Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
James Aldred ist Kameramann und Filmemacher, der sich auf das Filmen von Tieren spezialisiert hat. Er hat mit Sir Richard Attenborough zusammengearbeitet und hat für seine Dokumentation einen Emmy bekommen. Im Frühling und Sommer 2020 hatte er die einmalige Chance, das Nest eines Habichts von der Ankunft der Eltern bis zum Flüggewerden der Jungen unter besonderen Bedingungen zu filmen. 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….the selling point was the peeing in a tree haha. The New Forest is a place which Aldred knows intimately. He speaks, very early on, of his deep affection for the region: 'To this day, part of my heart remains in the forest, dwelling in the quiet rides and woods of my childhood. Even the smell of the place stirs deep currents of longing within me.' Later, he discusses that although he knows stretches of the woods as well as he can, and has such good memories of cooking stews with his friends, and sleeping outside as a teenager, there are other parts of the New Forest which he knows not at all. I too thoroughly enjoyed Conor Mark Jameson’s book; he captures very well the frustrating elusiveness of the bird and is strong on pointing the finger at persecution as the reason they are not as common and widespread as they should be. His account of birds breeding in urban parks in Germany is compelling and shows what we are missing in the UK. I am fortunate to have fairly regular encounters with Goshawks as they breed in local woods, owned by a private estate who are seriously into forestry but have no ‘sporting’ interests. With the bird’s predilection for grey squirrels, the estate rightly regards the Gos as ‘the foresters friend’. There definitely should be far more emphasis on fighting goshawk persecution, and why are those same people constantly bemoaning how many corvids we have not waving the flag for the goshawk’s return? If there was any imbalance in corvid numbers I think it infinitely more likely goshawk would correct it properly rather than someone in tweed with a gun arbitrarily deciding that six jays, thirteen magpies and eight crows need to die…or more likely that they all do.
Goshawk Summer - Wainwright Prize
Emmy award-winning cameraman James Aldred grew up near the New Forest. Photograph: Karen Robinson/The Observer Save The Platform Project Epic Gameshow Summer Fundraiser 2024 to your collection. Share The Platform Project Epic Gameshow Summer Fundraiser 2024 with your friends. The book moves softly, and silently, through the months of summer from April, until the end of June 2020, and does so in diary entries which record just what James observed in the woods, his relationship with nature, and more importantly what he learned about, and from the goshawks, as they live out their challenging, but majestic lives. Sharply observed, every nuance of the woodland area is investigated and brought to life, and the narrative is so finely placed it feels cinematic in quality just as though you are cocooned high above the canopy of the New Forest watching as the ancient woodland unfolds deep below you to share its innermost secrets. I didn’t enjoy Aldred’s writing style though I do respect that his work and painstaking collection of data. I hadn’t planned to read it. I wasn’t enticed by the ‘pandemic’ tag from the publisher, but it won the Wainwright Nature Prize, and it became harder not to.Change in occupied 10-km squares in the UK % change in range in breeding season (1968–72 to 2008–11) I also loved the author’s ability to include the reader within his entries and descriptions. I really felt as if I was there as well along for the ride. In nature there has to be a place for all to enjoy. Those who do, hikers, runners, mountain bikers, artists, drivers, dog walkers, and all, must play their part as well. The wildlife is amazing as well .. it really felt you were transported the heart of the woodlands with the wonderful descriptions. Reading Goshawk Summer filled me with so many different emotions. Envy, happiness, sadness, and joy. Envy, because while many of us were under house arrest for sixteen months, the author had access to the great outdoors. Happiness because at least somebody was enjoying freedom denied to many of us. Sadness because of losing my mother in very similar circumstances to the author.
Goshawk Summer - Wainwright Prize Goshawk Summer - Wainwright Prize
The Scottish population has benefited from the large forests such as those owned by the Forestry Commission. Here there is no persecution and the birds nest with little disturbance. 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. Goshawks regularly occupy these woodlands but many are killed after capture in cage traps set legally for corvids. Those that evade capture attempt to breed but some are then shot at the nest so breeding in these woods rarely persists for long. I really enjoyed this book. James's style is relaxed, informative and often humorous. As a weekly visitor to the New Forest I have seen many Goshawk nests, but I have never gained the insights to their behaviour that James was privileged to see. Through this book he allows us to share his experiences and to understand what it is like to be a wildlife camera operator on a mission. But the stars are the Goshawks, dominating the dense woods in which they live, in a National Park that receives 15 million visitors each year."Goshawk Summer by James Aldred is a stunning and wonderful nature diary and account of one man’s journey documenting and exploring more about the fascinating Goshawk. Amidst the fragility and the fear, there was silver moonlight, tumbling fox cubs, a calling curlew, and of course, the soaring Goshawks – shining like fire through one of our darkest times. A Goshawk summer unlike any other. Aldred is the author of one previous book, entitled The Man Who Climbs Trees, and has worked as a wildlife cameraman and documentary filmmaker since 1997. He has worked with the likes of the legendary David Attenborough, and has won awards for his work. As one would expect, for a filmmaker skilled particularly in filming from heights using aerial equipment, Aldred has worked all over the world. In early 2020, he was located in East Africa following a family of cheetahs. Save Big Highworth presents James Williams in concert for Christmas to your collection. Share Big Highworth presents James Williams in concert for Christmas with your friends. The images he evokes in his diary entries are highly descriptive and transport you to the heart of the natural environment. Other creatures are also described - Dartford warblers, curlews, dragonflies, foxes among them - and James's love for, and understanding of, these creatures shines through every paragraph.
The Wainwright Prize - Waterstones The Wainwright Prize - Waterstones
They will take a wide variety of birds and small animals as prey, birds as small as goldcrests to those as large as pheasants. However about two thirds of their diet consists of wood pigeons, crows, rooks and rabbits. I’m afraid I have to disagree with you here. I really enjoyed Looking for the Goshawk, but found TH White’s book virtually unreadable and rather boring. 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. Supposedly their population is increasing, the one thing that suggests their situation isn’t as dire as the hen harrier’s, but I really wonder about that. A pole trap set in dense woodland is probably even harder to spot than one on a moor and would be devastating for goshawks. I can imagine them gravitating towards the same places they shoot pheasants at anyway, all those poults would be an additional attraction – some lost to goshawk grudged whereas beak to tail roadkill is acceptable. Goshawk do need more attention. At this unique moment, James was granted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to keep filming. And so, over that spring and into summer, he began to write about his experiences in a place empty of people but filled with birdsong and new life. More needs to be done to highlight its plight. I’m sure many people would not even know that goshawk is a British raptor.Acutely aware that he alone had been given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe how the wildlife behaved in the forest without humans around, for a documentary that will be out later this year, he began to develop “a sort of imposter syndrome” about being there. “The sheer emptiness of the place... It felt weird, being out there in that paradise on my own. I felt overprivileged.” We learn a lot about Goshawks from this book and I wonder how many fewer Grey Squirrels we would have in our woods if we had a few more Goshawks. This book is for anyone that loves nature, birds, exploring, and preserving what is illustrious and precious within our surroundings. That’s strange, although I loved his ‘The Sword in the Stone’ and ‘The Age of Scandal’ I just couldn’t get into the ‘The Goshawk’ at all, just gave up which is unusual for me. ‘H for Hawk’ was of course excellent, and I’ve still to read ‘The Peregrine’, but I thoroughly enjoyed Conor Mark Jameson’s ‘Looking for the Goshawk’.
Great Deal 
New Comment