and foxes are supposedly disgusting to eat. Fox hunting has always been mostly about the chase, the supposed thrill of going out with the horses, the fox hounds and your fellow hunters, or about a genuine hate for the animal, particularly from farmers who fear for their livestock. This hunting for fun is what I, as an outsider, never really understood. Nobody hunts like this in the Netherlands, and Lucy Jones states that Britain is unique in this aspect of hunting.

Why is Britain so different in this aspect? Although Jones does not answer all the questions that I have, as she focuses purely on Britain and not on other country’s attitudes towards foxes, she sets out on a bold description of all the reasons why British people either love or hate foxes, and either love the hunt or hate the hunt. She talks to all the parties involved. Scientists who have studied the behaviour of foxes, farmers who fear for their lifestock, hunters who genuinely think that what they’re doing is the right thing, hunt saboteurs who are convinced that foxes are still being killed every weekend across the country, they all get their say on the matter. It is truly marvellous to read, and although I am strongly opposed to fox hunting as it used to be in Britain and the book did not change my mind, it made me more aware of other people’s opinions and more importantly why they would have these opinions. Foxes unearthed really is the kind of book that makes you think for a moment, and really enlightens you on different viewpoint on the same topic.

For me, the debate on fox hunting reflects the general situation in Britain. Without going too deep into politics, it has to be said that the majority of British people are in favour of the ban on fox hunting, supposedly around 77%. Unfortunately for them, the remaining 23% makes up a huge amount of the British Parliament. This is why a topic that is basically a non-issue with the majority of the people is still seen as a major topic in the Parliament, and probably always will be. As is the case with many aspects of British life, the government is slightly out of touch with reality.

Still, even within the 77% in favour of the ban, there is a lot of variation in the way people feel about foxes. Although many people love to see them and even feed them in their garden, there are also lots of people who are fearful of foxes, especially around their children, and who fear that there will be too many of them. Lucy Jones provides answers on these topics as well, and I think many people will feel relieved after reading her account.

For me, Foxes Unearthed is as much about foxes as it is about the British people and their sometimes strange relation to nature. Here, you can wear a scarf with foxes, but still hate them. This is an aspect of British culture that I will probably never understand, but Lucy Jones has certainly helped to unfold some of the mysteries. A must-read.

Title: Foxes Unearthed

Author: Lucy Jones

ISBN: 9781783963041

On Tyranny — Timely read on how we should not repeat ourselves****

Ever since reading Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder for a course at university a couple of years ago, I have known that he is one of those authors who can really reveal certain things to you. When I saw that he had a new book titled On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century coming out, I was immediately determined to read it, knowing that Snyder is an expert on this topic.

His expertise does not disappoint. Each lesson, ranging from speaking out on topics and causes you care about to not looking the other way when things become strange and potentially dangerous, is timely and important. You could say that some lessons seem obvious, but are they really? The entire world keeps repeating that we should never make the same mistakes from the twentieth century again, yet here we are in a situation that is frighteningly similar to what happened in both the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. Leave it to Timothy Snyder to draw the comparisons that may seem obvious to some, but are ignored by too many.

This book was clearly written in a fit of passion and anger about the current situation in the United States, and it refers to ‘the President’ quite a number of times. This makes On Tyranny a less timeless book than Bloodlands, but maybe an extremely current and poignant book about why we should not stand by and watch as we repeat history is exactly what the world needs right now. As it is only 120 pages, I would say that everyone should read this to make up their own minds about whether or not we are repeating our mistakes and what their stance on the whole matter is.

Title: On Tyranny: Twenty Lesson from the Twentieth Century
Author: Timothy Snyder
ISBN: 9781847924889 

The day that went missing — A story of grief with a stiff upper lip ****

When Richard Beard was 11, his 9-year-old brother Nicholas (Nicky) drowned while the family was on holiday in Cornwall. Richard was with him in the water, and nearly drowned as well but managed to escape the sudden incoming tide. Only now,  nearly 40 years later, does Richard start to wonder what actually happened that day and immediately after.

When disaster strikes, the Beard family has an extremely British response. The parents take care of the funeral, the three surviving brothers do not attend the funeral (this was deemed too much for the young boys), and immediately after the funeral the family packs up again and continues their doomed holiday in Cornwall, in the same holiday cottage, visiting the very beach where Nicky drowned. Carry on and pretend that nothing’s happened. It seems as though the family collectively decided to forget Nicky’s excistence, and they hardly ever talked about it again.

At least, this is Richard’s experience of it all. As it turns out, all of his family members have remembered Nicky in their own way all this time, without him knowing about it. As he tries to recover the memory of his lost brother, he finds out how fickle memory can be, how things can be left out or even deformed, and most of all, how memories put far away can return when given the right trigger. Richard, being the last person to see Nicky alive, blames himself, his parents, and the beach for the loss of his brother. But is there anyone to blame?

Richard Beard’s account of dealing with grief is very recognisable, although it is a very British description. As a non-British person, the Beard family’s response to the whole thing seems very distant and perhaps a little strange, but then again I’m not sure there is a “correct” or “normal” way of dealing with grief. Everybody goes about it in their own way, and Richard Beard has only now felt that he was ready to face his past and the effect of his brother’s death on his own life. This is a beautiful, very personal account that I finished in basically one sitting. Recommended for everyone, as everyone will experience grief at some point in their lives.

Title: The day that went missing
Author: Richard Beard
ISBN: 9781910701560

Bee Quest — Ask not what nature does for us, but what we can do for nature *****

Dave Goulson loves bees. He has shown this in earlier work (Sting in the Tale, A Buzz in the Meadow), and in this book, he sets out to find elusive and rare bumblebees all over the world. In doing so, he finds out not just about the state of affairs of bumblebees, but of all wildlife and plants.

This is not a dry description of the characteristics of different types of bumblebees. Every now and again Dave Goulson switches to bee-nerd mode, and immediately apologises to the reader for doing so (which he shouldn’t do, because I loved these elaborate descriptions of a type of bumblebee I had never in my life heard of, and was only distinguishable from another for a little bit of different colouring, for example). This book is, more than anything, a passionate cry about how things should be done differently with regards to wildlife conservation. Farming destroys the plants and flowers that bumblebees so desperately need, and abandoned industrial sites turn into wildlife havens, only to be considered for another supermarket or a parking lot.

Goulson doesn’t limit himself to just talking about bees, however. He manages to outline how all wildlife is connected, and how one species helps out another, and then another, etc. He talks about how nobody stands up for the conservation of insects and other “creepy crawlers”, because they are not cuddly and you do not really notice when they are not around. He also tells tales of “good” intentions gone wrong, for example when Chile decided to introduce European bumblebees to “improve” their farming, causing a decline in native species. Although the reason for this is not entirely clear (probably diseases), it does become clear that the interference of humans has led to many different bumblebees being rarer than they should be. Without bumblebees, we wouldn’t have tomatoes, almonds, etc. Things you take for granted would not be. No more pasta!

This book is a real gem, and it makes you angry on behalf of our little friends out there with six, eight or even more legs. Goulson provides some ideas as to how we ourselves can improve the situation (Leave your dead trees! Don’t clean up your garden!). He also acknowledges that conservation is a rather depressing topic, and I have to say that I oftentimes felt gutted and a bit hopeless. The book has also given me a lot of hope, however, because there are people out there who really care and are working hard to protect these wonderful and important little creatures. I think we should all join them in their efforts. A highly recommended read.

Title: Bee Quest
Author: Dave Goulson
ISBN: 9781911214137