Return of the Osprey: A Season of Flight and Wonder

Hardcover
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Author: David Gessner

ISBN-10: 1565122542

ISBN-13: 9781565122543

Category: Birds - Birds of Prey

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When David Gessner returned to Cape Cod, where he spent summers as a child, he noticed something he had never seen before: hawks with magnificent six-foot wingspans and dark masks.In Return of the Osprey, Gessner sets himself on a simple quest: to watch these great birds and learn about their astonishing comeback to the Atlantic coast after a twenty-year absence. In the process, he takes us on a journey into the wild and the tame, the beautiful and the fragile.Over the course of a full nesting season, Gessner immerses himself in the lives of these majestic birds. He observes their remarkable adaptability, their astonishing fish-catching skills, their housekeeping habits, and, when the chicks are born, both their savage and gentle ways of nurturing. For Gessner, spotting an osprey dive for fish at forty miles an hour becomes a lesson in patience and focus, watching the birds build their nests illustrates the vital task of making a home, and following the chicks' attempts to fly show him the value of letting go. He discovers the rewards of slowing down and the discipline of waiting and watching. And he witnesses an extraordinary event: the survival of ten young ospreys, the most his Cape Cod neighborhood has seen in more than half a century.Return of the Osprey is a story of a remarkable recovery, a celebration of place, and a thoughtful meditation on finding one's way in the world. Audubon David Gessner offers a satisfying, vivid account of the resurgence of nesting ospreys on Cape Cod and elsewhere on the New England coast.

Openings1Coming Back15Building35Fishing62The Dive88On Osprey Time100Neighbors, Good and Bad120A Deeper Vision138Respecting Our Elders158Growth and Death179Flight195Learning Our Place216Saving the World233Living by Water250The Off Season262Bibliographical Note281Selected Bibliography283Acknowledgments287