Field Notes from a Hidden City: An Urban Nature Diary - Hardcover

Esther Woolfson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1847082750 ISBN 13: 9781847082756

Publisher: Granta Books, 2013

Synopsis

Inspired by the discovery of an injured pigeon in the snow-covered streets near her home in Aberdeen, the author of this nature watcher's journal spent a year carefully recording the plants and animals she encountered through the seasons. Her thoughtful prose muses on how close we are to the natural world in our urban lives as it reveals the behaviours of the often-overlooked birds, rats, foxes, squirrels and spiders that inhabit the city.

About this title

About the Author:

ESTHER WOOLFSON was brought up in Glasgow and studied Chinese at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Edinburgh University. Her acclaimed short stories have appeared in many anthologies and have been read on Radio 4. She is the author of Corvus: A Life with Birds, which is also published by Granta Books. She has won prizes for her nature writing and received a Scottish Arts Council Travel Grant and a Writer's Bursary.

From Booklist:

Scottish naturalist and bird rescuer Woolfson sees her hometown of Aberdeen, on the coast of the North Sea, as much more than a community of people living in houses. On her daily walks, she notices an abundance of wildlife, not only in gardens and parks but also around old quarries and abandoned lots. Despite long winters and short summers, opportunistic species thrive across the city. Although many of Woolfson’s neighbors consider pigeons, rats, spiders, squirrels, and gulls as pests, she regards them as admirable survivors that contribute to the health of the local environment. In brief diary notes and longer essays, including verses from favorite poems, she defends unpopular urban animals as victims of eradication campaigns often based on bad science and false accusations. Always tolerant and respectful, Woolfson offers both philosophical and scientific arguments for the conservation of all city life. She also updates stories from her previous book Corvus: A Life with Birds. --Rick Roche

About this edition

• Publisher: Granta Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1847082750
• ISBN 13: 9781847082756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 357