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This expansive and honest memoir, from a markedly different perspective, is sure to be of interest to so many readers, and I cannot recommend it enough. The training will consist of two weekly online modules of 90–100 minutes each, complemented by supported self-study exercises which will be provided after each session. Photograph: Brian Fairbrother/Alamy The New Forest in Hampshire was deserted during lockdown, leaving the wildlife to reclaim it. What I found was an deep insight into the life of a wildlife videographer, some wonderfully poetic passages about the authors time in the New Forest during the first lockdown of 2020 and some fascinating descriptions of the landscape and its inhabitants. Envy, because while many of us were under house arrest for sixteen months, the author had access to the great outdoors.
Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other - WINNER
It is a short book so his prose is taut and considered; there is not a wasted word here, however, he still manages to convey the brutal beauty of these fantastic birds. Over the past months of the pandemic I think some of us have been privileged to discover something of the beauty of the natural world and the calm mindfulness of walking in woodland, admiring the sounds of birds and the soft whisper of the wind in the trees. Goshawk Summer A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other is a new book by James Aldred, who is the author of The Man Who Climbed Trees. The wood holds its breath, the only sound the begging of the chicks and the gentle breeze sieving through trees.James Aldred is an award winning wildlife documentary cameraman and tree climber, and during the lockdown of 2020 he was given permission to head to the New Forest (where he spent much of his childhood) and film a family of goshawks. And views in the Brecks, and from a road overlooking a forestry plantation next to a grouse moor in east Scotland, are more recent Goshawk appearances in my life. The narrative flows seamlessly, is laced with interesting scientific tidbits and Aldred exudes enthusiasm for his subjects, which he describes in richly evocative language. However, despite the high level of legal protection given to the goshawk, its spread from these large forests into some of the surrounding privately owned woodlands has been restricted due to persecution. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, the wonderful writing makes it easy to read and so much knowledge has been shared, my daughter is going to read this next….
Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other - Goodreads
There was a brief eulogy to his late father, Chris, at the end of the book; he shared happy times with his father in the New Forest and lockdowns and work commitments meant that he never spent as much time with him in that last year. The diary format works really well too, it is a reminder that whatever happens in our own little worlds, the earth keeps turning and gradually changing each and every day.
I struggled to finish it and can’t see what all the fuss was about when you compare it to, say, The Peregrine by J H Baker or H is for Hawk. I feel like I have a much greater appreciation for goshawk now - his descriptions of their nature, their appearance and their behavior is truly the stuff of reverence - as well as raptors in general, foxes and curlew.
Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other
Goshawks regularly occupy these woodlands but many are killed after capture in cage traps set legally for corvids. James Aldred's account of a season spent filming Britain's most powerful and mesmerising avian predator shines with the shifting complexities of weather, season, mood and place.
In-between days filming the nest James also spends time filming a family of foxes, his descriptions really capture your imagination and you can almost see the fox cubs rolling around in the bracken having a scrap. He doesn’t let it get to him though, luckily the Goshawk nest isn’t upset and he continues to film the chicks as they develop their own little personalities. He describes the lack of human activity and disturbance as a glimpse into paradise, which, through his engaging observations, we too can experience. A portrait in time, as seen through the eyes of the wild creatures relying on it for their survival. I had my eye on this for a while, and bought it when it was awarded the Wainwright Prize earlier in the year.
Goshawk Summer: The Diary of an Extraordinary Book Review: Goshawk Summer: The Diary of an Extraordinary
really because James comes across as an incredibly knowledgable and intune observer of nature, and where he lacks knowledge, information is supplied by the experts he works alongside.Aldred was granted a special dispensation to film, and spent much of the first period of lockdown in the south of England's New Forest, following a pair of goshawks as they hatched three chicks. What resulted from this work was a beautiful account of a season in parts of the mysterious world of the New Forest, in which the author's genuine love and respect for nature shone forth - truly magical and a delight to read. As James is filming he shares a lot of info with the reader, a remarkable bird, almost the ultimate killer with a very high successful kill rate.
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