Bibliographical Note
Before listing the books I read during the composition of this book, I would like to make special mention of two volumes in particular. The first is Alan Poole’s Ospreys: A Natural and Unnatural History, which was indispensable to me, particularly in the early stages of my becoming acquainted with ospreys. If I have sparked anyone’s interest in these magnificent birds, I strongly recommend this comprehensive, well-balanced, and beautiful book. Not only did I lean on Alan’s book, but I soon discovered that many of the other contemporary osprey texts did as well.
The other volume is The Return of the Osprey by Brown and Waterson. Waterson was the determined midwife of the birds’ return to Scotland, and I certainly mean no disrespect in my own choice of title. I had been working on my book for several months and had gotten quite attached to the working title when I discovered his wonderful book.
Most of the other books listed in the following bibliography deal with either birds in general or ospreys in particular, but, obviously, the reading that helped me build a book of this sort was only partly ornithological. As mentioned in the text, my own sentences relied heavily on the sentences of those who have gone before me. First and foremost, I have learned from that great teacher Walter Jackson Bate, who, sadly, died during this book’s writing. His books—Samuel Johnson, John Keats, and The Burden of the Past and the English Poet among them—have been vital to whatever intellectual development I’ve undergone. Bate’s work is particularly brilliant with regard to the use of past models in helping ease the crisis of self-consciousness in the modern artist.
One of Bate’s chief lessons is the necessity of moving bravely toward the writers we most admire. For me those writers include John Hay, Scott Sanders, Reg Saner, Terry Tempest Williams, Jack Turner, Wendell Berry, Peter Matthiessen, Gary Synder, Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, Edward Abbey, Robert Finch, Wallace Stegner, and John Elder. If I have stumbled close to their own themes, it was admiration that drew me near. In my journey to discover my place in the world, their works have been indispensable.