I read this as an advanced copy but just realised I did not leave a review.
Utterly utterly beautiful, I was lost in this for days. In the Summer of 2020, during COVID, a breeding pair of goshawks and some curlews were filmed while everyone else was at home.

Truly beautiful and helped you escape what was happening at the time

This is a book that brings a side-effect of the pandemic into focus, although that is not the primary intended purpose. The author is commissioned to film the lives of a family of Goshawks in the New Forest at the start of 2020. This was when the first lingo entered the average public, and lockdowns began, as did the differing opinions on the rules to be followed.
This is still nothing to do with the core subject of this book, but the filming is to take place near the author's childhood home, and he has a lot of memories of the place. He is allowed to go to work, and because of the odd hours he ends up keeping, he sees the eerie new world with no people outside first-hand. The entire project is a long one, and in between, there is the easing of the restrictions. All of this falls into the background when he focuses on the birds he is meant to film. He even has additional adventures with foxes and other smaller birds. I am not an enthusiast and have a very minimal understanding of the avian world, but I still appreciated the enthusiasm and the relatively new information I gathered through my reading.
The hard life of the people who bring that reclusive and vulnerable world to us sitting at home while ensuring they do not interfere in the natural order of things was also quite eye-opening. I obviously subconsciously knew that there must be hours of footage to bring us a half-hour or longer segment, but I marvel at their patience. Although the days are routine and the hours long, it did not feel like the book dragged over the period described. It was light with just the right amount of personal information, ruminating, and information about the world the author is observing.
I would have appreciated this book even more if I had been more invested in this aspect of nature. I recommend it to the average nature enthusiast ( being one myself).
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Goshawk Summer tells of wildlife cameraman James Aldred's experience in the spring & summer of 2020 in the New Forest, UK. He is there to monitor and note breeding goshawks for a documentary during the pandemic at a time when the public are quarantined so there is minimal human intrusion.
I found this book really interesting and as well as the goshawks, pine martins, foxes and other animals are mentioned which make it even more fascinating.
The book is so atmospheric and he really brings in alive, you can just imagine it so very easily.
I would recommended this to anyone with a love of nature.
My thanks go to NetGalley, the author and the publisher in providing this arc in return for honest review.

I found this book to be a real joy to read. The diary format means it’s easy to pick up and read throughout the day, and in fact it makes it a very quick and engaging read. The timeline travels from complete lockdown to easing, and frames the experiences in the wood against that. It feels like a clandestine, intimate look into not only the goshawk’s lives, but the wider New Forest fauna – another part the diary format aids in is shifting between the various locations and animals/birds.

The goshawks, foxes and various other birds and animals feel familiar by the closing pages but don’t end up anthropomorphised, just animals going about their lives, something I’ve been looking for in nature writing for quite a while to balance out the various books I’ve read that do go overboard with humanising nature.

Goshawk Summer also delves into rewilding, nature politics, our impact on the world and in a small section, sport hunting. Animal reintroduction is incidentally a focal point – Goshawks were reintroduced (though nobody knows how) and a Pine Marten is caught on camera, along side how humans irresponsible and harmful interactions with the environment can harm those efforts (and even already present animal lives, like the foxes). It’s a really compelling book overall that’s an easy read, fun, engaging and might serve for some as a jumping off point into more nature/rewilding focused books.

This is the second book of lockdown nature writing that I've read recently, and much as I enjoyed the first one, this one is my. favourite.

James Alfred is a wildlife cameraman who makes it back to the UK just before the world starts to shut down boarders. He gets commissioned to film mistakes in the New Forest, along with a host of other creatures and this diary is the result. There are some delightful chapters on filming a family of foxes, and finding footage of pine martens as well as his stories of days spent in a hide in the treetops beside his Michael nest.

He packs in plenty of information on the wildlife he's filming, and how they are faring, (often badly), though the hostages are in much better shape now than they had been. Sadly, the curled certainly isn't. I was lucky enough to see some last year, and I would love it if we could help them back from the brink. His love of, and respect for the wildlife shines through, and I would highly recommend this to anyone.

*Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion*

James Aldred filmed a family of goshawks in the New Forest over the course of the summer in the middle of a global pandemic.

The images he evokes in his diary entries are highly descriptive and transport you to the heart of the natural environment. Other creatures are also described - Dartford warblers, curlews, dragonflies, foxes among them - and James's love for, and understanding of, these creatures shines through every paragraph.

What also comes across is the contrast between these natural scenes and the intrusion of people escaping lockdown as they trample all over the New Forest, causing traffic jams and littering. As James observes the goshawks, we come to appreciate and understand this elusive and intelligent raptor, and how it has fought back from near extinction.

Wildlife books are also ways of engaging discussion about our interaction with nature and finding a balance between enjoying the natural landscape and preserving its integrity. These environments are not just for our own use but primarily for the creatures who live there and depend on its resources.

I was particularly drawn by James's dedication, getting up before dawn to spend the day filming the nest and always managing to find something different to say or observe about the forest as he arrived - whether a bird calling or the trees and plant life. One thing that stuck in my mind was the peace and tranquillity contrasted with the noise and chaos of everyday life.

This is a magical book and I thoroughly recommend it.

I was sent an advance review copy of this book by Elliott & Thompson, in return for an honest appraisal.

Breathtaking so beautifully written a book by James Alfred of nature of Goshawks and so much more.During the pandemic he filmed nature with no humans around it’s a diary of a time in a present day garden of Eden.Aperfect read for me that took me out of lockdown into nature.A treasure of a book one that will stay with me and I will be recommending.#netgalley #goshawksummer

James Aldred, an Emmy award-winning nature photographer, has captured the beauty of an English forest and it's inhabitants in the middle of a pandemic lockdown in his stunning new book. From a platform fifty feet high in the woods of the New Forest, Aldred observes a family of goshawks from dawn to dusk on his remote perch. Goshawks are raptors who rely on hearing and vision while hunting and are "supreme ambush predators" in the densely forested habitat. The narrative begins in April and continues each day as the goshawks raise their chicks in the quiet woods, where birds call to each other and other animals (including Aldred) enjoy the peace and quiet of England's lockdown. Descriptive scenes of the deep forest and his surroundings put the reader right in the middle of this remarkable story, which describes the history of the area and the wildlife encountered. A gifted photographer and writer, Aldred transports you into another world to experience and appreciate the beauty of nature through his eyes and the animals who make the New Forest such a treasure. If you are a fan of Helen Macdonald's classic book "H is for Hawk", you will fall in love with goshawks all over again in "Goshawk Summer" and appreciate the effort to bring back this majestic raptor from extinction.

My sincere thank you to Elliott & Thompson and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant and beautiful, this book chronicles Aldred's summer of 2020 filming a breeding pair of goshawks in the UK's New Forest. Along the way, he also checks in on curlews who are near to extinction in this forest (of 46 breeding pair laying 4 eggs each, only three young fledged), and a family of foxes. Aldred discusses finding a balance between engaging the public enough that they want to keep the wild areas, but also discouraging them from "enjoying" the land (and the wildlife) to death as happened after the first lockdown was lifted and thousands descended on the national park.

In Goshawk Summer, wildlife cameraman James Aldred shares his experiences of the spring and summer of 2020 predominantly spent filming a breeding pair of Goshawks deep in the New Forest for a television documentary.

I found this book to be fascinating and enjoyed reading it very much. The pages are packed not only with a myriad of interesting facts about the Goshawk (a very rare raptor within the UK, less so in other areas of the world), but the author also writes about a number of other species, including curlews, pine martins, foxes and more. The prose is both descriptive and visceral and really draws you in to the New Forest setting. The author’s account of the effect on nature of the first UK lock down and its subsequent easing were extremely thought provoking.

Thoroughly recommended to nature lovers everywhere.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, Elliott & Thompson, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goshawk Summer is about the author's experience monitoring and documenting breeding goshawks during the pandemic. The experience is unique because of the absence of people as they quarantine. The author, along with people assisting him, gets permission to be out monitoring for the goshawks while most people are stuck at home. As readers, we get to see what that entailed and how enviable this endeavor was as the author gets to enjoy nature without all the human interference and noise that would normally be happening. A very descriptive account of searching for goshawk nests in the forest in Britain and then setting up a blind and camera to watch an active nest, and documenting other goshawks in the area. Readers are bound to learn a think or two about this elusive species.

In spring 2020, while we were locked down for the first time in our lives due to Covid 19, James Aldred was roaming the New Forest filming a goshawk family and other wildlife. After finding a nesting goshawk he set up a hide in a neighbouring tree and filmed her and her mate until the eggs hatched and the chicks finally fledged. During this time he also flitted back and forth to different sites to film the other wildlife around him including a fox family, nesting lapwings, curlews, dragonflies and semaphore flies and inadvertently a pine marten.

Not only did he film these encounters, but, lucky for us, he wrote about them too and added further information about wildlife such as the plight of the curlew, goshawk and lapwing. What’s more he considered how we have fared as stewards of the earth in relation to the demise and reintroduction of different species of wildlife. What resulted from this work was a beautiful account of a season in parts of the mysterious world of the New Forest, in which the author's genuine love and respect for nature shone forth - truly magical and a delight to read.

(On Twitter)
Many of us have for the better become more aware of nature restricted to our immediate environment. ‘Goshawk Summer’ by @jraldred is a diary of nature, history, rural politics and so much more in the New Forest April2020-Feb2021. @eandtbooks

Goshawk Summer by James Aldred is a stunning and wonderful nature diary and account of one man’s journey documenting and exploring more about the fascinating Goshawk.

This book is for anyone that loves nature, birds, exploring, and preserving what is illustrious and precious within our surroundings.

I have always had a special place in my heart for birds, birdwatching, and learning as much about avian species as possible, and boy is there a lifetime of learning involved.

To be able to get a glimpse into the workings and existence of this fabulous and fascinating predictor was just breathtaking. This is a secretive bird that is harder to visualize and study just by its own behavior, habitat, and nature. I loved being able to take a glimpse into this complex and beautiful bird.

I also loved the author’s ability to include the reader within his entries and descriptions. I really felt as if I was there as well along for the ride.

Try wonderful.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Elliott & Thompson for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately (as of 7/19/21 no BB listing has been created) and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and Waterstones accounts upon publication.

Goshawk Summer: A New Forest Season Unlike Any Other is a fascinating and stunningly observed book based primarily upon field diaries Aldred kept while filming for a Smithsonian wildlife documentary. It begins in Spring 2020 when the wildlife cameraman was readying himself to film the lives of a family of Goshawks in the New Forest, one of the most spectacular birds of prey in the UK. Then lockdown unexpectedly struck. And there was nobody left in the Goshawk woods – except James. New Forest, England, his writings begin on 6 April 2020, just as new life awakens and seeds begin to sprout, signalling the annual evolution of the ecological and the rich beginnings of mother nature’s glorious annual bounty. A loud call shatters the peace. Not the blunt mewing of a buzzard, but the piercing cry of something infinitely more predatory: a wild goshawk. It echoes through the dense woodland. Strident, commanding, forceful. A regal sound for a regal bird. Aldred can’t see her but know she’s flying towards him through the trees. She’s coming in fast and there’s only seconds before she explodes into frame.

Rolling the camera just in time to catch her landing on the nest. Powerful legs held out in front; a squirrel’s limp body clenched in her yellow fist. The chicks clamour for food and a heartbeat later they’re rewarded with morsels of flesh plucked from the warm carcass. The goshawk. Steel grey, the colour of chainmail. Sharp as a sword. A medieval bird for a medieval forest. A timeless scene. The wood holds its breath, the only sound the begging of the chicks and the gentle breeze sieving through trees. The forest hasn’t been this peaceful for a thousand years. Aldred grew up here. Made friends, climbed trees, slept rough on the heath and camped in the woods, but he’s never known it like this. There isn’t another soul around and while Covid grips the outside world, the New Forest blossoms in a spring like no other. Nature’s been given the space to unfurl her wings and they are. There are many terrible things to remember about the spring and summer of 2020, but Aldred was not only one of the lucky ones to watch a high-speed hunter effortlessly weave its way through its forest home, but he also got to explore many other aspects of nature, too. The narrative flows seamlessly, is laced with interesting scientific tidbits and Aldred exudes enthusiasm for his subjects, which he describes in richly evocative language.

With permission to film in the New Forest, lockdown gave him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe the wildlife of a unique place in a unique moment never to be repeated. This is a tale of reawakened passions for a familiar childhood landscape now struggling to cope with the pressures of the modern world. A portrait in time, as seen through the eyes of the wild creatures relying on it for their survival. Above all, it’s the story of how one family of goshawks living in a timeless corner of England shone like fire through one of our darkest times and how, for the author, they became a symbol of hope for the future. Filled with the ups and downs of an unprecedented time, Aldred recalls his precious time spent observing these beautiful specimens in their own habitat and writes in exquisitely lyrical prose - rich and colourful - evoking the sights, scents and sounds of the forest. Documenting how when humanity shifted to indoor living, nature came alive and began to thrive spectacularly highlights just how big an impact our behaviour has on our ability to be symbiotic with the natural world and just how much immersing ourselves in nature can replenish us and create both hope and healing and therefore optimism for the journey ahead. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Photographer James Aldred was hired to film goshwaks in the New Forest in the summer of 1920 when Covid 19 hit and the world shut down. Suddenly, the earth fell silent as humans disappeared from the landscape and a miraculous change began to take place. When humans retreated, nature began to thrive; humanity may have been fighting a deadly pandemic, but the natural world was waking up, coming back to a place it hadn’t been for hundreds of years. Not only was Aldred able to get an unprecedented look at the lives of these magnificent birds, he was able to view all of nature as a sort of Eden. This is an incredibly beautiful story of healing and hope, one that shows us all that no matter what happens to humans, the natural world will still go on and most likely thrive

I really enjoyed Aldred's last book, 'The Man Who Climbs Trees', so I jumped at the chance to read his second. Interestingly, Aldred's prose didn't stand out to me all that much the last time around, whereas I found it astounding and assured in 'Goshawk Summer'.

Aldred is a person who really sees the natural world. His myriad observations were both original and beautiful; like the way he finds that the colour of a fox cub's coat subtly shifts with the seasons. As for the goshawks, you continually feel the author's marvel emanating off the pages.

The book, as you might expect, has a pretty single-minded focus. Yet there are plenty of asides into other topics like the history of the New Forest, or the population fluxes of different bird species, which I found myself relishing and appreciating. Aldred teaches the reader by stealth, and the science he slips in is never overwhelming. The narrative flows effortlessly.

Absolutely one of my favourite nature books of the year.

(With thanks to Elliott & Thompson and NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review)