Rating: 4 out of 5

Read, in part, while sitting on the deck of a log cabin in Cropton Forest with a backdrop of chiffchaff, blackcap, wren, and song thrush song. This seemed an appropriate setting to read this book about nature and life.

It is a study of 12 birds, each with a lesson, and combines information about the bird with personal reflections about the author and her family and how this bird has appeared in her life. Part memoir, part nature study. All accessible.

Those 12 birds and life lessons are:

Oystercatcher: Let nature guide you through adversity
Swift: You have the power to change a world
Starling: Look for the unexpected
Peregrine: Learn from those who are there to teach
Swallow: We aren’t removed from nature, we don’t own nature, we are nature
Gannet: Our fight or flight response needs a system upgrade
Herring Gull: Nature teaches us the power of resilience
Curlew: Never lose that sense of wonder
Goose: The world can be so much bigger when you let nature in
Rook: There is beauty in the everyday
Parakeet: Things change, that’s guaranteed - it’s up to you whether you choose to change with them
Pigeon: Open your eyes now to the magic that surrounds you

Originally posted to my Goodreads account