Sunday book review – Winston’s Journey by Jane Murphy and Lorraine Berkshire-Roe

When I was at Wheldrake Ings on Thursday I was given a copy of this book. Wheldrake Ings is one of the important staging posts for Whimbrels on spring migration. In late April and May, thousands of Whimbrel call in, feed up and prepare for the onward journey to their main breeding grounds in Iceland. When I was lad in Somerset in the 1970s, the Somerset Levels played a similar role in the Whimbrel’s life and there was a very big spring roost at Steart in Bridgwater Bay.

Winston, as you may have guessed, is a young Whimbrel hatched in Iceland. He flies to Africa with his dad and on his way back to Iceland in spring he visits Wheldrake Ings which has yummy food.

This book was published in 2011 but it seems there are still copies around and it’s a lovely book. The story is told well and simply and the illustrations are fun.

Winston’s Journey written by Jayne Murphy and illustrated by Lorraine Berkshire-Roe was supported by Natural England and CCT (although I have no idea who they might be) and reprinted by the Friends of the Lower Derwent Valley. These are the only copies I can find on the internet but there must be others.

Inglorious: conflict in the uplands by Mark Avery is published by Bloomsbury – for reviews see here.

Remarkable Birds by Mark Avery is published by Thames and Hudson – for reviews see here.

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