Songs of Love and War

Have you ever wondered how birds select their mates, migrate successfully or establish territory?

Have you ever wondered whether Magpies, Sparrowhawks or cats affect bird populations?

And a more left-field question: have you ever wondered whether Beethoven really did hear the three birds transcribed at the “Scene by the Brook”, the second movement of his Sixth Symphony (the “Pastoral”).

If you have, this book is for you. But rather than being a scientific document, this is a narrative book, in which I take my own experiences of what I have seen and heard over a lifetime of birding and put these into context of what people have been discovering over the years. And what they have discovered paints a somewhat bleak picture of what life is really like for our feathered neighbours.

Part memoir, part popular science, this book will answer many of the questions you have about your favourite birds.

Currently in print and available at all good book shops. If you wish to order online:

Amazon
The Book Depository
Waterstones
WH Smith