When spring begins, swallows are not far away anymore. The book "The Swallow: A biography" by Stephen Moss, thus, is a good book to get in the mood of spring and the following summer. How does a swallow year look like? Which meaning do swallows have for humans? Where can we find swallows? I very enjoyed reading the book, and thus, I'm looking forward to present you here not only the book itself, but also share some thoughts I had while reading about the swallow.
Title: The swallow - A biography
Author: Stephen Moss
Imprint: Square Peg
Length: 208 pages
Published: 2020
Language: English
Blurb
With around 700,000 breeding pairs, the swallow is one of the most familiar birds in Britain. Though we consider the swallow to be "our" bird, we also share this beloved creature with millions of others across the globe. Whilst we see it on a daily basis for half the year, the swallow then flies south to Africa, living on only in our memory in the long, dark winter. In The Swallow Stephen Moss documents a year of observing the swallow close to home and in the field to shed light on the secret life of this.
Thoughts about the book
Who doesn't know her? The barn swallow. With her metallic shiny blue-black plumage, her chestnut brown spot on her throat and her forked and long tail, the swallow is easy to identify and differentiate between other swallows. Here in Germany and other parts of Europe, the barn swallow is known to be a "summer bird". But rather more in the country than in the city, because the barn swallow prefers to breed close to humans like, for example, on farms where she builds her nests. That is why this bird is also known as a synanthropic bird.
Stephen Moss dedicated one of his bird books to the barn swallow. Although the name of the book is "The swallow", the author clarifies already at the beginning, that the book is especially about the barn swallow, as the author lives in a small village - in Sommerset in the southwest of Great Britain - where numerous barn swallows breed every year after returning from their wintering grounds. That might be one reason why Stephen Moss dedicated one of his books to the barn swallow, as he could have many observations, and thus, got a very good insight into the life of barn swallows.
Every spring the author awaits yearningly the return of barn swallows. In summer, he observes her breeding behaviour and how they move around up in the air and how they fly over lakes and catch insects one by one. In autumn, he admires her gatherings before they return to their wintering grounds in Africa. And in winter? Winter is like for most people without swallows. However, in one winter, Stephen Moss saw quite many swallows...
I very enjoyed reading the book. I have read the book in German, and thus, not in its original language, but every word touched me. I could sense his caring thoughts about birds in general. The author writes with passion and empathy about his observations and about the information he found in literature.
The book "The swallow" by Stephen Moss reminded me of the book "The Heart of the Valley" by Nigel Hinton. In this book, as well, the author writes with so much love and compassion. But in that book, the author wrote about the hedge sparrow.
It was the first book for me that I read by Stephen Moss. But I'm sure, it will not be the last one... There are more books by this author about European robins and Eurasian wrens.
Conclusion
Quiet. Calm. And simple. But this is it what this book makes so special in a loud world. The author Stephen Moss writes in his book "The swallow" with so much love and fascination about the barn swallow. I wished that the book would never end.
Do you know the book "The swallow"? Or do you know another book about a bird that you would recommend? Please let me know in the comments.
