Curlew Moon

The Curlew is a fantastic looking bird, the largest wader we get in the UK, one mighty beak, awesome legs and some of the oddest bird behaviour. The sound they create can be magically during the day and haunting at night, pretty sure I heard one when I was a scout, we thought it was a wolf. It is devastating to find out that this magnificent bird is in danger of disappearing.

Mary Colwell decides to do a walk to try and raise awareness of the plight of the Curlew, she also wanted to research what is causing their decline, her journey of 500miles takes her all over the UK and Ireland. You can really see from the writing that Colwell does "cherish" Curlews, falling for them as a young girl. Two things shock her, first just how much people love the Curlew, she meets so many people on the road, some even tracking her down to tell her just how much their life has been affected by this bird. Secondly the many reasons why there are so few Curlew's left. Predators I get cause their fair share of damage but the destruction by humans was far greater than I realised. What Colwell finds out is truly shocking.

The writing is fabulous, it really draws in the reader and covers a huge amount of detail about the birds, their history and how they have influenced art and literature over the years. I loved the very last chapter, I've read a number of nature books which mention an animal that is in decline, this is the first one I've read that ends on a positive note. Colwell's journey has a much bigger effect than she could have expected, she manages to get so many organisations and charities working together for once and inspires many volunteers. With all these people working together there is hope for the Curlew's future, I just hope they can keep up the momentum. I'm doing my bit by giving up milk, can't let go of meat yet...one day maybe.

This is a fantastic book and well worth a read.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2019/10/31/curlew-moon-by-mary-colwell/