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The Long Spring: Tracking the Arrival of Spring Through Europe
Exploring the wildlife, places, traditions, culture, and personalities associated with spring throughout Europe, and introducing readers to cultural, scientific, and historical research and his recollections of 30 years of continental travel, Laurence Rose paints a vivid picture of one of the world's most significant and beautiful natural spring.
Laurence begins his journey in the first week of February, arriving in southern Spain with the storks that herald the beginning of Europe's spring on San Blas Day. Swallows, cranes and, later on, wild swans are his constant companions as he journeys his way north through Spain, France, and the UK, eventually crossing over to Sweden, Finland, and Norway before finally reaching the Arctic Circle four months later.
While on the road, Laurence follows live data from satellites tracking birds as well as other indicators of spring. Throughout his travels, he meets people living closely with nature. He also encounters new behaviours, such as cranes wintering in France, and explores how they link to climate change.
The further north he travels, the more unpredictable the events of spring become. At the end of his journey, Laurence reflects on what he has learned, as the long Arctic days stretch out into 24 hours of daylight.
Laurence begins his journey in the first week of February, arriving in southern Spain with the storks that herald the beginning of Europe's spring on San Blas Day. Swallows, cranes and, later on, wild swans are his constant companions as he journeys his way north through Spain, France, and the UK, eventually crossing over to Sweden, Finland, and Norway before finally reaching the Arctic Circle four months later.
While on the road, Laurence follows live data from satellites tracking birds as well as other indicators of spring. Throughout his travels, he meets people living closely with nature. He also encounters new behaviours, such as cranes wintering in France, and explores how they link to climate change.
The further north he travels, the more unpredictable the events of spring become. At the end of his journey, Laurence reflects on what he has learned, as the long Arctic days stretch out into 24 hours of daylight.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published May 8, 2018
57 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 4, 2018
At the very south of Europe spring begins around early February, and often on San Blas Day, you will hear the clattering as the first storks arrive back on the continent. These are the first of many migrants that will appear over the next couple of months, escaping the heat of Africa and heading to their summer breeding grounds. There seems to be a reverse logic to all of this as some of the smallest birds undertake the longest journey's around our planet twice every year.
Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar at the latitude of 35 degrees, Rose with follows these feathered migrants through Spain, into France and onto the UK. From there he heads to Scandinavia, to visit Sweden, Finland and Norway where his journey ends in May at Finnmark. His impressive journey visiting places where these migrants fly land is assisted by the latest technologies that mean he can track them in real time from his phone maximising the number and variety of birds he sees. He notes that the dates that these arrive are getting earlier year on year and there are now birds who now can overwinter as climate change grips our planet. Rightly so, he gets angry at some of the nature reserves and sanctuaries as an ideal place to shoot the birds that have a tough enough journey as it is around our planet.
Journey's end is 35 degrees further north, where the long winter flips briefly into spring before the short summer. It is close to the dawn of the 24 hour day on the very edge of the Arctic Circle. Rose has written an interesting book about following the advent of spring from the very south of Europe to the furthest north as life returns as the days lengthen and the sun warms the land again. He has an eye for detail as the book is full of facts and details of the birds and creatures that he saw and stories of the people he meets and places that he visits. Even though he tries bear spotting and there are snippets of information about other animals, it is very much bird centric, which is fair enough given Rose's background at the RSPA. The writing didn't sparkle for me, but it still makes for interesting reading and it is a good companion volume to Walking Through Spring by Graham Hoyland.
Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar at the latitude of 35 degrees, Rose with follows these feathered migrants through Spain, into France and onto the UK. From there he heads to Scandinavia, to visit Sweden, Finland and Norway where his journey ends in May at Finnmark. His impressive journey visiting places where these migrants fly land is assisted by the latest technologies that mean he can track them in real time from his phone maximising the number and variety of birds he sees. He notes that the dates that these arrive are getting earlier year on year and there are now birds who now can overwinter as climate change grips our planet. Rightly so, he gets angry at some of the nature reserves and sanctuaries as an ideal place to shoot the birds that have a tough enough journey as it is around our planet.
Journey's end is 35 degrees further north, where the long winter flips briefly into spring before the short summer. It is close to the dawn of the 24 hour day on the very edge of the Arctic Circle. Rose has written an interesting book about following the advent of spring from the very south of Europe to the furthest north as life returns as the days lengthen and the sun warms the land again. He has an eye for detail as the book is full of facts and details of the birds and creatures that he saw and stories of the people he meets and places that he visits. Even though he tries bear spotting and there are snippets of information about other animals, it is very much bird centric, which is fair enough given Rose's background at the RSPA. The writing didn't sparkle for me, but it still makes for interesting reading and it is a good companion volume to Walking Through Spring by Graham Hoyland.
April 18, 2021
De voorbije vijf lenteavonden ben ik letterlijk overmeesterd geworden door ‘Het lange voorjaar’ van bioloog en componist Laurence Rose. Jaarlijks trekken 2 miljard vogels - die overwinterd hebben in Afrika - noordwaarts vanaf het ontluiken van de lente. Sommige beginnen hun nest reeds in Noord-Afrika. De tapuit reist zelfs 30.000 km per jaar om te gaan broeden in het arctisch gebied. Rose, al bijna 40 jaar expert bij de Britse Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), schrijft er een boek over. Hij reist begin februari naar Noord-Afrika. Hij heeft besloten het voorjaar op te halen en mee te nemen naar Europa. Via Spanje en Frankrijk trekt hij met de terugkerende vogels mee naar Groot-Brittannië. Vanuit Engeland reist hij vervolgens met de Britse wintergasten terug naar hun broedgebieden in Zweden en Finland, om te eindigen in het midzomerlicht aan de meest noordelijke kust van Noorwegen. De fauna en flora van Europa worden op een meeslepende wijze beschreven. Hij legt ook de vinger op de wonde. Ondanks de Europese Habitat- en Vogelrichtlijn is het in de meeste landen van de EU niet goed gesteld met de biodiversiteit. Slecht beheer van land. Overheden die de problemen negeren. En vooral de almacht van de jacht zijn de grote sta in de weg voor een echt natuurherstel in Europa. Het boek is echter geen klaagzang. Het nodigt je uit tot empathie, het prikkelt je zintuigen. Lezen maar...
February 21, 2019
All the I's for this one - Informative, Interesting and Insightful! - and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time immersed in this book as the Author followed the journey of many birds from Africa to Europe, sharing his thoughts on what he sees and what he learns along the way, and really gives you a greater understanding of the amazing journey these birds endure each year as they work their way through Africa, Spain, France, UK, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
With the Author visiting each country along the way you get a real sense of the conditions they face through each leg and also how the landscapes have changed over the years as he has visited many of the countries over a number of years through his own interest and work he has been involved with for the RSPB. He gives a great background to the history of places he visits, along with damaging accounts of how enviromental disasters over the years have afffected different species and their habitats, and it is abundantly clear just how passionate he is about birds, wildlife and the planet in general.
I loved hearing mentions of the birds that I'm lucky to get to see when they pass through the UK, such as the Egrets and Geese in Leigh On Sea, and Blackcaps in my back garden and that really helped me connect more with this book. He also says how important that ringing and satellite tracking has been in helping over the years in plotting the birds and their journeys and how that never used to happen.
His journey allows him to meet numerous 'birdy' folk along the way and it's inspiring to know that there are so many people out there who are doing all they can to help protect many species, especially in a world nowadays where a lot of young people spend less time outdoors and don't seem able to connect to the world of nature as maybe we did in the past.
It's written in a very relentless fashion, in diary form, sharing details from each stop along the way of birds he sees and other forms of wildlife too. I would have loved to see photos or more illustrations but am thankful for internet searches to illustrate for me certain bird species so I could get to enjoy some bird watching of my own, and it has definitely made me aware of different species that I can now hopefully look out for. A really enlightening read for all nature lovers.
I received a copy of this from Nudge Books in return for a fair and honest review.
With the Author visiting each country along the way you get a real sense of the conditions they face through each leg and also how the landscapes have changed over the years as he has visited many of the countries over a number of years through his own interest and work he has been involved with for the RSPB. He gives a great background to the history of places he visits, along with damaging accounts of how enviromental disasters over the years have afffected different species and their habitats, and it is abundantly clear just how passionate he is about birds, wildlife and the planet in general.
I loved hearing mentions of the birds that I'm lucky to get to see when they pass through the UK, such as the Egrets and Geese in Leigh On Sea, and Blackcaps in my back garden and that really helped me connect more with this book. He also says how important that ringing and satellite tracking has been in helping over the years in plotting the birds and their journeys and how that never used to happen.
His journey allows him to meet numerous 'birdy' folk along the way and it's inspiring to know that there are so many people out there who are doing all they can to help protect many species, especially in a world nowadays where a lot of young people spend less time outdoors and don't seem able to connect to the world of nature as maybe we did in the past.
It's written in a very relentless fashion, in diary form, sharing details from each stop along the way of birds he sees and other forms of wildlife too. I would have loved to see photos or more illustrations but am thankful for internet searches to illustrate for me certain bird species so I could get to enjoy some bird watching of my own, and it has definitely made me aware of different species that I can now hopefully look out for. A really enlightening read for all nature lovers.
I received a copy of this from Nudge Books in return for a fair and honest review.
June 1, 2023
Uiteindelijk een heel saai verslag, waar ik totaal niet in kon komen.
January 12, 2022
Mooie beschrijvingen van natura 2000 gebieden. In het begin enthousiast met mijn vogelboek erbij de soorten die hij beschrijft opgezocht, na een tijdje vond ik toch dat er wel weinig gebeurde en veel geschiedenis van omgevingen werd beschreven die mij niet te pakken kreeg.
November 17, 2019
I thought I would enjoy this book, but it just never grabbed me until the thought provoking last chapter.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews