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On wing and wild water
The author filmed and recorded single-handed the secret lives of three of the rarest birds in Britain - the black throated divers that breed each year near his cottage in the Scottish Highlands, peregrine falcons, and the golden eagle.
- GenresNatureNonfictionBirds
239 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 18, 2025
Mike Tomkies was a Hollywood journalist turned naturalist who spent many years living in remote parts of Scotland studying its wildlife. In this book, he describes several years of observing eagles, black-throated divers and peregrine falcons.
Reading accounts of long treks in appalling weather and many hours spent crouched in tiny observation hides, often soaked or frozen, it's obvious that Tomkies was completely devoted to his work. He conveys the isolation and majesty of the surrounding landscape and also the beauty of the magnificent birds and animals he observes.
As with many of his books, the average reader may find a slight overload of information - we don't really need to know exactly how many mouthfuls of rabbit an eagle mother feeds to her eaglet in a single visit! - but Tomkies was making such detailed records to further knowledge of the creatures he was watching. Many of his observations are 'firsts' and would have been incredibly helpful to naturalists of his day.
This book had a more melancholy tone than the previous ones I have read by him - after so many years in the wilderness, he starts to suffer increasingly from loneliness, exacerbated by the loss of his beloved dog, Moobli. He also suffers discouragements and setbacks, having one of his books rejected by a publisher, and seeing younger men being paid to do the same observation work that he has carried out freely for so many years, and using his data to help their work. While I know some people have objected to the personal element Tomkies introduces to his books, I found it quite moving that he would speak so openly of his struggles with depression, his loneliness and his grief over his dog's death. For a man in the 1980s to write so openly about mental health was both unusual and courageous.
The book does finish on a more positive note, and there is a certain wry humour in Tomkies' realisation that, however much he may claim that each season is going to be 'the last', he still keeps coming back to spend more time with the eagles.
Reading accounts of long treks in appalling weather and many hours spent crouched in tiny observation hides, often soaked or frozen, it's obvious that Tomkies was completely devoted to his work. He conveys the isolation and majesty of the surrounding landscape and also the beauty of the magnificent birds and animals he observes.
As with many of his books, the average reader may find a slight overload of information - we don't really need to know exactly how many mouthfuls of rabbit an eagle mother feeds to her eaglet in a single visit! - but Tomkies was making such detailed records to further knowledge of the creatures he was watching. Many of his observations are 'firsts' and would have been incredibly helpful to naturalists of his day.
This book had a more melancholy tone than the previous ones I have read by him - after so many years in the wilderness, he starts to suffer increasingly from loneliness, exacerbated by the loss of his beloved dog, Moobli. He also suffers discouragements and setbacks, having one of his books rejected by a publisher, and seeing younger men being paid to do the same observation work that he has carried out freely for so many years, and using his data to help their work. While I know some people have objected to the personal element Tomkies introduces to his books, I found it quite moving that he would speak so openly of his struggles with depression, his loneliness and his grief over his dog's death. For a man in the 1980s to write so openly about mental health was both unusual and courageous.
The book does finish on a more positive note, and there is a certain wry humour in Tomkies' realisation that, however much he may claim that each season is going to be 'the last', he still keeps coming back to spend more time with the eagles.
June 1, 2009
Yolen introduces us to her bird-loving family, and uses her son's gorgeous photographs of birds in the wild as inspiration for short, delicious poems. My son enjoyed these poems at age 9, but I can also see this being enjoyed by middle school students and adults as well. Poetic images created by words, sharp, vivid photography, and a few bird facts here and there delight the senses. I especially recommend this to bird-watchers and nature-lovers.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews