This is a very pleasant book of observations of birds around the author’s home in the Lake District. There is a lot about the flight of Buzzards and the song of Blackbirds.
I really liked the author’s watercolours of the views and some birds of the Lake District and nearby areas although I’m not sure that the cover was well-chosen with that monster Buzzard dominating the landscape. Their style reminded me of Rowland Hilder’s Kent oast houses which used to hang in our dining room in my youth.
This is a homely and soft book into which you can settle like you might into a comfy armchair. It is a largely comforting read.
Walking with Birds by Colin Whittle is published by Brambleby books.
Inglorious: conflict in the uplands by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here. Updated paperback edition now out.
Remarkable Birds by Mark Avery is published by Thames and Hudson.
I have a few hardback copies of A Message from Martha left to sell at paperback prices – but not many.
As for the well worked cover illustration with its the lone tree hanging on the crag — a poignant or comforting message? Does the author give us any clues?