Raptor : a journey through birds : with a new preface /

In an odyssey from Aberdeen to London, Lockhart walks the Scottish and English countryside, roughly following the route renowned British naturalist William MacGillivray (author of A History of British Birds) walked in 1819, in search of the 15 diurnal birds of prey that breed in the British Isles. Though he originally intended to concentrate on one species at each stop, one bird per landscape, he came upon multiple species at each stage of the journey. Beginning in the Orkney Islands with the hen harrier, Lockhart sojourns in peat bogs to find merlins and mountain ridges where golden eagles nest. As he continues south, he encounters all of the other raptor species, finally ending with the sparrow hawk in his Midlands hometown. Full of lyrical descriptions of the English countryside, its geographic features, weather, and winds, Lockhart's account takes us right to the heart of each habitat. Liberal quotes from MacGillivray's writings reveal both how little has changed in Britain's wild areas and how much attitudes toward raptors have shifted. A nature travelogue for dipping into and savoring.--Bent, Nancy Copyright 2017 Booklist

Unique and charming, this title is a combination of natural and human history, especially of Scotland, plus descriptions of the travels of Scottish naturalist and artist William MacGillivray (1796-1852), one of John James Audubon's important collaborators. MacGillivray walked from Scotland to England, collecting birds and writing as he went. In his first book, a recipient of the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for Nonfiction, literary agent Lockhart (associate editor, Archipelago) retraces some of this route, quoting MacGillivray liberally. This rambling, discursive, often poetic narrative should be savored. The author employs many unusual terms (e.g., cess, craquelure, vambrace, isoglosses). Mixed with his own experiences observing raptors is information on history and botany, and he uses Gaelic and Old Norse as well as English words for the phenomena he sees. There are 15 chapters, one for each species of hawk, eagle, or falcon. David Cobham's A Sparrowhawk's Lament also covers these same species, devoting a chapter to each bird, and is likewise highly anecdotal but more useful for reference, with superior illustrations. Six of these species are found in North America, too, and of the remainder, there are similar birds on this side of the pond. VERDICT For those with a serious interest in nature and British history.-Henry T. Armistead, formerly with Free Lib. of Philadelphia © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Fifteen birds of prey lead the author on an enthralling journey across the British Isles.When William MacGillivray (1796-1852) published his History of British Birds in 1845, a fellow ornithologist was lavish with praise: "There is a peculiar mountain freshness about Mr. MacGillivray's writings, combined with fidelity and truths in delineation, rarely possessed by Naturalists, and hitherto not surpassed." Literary agent Lockhart's elegant, engrossing literary debut deserves equal acclaim. Buoyed by MacGillivray's journals and books, particularly his first, on rapacious birds, Lockhart evokes in precise, vibrant detail every aspect of the fascinating predators and their habitats. Although their behaviors vary, all raptors share startlingly acute vision. Humans have about 200,000 photoreceptor cells; birds, 1 million. Like binoculars, their eyes magnify images by around 30 percent. "Birds of prey," writes the author, "see the whole twitching world in infinite, immaculate detail." And their world is vast. Ospreys, for example, spend winters in the mangrove swamps of West Africa, flying thousands of miles across the Sahara to arrive in Britain to breed. Peregrine falcons, "specialist" predators that prefer "medium-sized avian prey," return to the same nest sites each year, guided by droppings left from the previous year's young. In the mid-1950s, agricultural pesticides reduced the supply of calcium carbonate in the peregrine's tissues, leading to thin, fragile eggshells; thankfully, a ban on the pesticide reversed the plummeting population. As their numbers increased, some relocated, bringing wildness into cities. Lockhart admires the power of the soaring golden eagle; the devious pursuit of sea eagles, who badger other birds to make them "spill their catch"; and the mesmerizing aerial acrobatics of the red kite, which "can suddenly turn on a sixpence." The author admires the determined, prickly MacGillivray, as well, now forgotten in favor of his collaborator and friend James John Audubon. They formed, Lockhart writes, "an ornithological dream team." This illuminating book serves as homage to a brilliant naturalist and extraordinary birds. If you loved H Is for Hawk, put this next on your reading list. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.