Our resident nature expert Katrina has been back out into the wild with her book again. This month, she’s been reading Helen Macdonald’s Vesper Flights. Here’s what she had to say…
This book is a collection of essays inspired by Helen’s experiences with the natural world. She describes the book like a “cabinet of curiosities”, not just describing wildlife, but looking at our impacts and interactions with wildlife and natural phenomena.
Helen writes about how we romanticise and anthropomorphise animals, how we treat migrants, the way we hold nature in isolation within reserves and how our bright cities attract and endanger high flying birds.
It was a joy to be reminded of my own awe: waiting for summer storms, seeing glow worms, watching vesper flights (swifts at dusk), feeling the air shift from a mirmuration of starlings and befriending animals.
Through the patterns and behaviours of the natural world, Helen looks both at herself and the rest of us. Both personal and questioning, I found this book very thought provoking.