A Sky Full of Birds
  • Published: 15 June 2017
  • ISBN: 9781846044809
  • Imprint: Rider
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $29.99
Categories:

A Sky Full of Birds

Formats & editions
EBook
7 Apr 2016
Paperback
15 Jun 2017
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A beautifully written guide to great bird gatherings during a year's travels around the British Isles

'Prose from a poet and a personal take on the spectacles' Chris Packham, author of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

Shortlisted for Richard Jefferies Society & White Horse Bookshop Literary Prize 2017
Longlisted for the Wainwright Prize 2017


Britain is a nation of bird-lovers. However, few of us fully appreciate the sheer scale, variety and drama of our avian life. From city-centre hunters to vast flocks straight out of the Arctic wilderness, much-loved dawn songsters to the exotic invaders of supermarket car parks, a host of remarkable wildlife spectacles are waiting to be discovered right outside our front doors.

In A Sky Full of Birds, poet and nature writer Matt Merritt shares his passion for birdwatching by taking us to some of the great avian gatherings that occur around the British isles – from ravens in Anglesey and raptors on the Wirral, to Kent nightingales and Scottish capercaillies. By turns lyrical, informative and entertaining, he shows how natural miracles can be found all around us, if only we know where to look for them.

A Sky Full of Birds is the perfect read for avid birdwatchers and a beautiful gift for lovers of nature and poetic prose.
  • Published: 15 June 2017
  • ISBN: 9781846044809
  • Imprint: Rider
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $29.99
Categories:

About the author

Matt Merritt

Matt Merritt is the Editor of Bird Watching, Britain’s best-selling bird watching magazine, and a published poet with four collections to his name. He is frequently invited to give talks and readings, and is the Poetry Editor of the literary magazine Under The Radar. He blogs at polyolbion.blogspot.com

portrait photo of Matt Merritt

Praise for A Sky Full of Birds

Fascinating…peppered with personal anecdotes, historical facts and myths to create a literary tapestry

David Lindo, author of The Urban Birder

Exhilarating…vibrant and vivid

Stuart Winter, author of Tales of a Tabloid Twitcher

Delightful and insightful

Dominic Couzens, author of Tales of Remarkable Birds

His latest book, A Sky Full of Birds, delights in the simple joys of birding in this country.

Joe Shute, Telegraph

Fluid, imaginative and poetic yet full of facts...Great stuff

Bo Beolens, Fatbirder

Compelling...a timely reminder of why [birds] matter so much to so many of us

Stephen Moss, author of Wild Hares and Hummingbirds

Beautifully written...informative and entertaining

NFU Countryside Magazine

Prose from a poet

Chris Packham, author of Fingers in the Sparkle Jar

An intensely personal journey and a celebration of the restorative powers of nature

Rob Lambert, BBC Wildlife Magazine

Fascinating

The Countryman magazine

Eloquent and infectious

Literary Review

This beautifully written book will transport you to a world where birdwatching is more than just ticking a species off a list. Matt Merritt writes from the heart and takes us on a very personal journey around Britain

Countryside