Skylark

Encounters in the Wild

by Jim Crumley

"Renowned nature writer Jim Crumley gets up close and personal with some of Britain s most iconic and loved animals and birds. With his inimitable passion and vision, Jim describes some of his most memorable encounters with British wildlife and reveals the startling ways they continually adapt to the relentless encroachment of humans on their habitats. With the addition of two new titles, Badger and Skylark, joining the much-praised Barn Owl, Fox, Swan and Hare, this delightful series not only offers insights into the creatures secret lives, but also considers the conservation efforts to protect them and how the future looks for these much loved animals."

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry, Natural History

64 pages, Hardcover

Published October 20, 2016

About the author

Jim Crumley is a Scottish nature writer with almost 20 books to his name, mostly on the landscape and wildlife of Scotland. He is renowned for his style - passionate, inspiring, visionary, sensitive, majestic - no work of his should be missed. He is also a columnist and presenter of radio programmes.

He has also received the accolade of '...the best nature writer now working in Great Britain...' from David Craig in the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Reviews

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Encounters in the Wild series is a beautifully presented collection of essays by Jim Crumley. They are the size of a Ladybird book, hardback, with bright, colourful artwork on the cover. It was hard to choose which one to buy but I know I’ll end up with them all eventually so it didn’t really matter!

Intelligently written by one of the very best nature writers, Crumley includes his own poetry as well as quoting others -

....lark after lark they rose and their songs
fell to earth as flakes of ringing silver...

Surely the skylark is the most popular bird for poets. Shelley, John Clare, Wordsworth, Christina Rossetti, Ted Hughes, are just a few. As with most birds, the skylark population is declining. In their case, this is mainly due to farming but steps are being taken to manage their natural environment better in this country. I was dismayed to read that they are still hunted and eaten in the EU but we hunt game birds in the UK so it would be hypocritical to criticise other countries’ pastimes (not that I support our own).

I’m looking forward to reading my way through this series.

[Peg Lotvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming musings on the place skylarks have in our lives and in theirs...

[Claire Milne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful little book in the Encounters in the Wild series. It evokes a feeling of spring and makes me look forward to when the skylarks are singing once again.

[Iain Every · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanting

[Gareth Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming personal, poetic and nature-centred consideration of that most enigmatic of birds - the skylark. I read this after Crumley’s tour de force on the barn owl, which is a classic of nature writing. This book is as beautifully presented but does not quite reach those heights, despite its subject but is well worth a read nevertheless,