It was a nice surprise to be transported back to a place I've been lucky enough to visit within in the first chapter of this book, ostensibly about rooks, by one the UK's pre-eminent natural history authors. Buckenham Carrs is the location & the description of a huge rookery there leads onto an exploration of various pastoral themes in the British countryside interwoven with the author's life in East Anglia as a personal backdrop. For me the best parts were Cocker's descriptions of the historical Norfolk Broads which teemed so much with wildlife that the fish literally jumped into the nets, poignant because now so much of that apparent Eden has been lost. The discussion of why people become so engrossed, even obsessive, when it comes to enjoying wildlife & nature are also beautifully mused upon, & which is an often overlooked subject. Some of the more prosaic descriptions of rookeries were obviously not as captivating & a few photos would have been nice but maybe to the detriment of using one's imagination. Above all I enjoyed the descriptions of my home county Norfolk which particularly resonated with my visits to some of the landsacpes described so well.4/5
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