[.ca] Red-Tails in Love: PALE MALE'S STORY--A True Wildlife ... (ISBN 0679758461)

From Amazon.com:
The literature of bird watching is full of memoirs set in out-of-the-way, rural locales, but few are set in the heart of big cities such as New York, where Wall Street Journal ornithology columnist Marie Winn hangs her hat. In this delightful account, Winn tells of birding in Central Park with an unlikely band of fellow enthusiasts (including Mary Tyler Moore and Woody Allen). Among her objects of study were a pair of increasingly uncommon wood thrushes who set up their nest in the park's Ramble, treating city dwellers to their "penetrating, flutelike, heart-stoppingly beautiful song: Ee-oh-lee, ee-oh-loo-ee-lee, ee-lay-loo," and a pair of red-tail hawks who courted, mated, and produced offspring, thus quickening the spirits of Manhattanites. Both urbanites and those inclined to country matters will enjoy Winn's gracefully written story of observation and discovery.

Marie Winn Makes Bird-Watching Irresistible.:
"Red-Tails In Love" is more than a story of migrant red-tail hawks raising a family in the middle of Manhattan. It's the most inspiring piece of writing about birding that I've ever read. This book would entice anyone to break out the binoculars and head outdoors to meet the avian neighbors. Author Marie Winn, who also writes a nature column for the Wall Street Journal, tells the tale of her birding colleagues, a group of regular bird watchers in New York's Central Park, and their obsession over the course of a few years with a pair of red-tailed hawks' attempts to breed in the midst of America's largest urban jungle. The drama repeats itself every year as the hawks try to cope with threats from humans and birds alike in order to raise broods of young red-tails in their 5th Avenue nest -ensconced in some of Manhattan's most prestigious real estate, no less. The most incredible part of the story is the rehabilitation of several injured female red-tails, who make their way back to Central Park and annually provide the birdwatchers with a new mystery to solve as to the identity of Pale Male's mate. Interspersed with the adventures of the hawks and hawk-watchers are other stories of bird-watching in the Park, including unusual sightings, some near-disasters with the city's Parks Department, and introductions to some very knowledgeable, and occasionally colorful, birders. In the last section of the book, entitled "A Wildlife Almanac", you will find guides to "Birds Through the Year in Central Park", "Butterflies of Central Park", "Migrating Hawks Over Central Park", "A Taste or Two Along the Way" (edible plants), and a map of the park. The guides are written by some of the Park's birding "Regulars" who are experts in those subjects, and contain information on where and when to find the species mentioned. If you live in New York City or are planning an extended visit, you may find this section of the book extremely useful. And to think that when I lived in New York City, it never occurred to me to go bird-watching in Central Park. If I ever return there, I won't make that mistake again. "Red-Tails In Love" is a very readable story of birds who thrive in an urban environment and the humans who are fascinated by them. It's a real page-turner...and a cure for anyone who ever thought birds were boring. The best thing about this book is that makes bird-watching irresistible.

Irresistible Story, Excellent Writing:
This wonderful book welcomes in its readers as surely as, for the several years it describes, the hawk watchers of Central Park welcomed in anyone who passed by, shared a pair of binoculars, and got instantly hooked on the amazing scene of a family of hawks growing on the ledge of a Gold Coast apartment building in Manhattan. Ms. Winn's precise, quick-reading prose will convert any reader to a greater, renewed, or first appreciation for wildlife in Central Park in particular, but, even more, for what nature will have going on anywhere. There are several stories here, all fascinating: the cycle of bird life in and migration through the Park; Pale Male and his families; and those humans, so normal in their individual quirkiness, who take up his cause through the years. Ms. Winn's particular and not easy skill is to let all these stories move themselves, and therefore sweep the reader along with all the quiet excitements, joy, and sadnesses they convey. A book to buy and keep always.

Cute!:
Please, enough already with the schmaltz. This is a nice enough book for the armchair naturalist and those who haven't a clue as to what N.Y.C. is and ain't. Mary Tyler Moore and Woody Allen indeed, enough with the name dropping. This is Kaffee Klatch stuff and although a nice enough read it truly just goes on and on. For interesting non-fiction about nature and The Big Apple (as out of towners might call Manhattan) try Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson or Kim Todd and Claire Emery.

Charming and Delightful:
This book is everything a book should be. Funny, sad, entertaining, well written and truly captured my attention. I didn't want to put it down. I only wish that I had been there!

A must read!:
I read this book as Pale Male's latest brood are preparing to fledge. This book is interesting, insightful, funny, sad - and absolutely entertaining! A must read for New Yorkers, animal lovers, and those who like a tale to be told well.