Shearwater

A Bird, an Ocean, and a Long Way Home

By: Roger Morgan-Grenville

Narrated by: Roger Morgan-Grenville

A very personal mix of memoir and natural history from the author of Liquid Gold.

Ten weeks into its life, a Manx shearwater chick will emerge from its burrow and fly 8,000 miles from the west coast of the British Isles to the South Atlantic. It will be unlikely to touch land again for four years.

Part memoir, part homage to wilderness, Shearwater traces the author’s 50-year obsession with one of nature’s supreme travellers. In the finest tradition of nature writing, Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of Liquid Gold - described by Mary Colwell (Curlew Moon) as ‘a book that ignites joy and warmth’ - unpicks the science behind its incredible journey; and into the story of a year in the shearwater’s life, he threads the inspirational influence of his Hebridean grandmother who instilled in him a love of wild places and wild animals.

Full of lightly-worn knowledge, acute human observation and self-deprecating humour, Shearwater brings to life a truly mysterious and charismatic bird.

©2021 Roger Morgan-Grenville (P)2021 W F Howes

a hidden gem for birders and nature lovers

I loved this book from the first chapter. it is much a birders guide to the Manx shearwater as it is a story of home and rediscovering one's roots in nature.