Nature Literature discussion

Please add your comments about Rebirding: Rewilding Britain and its Birds here.

Hello everyone I won’t be able to join you for September’s selection! Happy reading…

Not this month. As an iBook it costs $26. Too much for me.

Yes, started it on the first, but haven't gotten too far along due to trying to catch up on my other book club's reading (two groups might be a bit much for me and I prefer this one).

I really like the book so far. I'm glad he started so far back in time to give a perspective on the role of large herbivores. I agree the passage about bounty on predators was really depressing. Hope to get back to reading soon. It's good.

This book is really making my contemplate our view of the abundance of nature. As in, we have no idea how to fathom what we've already lost. This is a subject I've mused on most of my life; the sterility of our concrete cities, the wasted space of our suburban landscapes and the desecration of our waterways. What I had not realized was the extent of our loss of insects and the insectivore birds.
Reading about how many tens of thousands of caterpillars a pair of breeding birds requires to feed its nestlings is staggering. I've literally been walking around trying to imagine clouds of insects in the outdoors spaces I walk in.
Looking forward to learning how we can possibly fix this some of this emptiness. Trying to hold off the despair.

The author cites the book Wilding Lib/E: The Return of Nature to a British Farm - on my list to read soon.

I'm listening to the book on Audible and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's more depressing than I expected but it's well researched and compelling.

Thanks, John, for confirming the Wilding book is worth reading.

I don't have a yard, but may read Nature's Best Hope anyway (thanks!). My mother participated in the National Wildlife Federation's certification program and proudly displayed her sign in the front yard. (https://www.nwf.org/certify)

Fascinating reading about the why of reintroduction for birds. I never realized the extent/impact of the homing instinct for birds, both migratory and residential. Birds need to live/breed where they were born. They don't know/map to any other place. So, if a migratory bird returns to its birthplace, only to find the area has been bulldozed for human housing, it may not be able to find another suitable habitat nearby and may die.

The other interesting thing I learned from this book is about the size of a viable population and the area it needs to inhabit. Small groups of birds in an area may be already on target to go extinct there, because the size of the population is too small to accommodate "bad luck" (predation, extreme weather, etc.).

Me, before reading this book: birds need trees for nesting and insect provisioning.

Me, learning from this book: specific species of birds need specific species of trees for nesting and to find specific species of insects to eat and many also eat specific species of seeds at different times of the year.

Habitat is more than just standing trees. Spruce trees do not equal Oak trees.

This now helps me to understand when I was first watching birds and spent an hour walking through a wooded park in Northern Virginia. The trees were very tall and the canopy was completely filled in. There was very little understory. I think I logged 2 Downey Woodpeckers and a Tufted Titmouse in the entire hour. I figured I was a newbie birder and must have been there at the wrong season or the wrong time of day. Birds should be thick in the forest, right?

Now I understand that little patch of untouched trees was a wasteland for birds.

Cindy ANN- I chose not to read this book, but your comments make me feel the information inside is valuable to people no matter where you live.

Interesting comments--thanks.

I wasn't able to participate in reading this one either, but I've enjoyed these thoughts and getting reading suggestions.
I saw a young Cedar Waxwing fledgling this week here in northern MN, a late baby as we often start having frosty nights around this time in September. They come to mind after Cindy Ann's comments about specific birds connected to specific trees for diet and habitat.
Biodiverity is the common thread emphasized in so many nature books. Important!

Finally on the chapters in which the author presents his economic pitch for jobs generated by rewilding Britain's landscapes. Hope you like numbers... His projections depend on ecotourism in conjunction with sport hunting. He sites successful areas in Scandinavia and Alaska as examples.

He understands that this change cannot happen overnight, just as the devastation of the wildlife took several generations. It makes me think (not for the first time) that I am glad humans have a limited lifespan, since the older we get, the more resistant we seem to be to new ideas. (just an generalization here, I've certainly met exceptional individuals)

There is much inertia to overcome to be able change course on how we treat our landscapes. I am speaking as an American, since we tend to exploit our natural resources in a similar fashion to the Brits - with nostalgia and subsidies for monoculture farms.

I love reading about his vision, though. It makes me want to travel to see the places he describes in the North. I want to have this hope for abundant wildlife for my granddaughter.

So I just finished this book a few moments ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it; I was shocked to learn how denuded the British landscape is and how the general population doesn't seem to mind. Also, this is the first time I've heard the phrase "green desert" to describe the landscape and it's just horribly depressing.

I really hope more countries are able to follow the Eastern European model where landscapes are left messy, hedgerows are nonexistent, and animals are allowed to live in their natural habitat rather than trying to eek out an existence in a land almost devoid of bugs, birds, and larger mammals.

Hopefully, the rewilding programs in Britain, and elsewhere is able to restore the land so animals of all kinds can thrive.

Hayley wrote: "So I just finished this book a few moments ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it; I was shocked to learn how denuded the British landscape is and how the general population doesn't seem to mind. Also, th..."

Hayley, I also learned a ton of new concepts from this book. I browsed through a large NE US botanic garden this weekend and observed very few birds. Then I got to wondering how much insecticide they use to support their plants. Were there enough bugs for the birds to eat?

I'll never look at another nature reserve with the same eyes again. I will be reading more books on this rewinding process.

Cindy Ann wrote: "Hayley wrote: "So I just finished this book a few moments ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it; I was shocked to learn how denuded the British landscape is and how the general population doesn't seem to..."

I agree with you Cindy Ann that I will never look at nature parks, gardens, etc. the same after reading this book; I've noticed that after reading this book, and a few other nature books, that I've become far more observant about the animal and plant life around me. Let's hope more active citizens can help reverse this loss of birds.

Hayley wrote: "Cindy Ann wrote: "Hayley wrote: "So I just finished this book a few moments ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it; I was shocked to learn how denuded the British landscape is and how the general populati..."

Also, who decides that the sides of a road need to be pretty and orderly?!! How were those council decisions made? Just so weird.

Agreed. The photo of the house taken at two different times was a stark reminder of how we've become so used to neat and tidy. It's those dang home and garden magazines (and their advertisers). I guess we need to start going to our local council/town/whatever meetings and speak up for messy.