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  1. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    Throughout the book the author increasingly identifies himself with the peregrine. He may mean here that his freedom is lost because no falcons are around anymore.
  2. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @Schneppe I have asked about this particular sentence because it is a strong statement very close to the ending of the book. To me this line is striking because: A. It is unprepared. The entry of that day is a long one and there's nothing about the human or animal freedom in it. B. To me...
  3. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    "A green woodpecker called and flew high above the open fields. A jay flew from tree to tree, crossing warily between the two woods; the first I had seen away from cover since October. Long-tailed tits flitted down from the hedges to collect feathers for their nests from kills the peregrine had...
  4. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @Richard Prior I should have a glass or two and check it out for myself :)
  5. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @nartreb That is probably what Baker meant, although these feathers are neither a rim, nor wine-colored.
  6. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    "At dusk I saw a barn owl again, hunting between road and river. For twenty minutes it quartered the meadow, moving across in long, straight lines. Six feet above the grass it flew, with fast even wing-beats. The steady pulse of its wings was curiously soothing. Dusk deepened. The owl grew...
  7. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @Patudo right, thanks! I think all the parts and seasons are interesting. The diary-style entries read somewhat like poetry. But there are overarching storylines too: the passing of seasons and the transformation of man into a bird. I like this book a lot even though Baker is imperfect as a...
  8. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    "March 11th I spent the day on the south side of the estuary, walking in the wet fields and searching for hawks in the long tree-hedges and the warm, lark-hung sky. I found none, but it was a happy day. West of the flat estuary plain there are small dome-shaped hills with deep valleys between...
  9. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    Thank you, @Patudo !
  10. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    Yes, like you said, this sentence, "stoop is another word for swoop", was at the beginning of the book and was the first time the word "swoop" was used. I've gone through these two words again and it seems that mostly Baker uses them as direct synonyms, but occasionally "swooping" means just...
  11. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    In the introdductory part, Baker provides three charts with peregrine kills: "During ten winters I found 619 peregrine kills. Individual species were represented as follows: Woodpigeon - 38% [...] In addition to these ten, there were 35 other species taken, to make up the remaining 25% of the...
  12. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    "...a peregrine’s day usually begins with a slow, leisurely flight from the roosting place to the nearest suitable bathing stream." "The search for a suitable bathing place is one of the peregrine’s main daily activities, and their hunting and roosting places are located in relation to this...
  13. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @nartreb No, not really. But your lines below explain this paragraph to me. In my view, otherwise it is quite unclear, especially given that it is from the introductory part of the book. Also, I misunderstood this line. I thought it was about two different flight patterns, one diagonal, the...
  14. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    "The territory is also effectively quartered by (C1) long up-wind flights, followed by (C2) diagonal down and cross wind gliding that finishes a mile or two away from the original starting point. Hunting on sunny days is done chiefly by (S2) soaring and circling down wind, and is based on a...
  15. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    "As soon as the hawk-hunter steps from his door he knows the way of the wind, he feels the weight of the air. Far within himself he seems to see the hawk’s day growing steadily towards the light of their first encounter. Time and the weather hold both hawk and watcher between their turning...
  16. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    I see your point. It's just that "bad light" sounds to me like the language of a professional - a painter, a photographer, or an observer with binoculars. But I guess it could be just poetic language too. He wrote that there were farms "scattered" around that land, just like little islands were...
  17. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    Many thanks for the comments, it is all quite evident to me now. * * * "At three o’clock I suddenly felt sure that, if I went at once to the coast, eight miles away, I should find the peregrine there. Such certainty comes seldom, but when it comes it is as irresistible as the downward bending...
  18. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @Myyraap @nartreb Thanks for the comments! But Baker mentioned that the bird was flying on a parabola. The paragraph says nothing about stooping or hunting. The bird was just traveling eastwards and in the end it "vanished into the hard clear light of the eastern sky." No, many thanks for this...
  19. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    Yes, I have almost finished the first draft, just a few paragraphs left. Lots of editing ahead. It is a beautiful book.
  20. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    (About a cock bullfinch) "He was a red and black fatty, idly grazing, occasionally exerting himself to breathe out the husky ‘du-dudu’ of his song, fat dewlap gently quivering. " What body part could "dewlap" denote here? Bullfinch's chest and belly look quite monolithic. (I've gone through a...
  21. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @Patudo Understood, thanks! Do they stand on one leg to preserve heat, or to avoid their legs cramping, or something else?
  22. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @dantheman Understood, thanks!
  23. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @nartreb Many thanks for the comments, I think it is all clear now! @Patudo Regarding drifting and floating - I understood, thanks for the explanation!
  24. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    (March 21st) "A tawny owl, long dead, lay at the edge of South Wood. I lifted its broad wings, and powder down puffed out of them like dust. When I threw the light dry carcass aside, the long talons caught uncannily in my gloves, as though they still had life." If not snow powder, what could the...
  25. S

    Peregrines called "hawks" in a book

    @Patudo Thanks for the comments! The foreword to the book mentions how a Scandinavian translator of the book, who was a birder too, was puzzled by Baker's peregrines hovering. But apparently Baker himself insisted that this verb is translated as it is and no euphemism is used. Right now, I can...
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