cathydavies's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed learning about rooks and about the author's adventures when exploring. The book was slow going in the middle and I nearly gave up. It was worth preserving to read more about why rooks and other birds roost.
yasza's review against another edition
2.0
Shouldn’t have bought it, my mistake.
I thought Vintage “The Birds and the Bees” series were for a general reader, but this book in particular was not. I am sure bird lovers would appreciate it, because there are a lot of facts, numbers and names. I like nature writing for its atmosphere and beautiful poetical descriptions, not for numbers. I found “Crow Country” dry and pretty boring.
I thought Vintage “The Birds and the Bees” series were for a general reader, but this book in particular was not. I am sure bird lovers would appreciate it, because there are a lot of facts, numbers and names. I like nature writing for its atmosphere and beautiful poetical descriptions, not for numbers. I found “Crow Country” dry and pretty boring.
tbr_the_unconquered's review
3.0
Crows are rather unceremoniously overlooked since they are pretty much a fixture in our daily lives. Considering the abundance of numbers and their sharp intelligence it might only be a matter of time before they decide to take over the world. Step out of the house for a moment and look around, chances are that you would see a crow (or a corvid) somewhere around you. The bird has pretty much accustomed itself completely with life in thriving cities and remote hamlets alike. It was on the way back from work a couple of days back that I noticed that there is a crow roost on a tree right in the middle of a crowded thoroughfare in my city. By the looks of it, they barely bat an eyelid at all the commotion happening on the ground below. Now take the life of this sturdy bird and add an impassioned British author to the mix and there where get to the ground of Mark Cocker’s book. His is a book length appreciation of the rook and the jackdaw which are prominent among Britain’s corvid population.
This is not a book that lavishes a great deal of attention on the life of corvids, the focus is rather narrow as it restricts itself to the roosting behaviour of the birds. There was this time when I was driving along a road in rural Kerala during the late evening. The road was winding through rubber plantations with the occasional house dotting the landscape and as I come around a bend on the road, a sound like the murmur of a distant ocean comes in through the open windows. In a few seconds it becomes clearer as the clamour of crows roosting for the night. In the trees lining the roads was a roost the size of which I had not seen until then and while it was fascinating to look up at it all, I left pretty quickly to avoid turning the outside of the car to a gooey mess of droppings. The whole of this book is about evenings like this and also about the men and women who have set aside their lives for ornithology (especially around corvids). The author is obsessed with observing rooks and jackdaws and how they roost. He travels the length and breadth of rural England to observe and record what he sees. The book moves back and forth between the author’s present day obsession and the notes and observation by acclaimed ornithologists on rooks. There is within these pages a lot of anecdotal information (historic and otherwise) on the abundance of rooks and their lives entwined with humans.
The impassioned observation by the author also means that he goes into the nitty-gritties of bird watching and quite so often I did come across various parts of the narrative wherein the obsession shines through clearly and at the expense of objectivity. I was looking for a book that went into the lives of corvids but then this was only about one aspect of their lives and not much more.
Recommended if you like corvids else it is a drag.
This is not a book that lavishes a great deal of attention on the life of corvids, the focus is rather narrow as it restricts itself to the roosting behaviour of the birds. There was this time when I was driving along a road in rural Kerala during the late evening. The road was winding through rubber plantations with the occasional house dotting the landscape and as I come around a bend on the road, a sound like the murmur of a distant ocean comes in through the open windows. In a few seconds it becomes clearer as the clamour of crows roosting for the night. In the trees lining the roads was a roost the size of which I had not seen until then and while it was fascinating to look up at it all, I left pretty quickly to avoid turning the outside of the car to a gooey mess of droppings. The whole of this book is about evenings like this and also about the men and women who have set aside their lives for ornithology (especially around corvids). The author is obsessed with observing rooks and jackdaws and how they roost. He travels the length and breadth of rural England to observe and record what he sees. The book moves back and forth between the author’s present day obsession and the notes and observation by acclaimed ornithologists on rooks. There is within these pages a lot of anecdotal information (historic and otherwise) on the abundance of rooks and their lives entwined with humans.
The impassioned observation by the author also means that he goes into the nitty-gritties of bird watching and quite so often I did come across various parts of the narrative wherein the obsession shines through clearly and at the expense of objectivity. I was looking for a book that went into the lives of corvids but then this was only about one aspect of their lives and not much more.
Recommended if you like corvids else it is a drag.
rmardel's review
4.0
Beautifully written and quite enjoyable. I'd probably rate it 3 1/2 if possible as there was much I loved about the book, the author's writing, and the way he connected the lives of corvids with our environment and his own pursuit of understanding. But I also learned that I am just not that interested in crows, or probably any bird, beyond the abstract. I can highly recommend it, while acknowledging that it may also not be for everyone, including, perhaps, this reader. I do not regret reading it however.
alldebooks's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Mark Cocker provides an extraordinary account of his lifelong obsession with corvids. He methodically documents his 'rooking' outings and notes his observations in crisp detail.
A joy to read if interested in birds or the natural world.
A joy to read if interested in birds or the natural world.
taylercresswell's review
5.0
A wonderful read - fundamentally about how studying wildlife - and for the author, studying rooks “is a way of engaging all your faculties... a way of being intensely alive, and recognising that you are so... a way of valuing life and appreciating the fundamental tenet of all ecology: that every thing is connected to everything else”. Lovely stuff.
wtb_michael's review
4.0
A lovely meditation on one of England's most common birds, highlighting the richness that can come from really paying attention. Enough to have me ready to dust the binoculars off on the weekend and go wandering the Merri Creek.