Bird News: Vagrants and Visitors on a Peculiar Island

by E. Vernon Laux

As Darwin found on the Galapagos, an island provides the perfect laboratory in which to chart new finds and learn universal truths. With the enthusiasm of the devotee, columnist E. Vernon Laux documents a year in the life of the Martha's Vineyard bird population and provides a bird's-eye view of the seasons on New England's most celebrated island. He reports on the characters that watch and the creatures that are watched in the skies and waters, beaches and mudflats, fields and forests of the Vineyard. Laux also lovingly describes his own discovery: the chickmouse, a hybrid of two common species. In his sometimes dramatic, sometimes serene corner of the world, Laux explores complex relationships through acute observation and enthusiastic attention.

216 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 1999

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Bird Club Book Club read this collection of essays by birder and columnist Vernon Laux about bird watching on Nantucket. It piqued the curiosity of one of our members so much that she is now planning a trip there. I thought the book was okay. I learned a little bit about Nantucket and birds. I enjoyed the quotes selected for each month, but the writing did not catch my imagination. I thought the book was beautifully printed.