Nature Book Reader June 2020 - Flipbook - Page 63
conservation of birds. His
words describe the time of the
kittiwakes ‘…nothing for two
hundred feet but a heaving
mass of screaming, grey and
white against the rock face…’.
An equivalent book
written today would describe
climate change and the
resulting collapse of kittiwake
populations and how redthroated divers also seem
unable to feed their young
some years. It would detail
the commonplace ingestion
of plastics by fulmars and
death of gannets entangled in
marine litter. More positively,
the book could pay tribute
to the many people who
are working hard to record,
understand and conserve
seabirds. In this sense, it
would reflect something
of the spirit of Haunts of
British Divers, a love for these
incredible creatures and the
places in which they live.
Further Reading
Findings or Sightlines
by Kathleen Jamie
The Small Heart of
Things
by Julian Hoffman
63
