In Search of One Last Song: Britain’s disappearing birds and the people trying to save them

by Patrick Galbraith

Our wild places and wildlife are disappearing at a terrifying rate. This is a story about going in search of the people who are trying to save our birds, as well as confronting the enormity of what losing them would really mean.

In this beautiful and thought-provoking blend of nature and travel writing Patrick Galbraith sets off across Britain on a journey that may well be his last chance to see some of our disappearing birds. Along the way, from Orkney to West Wales, from the wildest places to post-industrial towns, he meets a fascinatingly eclectic group of people who in very different ways are on the front line of conservation, tirelessly doing everything they can to save ten species teetering dangerously close to extinction.

In Search of One Last Song mixes conservation, folklore, history, and art. Through talking to musicians, writers and poets, whose work is inspired by the birds he manages to see, such as the nightingale and the capercaillie, Galbraith creates a picture of the immense cultural void that would be left behind if these birds were gone.

Among those he meets, there are feelings of great frustration. There are reed cutters and coppicers whose ancient crafts have long sustained vital habitats for some of our rarest birds but whose voices often go unheard. There are ornithologists who think their warnings are being ignored, and there are gamekeepers and animal rights activists who both feel they are on the right side of an increasingly ugly battle. Ultimately, it emerges that many of the birds Galbraith encounters could thrive, but it would require much better cooperation between those who are caught up in the struggle for their future. It also becomes clear that while losing birds like the turtle dove and black grouse will result in a paler country for all of us, for some of those who live alongside them, it will mean the bitterly painful end of so much more.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Natural History, Birds, Environment

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2022

Reviews

[Chantal Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled somewhat with 'In Search of One Last Song'. The author's heart is clearly in the right place, and he clearly has a lot of passion as well as writing talent - but the execution of the book left much to be desired, in my view.

The main problem was the amount of extraneous detail. You could chop maybe a fifth or sixth of the text away without any loss - all the scenes that didn't involve birds, and were simply observations of random people that Galbraith saw on his wanderings. And yes, in certain contexts and in certain books, such content is appropriate and fitting - but they didn't belong in a book that is presented as being about birds heading towards extinction, and the people who love them.

I also wish there'd been more women featured. There are as many men in the book called Patrick as there are women being interviewed (excluding briefly-mentioned wives). There were more descriptions of the narrator or his interview subjects going for a piss - six, in fact (which is six too many). The author even found the word count to mention the time he saw a man masturbating in a car. Really not my kind of nature-writing.

I've given three stars rather than two because there are still some shining moments in the book, but you have to wade through a lot of non-important stuff to get to them.

(With thanks to 4th Estate & William Collins and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for a standard ‘world of wonder’ book about fluffy birds and the joy of the nature, then this is probably not a book for you. This is a highly readable and yet deceptively clever book that looks not just at birds but the relationships between birds, people and places - and shows how the places we know and the people we are, are so connected and influenced by these iconic birds. The author meets an eclectic range of people many of whom are so informed, and yet normally aren’t listened to. A highly original look at nature and conservation.

[Michael Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently written account of Britain's relationship with nature. It is brilliantly written, honest and darkly humorous. I enjoyed this book and the way that Patrick creates character, tells his story and presses home his serious points about what we unintentionally lose through progress.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant writing, but troubling information about the demise of Britain's birds.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. Alongside a wealth of information on the threats facing some of Britain’s most iconic bird species, this book delves behind the headlines and spends time with the various (and varied) people trying to save these animals. Beautifully-written and insightful, this book crosses the battle lines of conservation, hunting and everything in between and the result is a warm, highly-readable journey across the British Isles. Fascinating, thought-provoking and often humorous and melancholy in equal measure, if birds are important to you in any way then you will enjoy this. I sincerely hope Patrick Galbraith plans on writing more in this area.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meandering journey through some of the species of birds we're set to lose in the UK, focusing on the people who've dedicated their lives to protecting them. Galbraith is mostly recounting their words here, dispersed with beautifully described prose setting the scene. An important book for anyone interested in these birds or conservation and fascinating for anyone else interested.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The United Kington is one of the most nature-depleted countries on the planet. Since 1970, there has been on average almost a 70% decline in the populations of many mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, with some species expected to disappear entirely within the next few decades. Within the pages of In Search of One Last Song: Britain’s Disappearing Birds and the People Trying to Save Them, Patrick Galbraith considers ten species of bird: the nightingale, hen harrier, lapwing, black grouse, kittiwake, capercaillie, turtle dove, grey partridge, bittern and corncrake. All were once abundant, or relatively so. Now, even the most enthusiastic nature-lover will count themselves lucky to encounter the majority of these species even once in their lifetime.

This isn’t a book to approach if you are looking for scientific fact or copious information about how each species lives and what might be done to boost their populations. The emphasis here is very much on people - those people living and working in the habitats where these birds remain. Patrick Galbraith has essentially written a nature-based travelogue, with plenty of conversational dialogue with the people he has encountered.

A sobering and thought-provoking read.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Collins Publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are well on the way to losing far to many of our British bird species, in many cases birds that have been common, even over-abundant, for centuries. Galbraith takes ten of these species, and makes it his business to go to their favoured habitats, and find out why from the people who know, and have strong opinions. He talks to people from all parts of the environmental debate, whether experts in the academic sense, or experts because they've lived and worked in the area affected. He makes no judgements about the people with whom he spends time, and thereby demonstrates how very complex a subject conservation is. Are conservation efforts which are right for one species in some cases spelling danger for others?

I think this is a book I will feel more warmly towards as I distance myself from it. Galbraith presents the arguments, the complexities of the various debates well and fully. And while I appreciated the character sketches of the people whom he met, I sometimes found his anecdotes irritatingly inconsequential and meandering. Nevertheless, it's a book I am glad to have read, and it made me aware of how rarely conservation arguments can be presented in black and white.

[Andrew Macfarlane · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a sense this is a very worthwhile book and there is nothing wrong with it. It's mainly about the ordinary people who enthuse about birds and are keen to preserve the species and habitats that protect them. The main problem with focusing on ordinary people is that despite their enthusiasm they are just so ordinary. More ordinary than the birds about which you want to learn. They speak of seeing birds giving them a spiritual feeling when they mean beautiful and hard to believe. They say something is surreal when what they mean is unexpected and unusual. A wretched bird song is "beautiful" when what they mean is distinctive. They have anecdotes which can be questionably credible. Half understood stats and facts are trotted out. Patrick Galbraiths silence in the book when faced with this is good testament to his patience but doesn't make for a really good book despite his fine writing. More power to these people and we should be in awe of their passion. We shouldn't forget that passion often renders you unable to get your message across.

[Sølvi Goard · Rating 3 out of 5]

(audiobook) Beautiful moments, especially in Findhorn and Salford, but this was really hard to listen to purely on a technical basis - the prologue is repeated, for some reason. There is no real use of pauses to communicate breaks in the narrative. So you can very suddenly be in a completely different part of the country, and because Galbraith's writing is very expositional, you're rarely signposted that this is the case. I just found it really hard to follow.

I feel like this book was written to communicate grief and sorrow about losing birds, and I think it does that. There's value in letting people talk sometimes and not trying to push things into a manifesto, and I respect what Galbraith did here, but it just didn't hit for me.

[Stephen Dunstan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Patrick's writing in The Critic I didn't have the highest hopes for this, which was a gift. In the event I was pleasantly surprised as his keen sense of observation is reflected in some absorbing writing, and certainly much better that his shorter pieces on shooting in the aforementioned magazine.

I'm not a prude and expect books about nature not to skirt round things too much but I don't think regularly describing the author or interviewee going for a 'piss' adds a lot to a book of this kind. Otherwise it's a good read if somewhat depressing because of the subject matter being stories not likely to have a positive outcome.

[Ferelyth Bruce-Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I could only read slowly. I found it poignant, deeply disturbing, sad, and enlightening about how, in our pursuit of “cheaper” or “better” ways of doing things, we are decimating our bird populations. I grieve for my grandchildren, and what they will not know…the sound of a bittern booming (which I was lucky enough to hear, once, as a child, when visiting an uncle in Norfolk), the lessening of the number of murmurations of starlings, which I think are one of the greatest spectacles nature has to offer, and so much more…

[Kelly Furniss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about the search of the people who are trying to save our birds, wildlife and wild places which are disappearing at alarming rate. It confronts the enormity of what losing them would really mean. Very thought provoking and touching as this worry is expressed through artists, poems, musicians and conservationists.

[Steve Gillway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt really sad reading this book. It is one thing to see/ hear of exotic birds on the edge of extinction, in such thingsas Blue Planet. However, to read of the demise of once common birds on our shores, despite all the efforts of key individualsand institutions, is truly awful.

[Hana · Rating 2 out of 5]

First 100 or so pages were great, and then it just meandered into nothing

[5greenway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top notch writing

[Lisa San Martín · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a slog - I just didn’t click with the author’s writing style.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enthusiastic author and so young - refreshing

[John]

The author's meeting with a cross section of folk working in bird conservation, talking about the birds they love. Not the usual conservation suspects, but farmers and keepers along with poets and RSPB types. The subjects sometimes had very differing opinions from each other. They also often differ and argue against the usual conservation narrative. This made for interesting reading.

Reading this in short bursts rather than a few longer sittings I was sometime confused by jumps between different conversations and subject. Each voice appeared and left without out much of a formal introduction & conclusion.

Thanks to 4th Estate & William Collins and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.