Tim Dee's 'The Running Sky'

This isn't a brand new book - I've had it on the shelf a few months, and have only just got round to reading it. It's a very enjoyable account of one man's birdwatching experience, and I imagine many readers will find at least some echoes of their own birding here. Dee is good on literary connections, including birds in poetry, and he's also good on birdwatching with his ears (which I never was) - perhaps unsurprising as his day job is as a producer of radio programmes. Here's the touchstone: The Running Sky.

Thank you for drawing this to my attention. I have ordered a copy as a gift for my birdwatching brother. I just like to see birds; he watches for them.

I have recently purchased this book and look forward to getting around to reading it. The author is a friend of Mark Cocker, whose book Crow Country I have just finished and can definitely recommend.

I read Crow Country a couple of years back, and thought it very good indeed - the evocation of the East Anglian landscape at roosting time stays in the mind. On another thread in this group, chrisharpe was rather lukewarm about the book, but as he's a bird pro I didn't immediately like to disagree. But I do disagree, and firmly second the recommendation.

Edited for syntax...

Sadly, my UK distributor now tells me that The Running Sky is out of stock at the publishers. This is less hopeful than "reprint under consideration".

Is this anything like how to be a bad birdwatcher ?which I quite enjoyed a couple of years ago. - Essentially the authors efforts over a year or so to see some interesting birds - sometimes more sucessful than others!

Rather than start a new thread, I thought I'd revive this old one to comment briefly on Tim Dee's new book Four fields. Just as good as the earlier book, perhaps better, Dee's account of the four fields - in the Fens, Zambia, Montana, and near Chernobyl - is both full of interest and beautifully written. Although he writes quite broadly of the impact of human activity on the natural world which is inherent in field making, his passion for the birds is apparent throughout. Recommended.

Thanks for the recommendation affle! I listened to The Running Sky last month as an audio download from the library. I expected it to be a pleasant alternative to the radio, it turned out to be one of the most thoughtful contemporary pieces of nature writing that I have read: sensitive, profound, truthful and poetic - obviously the product of years of experience carefully sifted and matured by a gifted writer. It went way beyond the usual reach of books in this genre. So much of the author's observation of the natural world resonated with my own experience - uncannily so. I have been wanting to buy it for friends, but am not sure how much of my appreciation is due to my own involvement with birds - you probably need to be at least a little bird-brained to be able to relate to the book. My hard copy of The Running Sky came from a library sale - so obviously not everyone cup of tea! This is defintely a book I will return to. On finishing it, I put Four Fields onto my library wishlist, so I am glad to hear that it has your endorsement.

Members probably know that Tim Dee produces radio programmes for the BBC, typically with some sort of literary or natural history theme. I find that they are always interesting and uplifting.

Sorry affle, I now see that you already introduced Tim Dee at the start of the thread. As for Crow Country, was I a bit harsh? It's a very worthwhile book and am grateful that it turned me on to the whole crow phenomenon in Norfolk (Jackdaws and Rooks gathering in huge wheeling flocks from miles around to fly into the vast Yare Valley roost - a spectacular sight). I thought that The Running Sky went that bit further as a work of literature though. The world is defintely the richer for these books though!