Monday, July 18, 2022

Swifts and Us - Sarah Gibson - William Collins - An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers


     Recently I was corresponding with Hilary Melton-Butcher about something else entirely when I mentioned that I was reading a book on swifts by a female English author. Not surprisingly Hilary knew of a recent publication about these birds and asked if the book was Swifts and Us by Sarah Gibson. As soon as she received my reply in the affirmative she asked me if I would review it. I am happy to oblige.
     It is an impassioned account of one woman's fascination with, and dedication to, swifts, especially the familiar Common Swift (Apus apus) that breeds throughout much of the Palearctic, the joy that its arrival in spring brings, the despair at its plight as it faces obstacles in Africa where it spends most of its life, and the loss of breeding opportunities in Europe.       Swifts have become almost entirely dependent on human structures for nesting sites and holes that may have served them well, sometimes for centuries, are being closed off in the interests of efficiency as old buildings are renovated. Public indifference, ignorance, and the willingness by developers to flout the law, all contribute to declining breeding opportunities for swifts.
     All is not lost, however, as swift aficionados throughout Europe build nesting boxes and advocate for changes to building codes to permit their installation, even succeeding at times in having new structures include special bricks designed to facilitate nesting for swifts. As Gibson points out, when people of conscience band together to protect swifts, other species benefit and nature writ large is enhanced and protected.
     She embarks on an odyssey to visit swift champions in other countries and finds it uplifting that there are people of goodwill everywhere who are willing to stand up for what is right. In the process it is sometimes possible to galvanize entire communities to support conservation efforts and to apply appropriate pressure to elected officials. Nesting colonies of swifts can even be turned into tourist attractions with the right planning. 
      Not only Common Swifts are in peril, the populations of all other species are declining precipitously. In Canada, having spent countless hours monitoring Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica) and watching their numbers decline year after year, I know the sinking feeling this brings only too well. I also understand Gibson's joy in finding kindred spirits who share the responsibility to make sure that swifts in all their screaming glory will always be with us.
     There is an interesting selection of coloured photographs and many black-and-white illustrations throughout the book. Sadly, most of the black-and-white pictures are so dark it is impossible to glean much detail.
     One does not wish to be alarmist and disheartened, but it is hard not to be when faced with the environmental destruction going on all around us, and the changes wrought to the environment, where catastrophic floods and fires are becoming seasonal norms. 
     Gibson encapsulates it well when she says, "Nature has been banished to the margins of our lives, excluded from ever greater areas of the world........We have reached a tipping point and the need for action is palpably urgent." Yet as she also enunciates we display a mystifying willingness to elect politicians like the president of Brazil who endorses and encourages the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.
     This book is an important addition to the literature on swifts, written for the layman without reams of technical jargon, graphs and statistics, yet forcibly delivering its message. For those of us who have spent their lives committed to nature, we recognize in Sarah Gibson a kindred spirit.
     I recommend her book highly. 

Swifts and Us - William Collins, An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
Sarah Gibson
Softcover - ISBN 9780008350666
328 pages - colour and black-and-white illustrations 
5 x 7.75 inches (12.5 x 19.375 cm)
Published 2021

     


David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

43 comments:

  1. Hari OM
    Thank you, David, for this review and recommendation - added to my ever-growing list! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. ..."Nature has been banished to the margins of our lives, excluded from ever greater areas of the world........We have reached a tipping point and the need for action is palpably urgent," how sad!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nature has been driven away by people for centuries, unfortunately...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you, Hilary and Sarah Gibson. So many books, so little time.... This is one I lust after though.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your review got up my interest for this book. It is heartening to see that so many people stand up for birds, insects, little critters, animals and nature in itself, people to whom nature is important and who care about our planet - only to be stopped and disappointed by politicians's decisions out of their self interests and who don't care about their country, its people and the world as we whole. I stop here - it's too frustrating and downright maddening.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Muy interesante tu comentario querido David, los vencejos son aves increíbles. Aquí hay una colonia que anida en un gran roquedo a la orilla del río, los mas abundantes son los Riparia riparia, que conocemos como avión zapador, aunque también hay varias parejas de vencejo común. Un fuerte abrazo para ti y para Miriam.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for the review, David. The front page is very beautiful.
    Hugs and kisses, Marit

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wish I could get my hands on that book. I love those birds.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Chimney Swifts migrate through Oregon twice a year -- one building on the University of Oregon campus (here in Eugene) is a destination and we've watched them swoop into the tall chimneys (no longer used otherwise). It is a sight to behold. The most recent time we went was a few years ago at the Fall migration but my pictures were such garbage that I never did write about the experience. The book sounds wonderful and definitely true her take on nature

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's fortunate that the chimney has been left standing for the swifts, Sallie. So often they are demolished once their industrial function is no longer needed.

      Delete
  10. Lovely high flying bird...nice review.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Seems like a great book to me.
    Greetings Irma

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dans un magazine de la Salamandre il y'avait eu un très grand article sur les martinets et c'est vrai que maintenant les façades n'ont plus de trous où ils peuvent nicher.
    C'est bien dommage. Bonne journée

    ReplyDelete
  13. The cover invites you to read.

    Here are many swallows in the evening.
    They catch an incredible amount of insects, so we need them so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately insect populations are crashing and many species of birds have an increasingly difficult time feeding their young.

      Delete
  14. Hello,
    Sounds like another great review and book. Thank you for the review.
    Take care, enjoy your day and the week ahead.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi David - thank you so much for the review, as I requested ... I will be buying it once this heatwave is over (later this week) ... it sounds ideal ... and about perhaps 'a not an iconic bird' we're all familiar with ... it's one of those special little avian friends - I've so enjoyed hearing their song - each year now I will listen out for it ... it's beautiful ,,, and I love seeing them soar above me - avoiding the gulls. Great - thanks so much for satisfying my wish for a review - so glad it was good ... perhaps with a reprint the black and white photos can be lightened. Thanks ... I'll be emailing shortly ... cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am sure that Sarah would be ecstatic to have a reprint, Hilary. Stay cool over there, although that may be easier said than done.

      Delete
  16. I'm not very familiar with swifts, and didn't know they were in so much trouble. I'm adding this one to my book list. I love sharing titles and finding new things to read when people post book reviews. Hope you're not having too hot of weather and July is going well for you. hugs-Erika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. One of the huge problems here, Erika, with Chimney Swifts, is that old chimneys are being demolished, and few are retained for use by swifts. In the process, nesting space is eliminated for entire colonies.

      Delete
  17. I fear it is far too late. Humans are selfish and pig headed for the most part, unconcerned with what will happen after the individual is gone. I don't think we have swifts here.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Una vez, cogí un vencejo del suelo que se había caído del nido. Intenté salvarlo, alimentándole, le estaban creciendo plumas... pero una mañana, vi que se había clavado su propia garra en el cuello y falleció, ¿eso es normal? Lo llamé Odín. Me dio muchísima pena... y me quedé con las ganas de verle volar.

    Me ha encantado todo lo que has escrito.

    Te mando besos y abrazos,
    Noa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by my blog, Noa. I have never heard of the behaviour you describe. Most unusual. Abrazos y besos - David

      Delete
  19. A truly enlightening post. I really had no idea about the Swifts. Thank you again for always teaching me something new. Have a nice day.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This sounds like a lovely and very interesting book David. I love the stories behind the quest and this sounds like it ticks those boxes!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for the review, it is certainly a very interesting book.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Qué tristeza produce el saber de tantas especies que van en declive y que poco hace el ser humano por evitarlo, más bien, acrecentamos los problemas en vez de poder mitigar los efectos que producen esa disminución de tantas especies.
    Seguro que es un libro que merece la pena leer con atención y asignarle un buen lugar en uno de los estantes.
    Un gran abrazo querido amigo y compadre de tu siempre admirador Juan, si existieran muchas personas como tú el mundo sería infinitamente más feliz.

    ReplyDelete
  23. It looks like a very interesting book!....Abrazotes, Marcela

    ReplyDelete
  24. Muy interesante tu reflexión, amigo David, porque parece que le hemos dado la espalda a la naturaleza, que no apreciamos lo que significa en su conjunto para todos y que deberíamos hacer un esfuerzo por cambiar eso.
    Un abrazo enorme, amigo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The terrible inferno in your country is an awful result of our disregard for, and treatment of, nature. We are paying the price. In English there is an expression that describes it perfectly, "The chickens have come home to roost."

      Delete
  25. Many thanks for your review and recommendation.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  26. It must be wonderful based on your esteemed recommendation David.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Los humanos somos los mayores depredadores del planeta amigo. Triste y una gran verdad. Cada vez aniquilamos más.
    Una buena recomendación David.
    Un abrazo.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I was just commenting to a fellow blogger today about how we are losing our Amazon rain forest because logging is rampant in Brazil. I've not heard of a swift, but your review is very concise and to the point.

    ReplyDelete
  29. We sometimes see swifts swirling around the chimney of the local elementary school. Around dusk, they fly in formation and then go into the opening, where they roost for the night. However, they don't reliably come back every year. At another site in town, their chimney was slated for destruction and preservation efforts were challenged because they move around from year to year. I wonder if this is real or just seems to be the case.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. Me encanta ver los vencejos, por aquí hay muchos, anidan en los puentes sobre los ríos. Son muy importantes en la naturaleza. Besos y abrazos.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Fascinating to read about those who advocate for building codes to accommodate nesting needs.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great book. Unfortunately, it is not available in my country.
    Have a nice weekend:)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi David - I was so pleased to see your email mentioning that Sarah had got in touch re this post and review of her book.

    I'm delighted you were able to contact her and she replied ... and loved her thoughts. She'd been out to Segovia, Spain to a conference on Swifts ... and perhaps one day - she'll be over to Canada ... and spend some time with you and your Chimney Swifts and their close cousins ... Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

    Interesting for me to know that Ruby Throated Hummingbirds are related to your Chimney Swifts ... perhaps a brief post?? I'd love to know why etc ...

    Excellent to know the loose ends have been happily tied up - although both of you are anxious about bird-life now ... take care and all the best - Hilary

    ReplyDelete

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge that the land on which we are situated are the lands traditionally used by the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Neutral People. We also acknowledge the enduring presence and deep traditional knowledge, laws, and philosophies of the Indigenous Peoples with whom we share this land today. We are all treaty people with a responsibility to honour all our relations.

Followers