Dangerous Birds: A Naturalist's Aviary - Hardcover

Lembke, Janet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 155821190X ISBN 13: 9781558211902

Publisher: Lyons Pr, 1992

Synopsis

"Dangerous" birds can be as plain as sparrows or as light and elusive as hummingbirds, so long as they catch hold of human fascination and never let go. In this brilliant book, Janet Lembke visits some of these dangerous birds, letting us share in her love and knowledge of birds and the unique sense of wonder they inspire. "Watching birds," she says, is one way. . .of contemplating what it is to be alive."
Earthy, practical, and humor filled, these pieces are as varied as the feathered species that blow over Lembke's watery front yard, the Lower Neuse River. "A Bird in the Hand" speaks of the kingfisher, and the author's rare, ultimately fruitless try at a rescue of a wounded bird. "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Grackle" looks at. . .just that. In the title piece, Lembke faces off with a local shooter, and eater, of songbirds.
Dangerous Birds offers some of today's best writing and thinking about the natural world.

About this title

From the Back Cover

The stories in this book deal most obviously with birds. They are meant as an aviary housing a hodgepodge of species - some that are easily seen, some that aren't, and some that can't be seen at all. Honest-to-goodness field-guide birds, the sort that can be watched with eyes, share the pages with birds that can be observed only in memory and imagination, the birds of myth and poetry, the birds of Mother Goose and Edward Lear. (6 X 9, 192 pages)

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who enjoyed Lembke's River Time and Looking for Eagles will welcome another visit to coastal North Carolina. The title essay invokes birds of myth and film, brought to Lembke's mind by her discovery that one of her neighbors shot robins for the table, while another waged a vendetta against bluejays. With her Doberman, Sally, Lembke watches birds along the Lower Meuse River and in the piney woods nearby; a huge brushpile proves especially rewarding for fall migrants. One essay chronicles a field trip to look for the declining red-cockaded woodpecker, a victim of Hurricane Hugo. Lembke offers "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Grackle," tries to rescue an injured kingfisher and describes the ethical dilemma when a rat snake approaches a flycatcher's nest. Her "dangerous birds" are wholly captivating.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Lyons Pr
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 155821190X
• ISBN 13: 9781558211902
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 183