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This is a nice enough book for the armchair naturalist and those who haven't a clue as to what N.Y.C. is and ain't.
Mary Tyler Moore and Woody Allen indeed, enough with the name dropping. This is Kaffee Klatch stuff and although a nice enough read it truly just goes on and on. For interesting non-fiction about nature and The Big Apple (as out of towners might call Manhattan) try Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson or Kim Todd and Claire Emery.


Irresistible Story, Excellent Writing   April 14, 2001
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

This wonderful book welcomes in its readers as surely as, for the several years it describes, the hawk watchers of Central Park welcomed in anyone who passed by, shared a pair of binoculars, and got instantly hooked on the amazing scene of a family of hawks growing on the ledge of a Gold Coast apartment building in Manhattan. Ms. Winn's precise, quick-reading prose will convert any reader to a greater, renewed, or first appreciation for wildlife in Central Park in particular, but, even more, for what nature will have going on anywhere. There are several stories here, all fascinating: the cycle of bird life in and migration through the Park; Pale Male and his families; and those humans, so normal in their individual quirkiness, who take up his cause through the years. Ms. Winn's particular and not easy skill is to let all these stories move themselves, and therefore sweep the reader along with all the quiet excitements, joy, and sadnesses they convey. A book to buy and keep always.


Wonderful Book   March 4, 2001
 5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book is an awesome must read. It talks about the beauty of birds and nature from a bird enthusiast's point of view. My mom recommended it to me, and I am very glad that I took her advice. You should take mine and read this wonderful book


Feather-friendly   January 1, 2001
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This is an awsome book and I strongly recommend it. Winn brings her readers into her community of dedicated birders in a fantastically written drama of a red-tail hawk trying to settle down. If you've never been part of a loving bird community you'll enjoy this book. She makes you feel as part of the Regulars. Even better, it's true so you can use the helpful maps in the book to travel to the places mentioned where various sitings occured.


Fifth Avenue wildlife   May 27, 2000
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

In my childhood the wildlife of Central Park was simply squirrels and pigeons. Today it includes an astonishing array of creatures, most famously the family of hawks nesting on Fifth Avenue and 74th Street. It has been fascinating to watch them hunt and raise their young. Although I've been aware of them for some years now, I learned so very much more about them from this book. It's a dramatic story of the endurance and adaptability of life under extremely difficult circumstances. It's also a fascinating story of a group of dedicated people who care so much for the birds of the park. And, for someone who virtually grew up in Central Park, it came as a revelation of an inner life unsuspected till recently. The weekend after I finished this book I located places in the Rambles that I never knew existed (the Azalea pond) and was rewarded with my first ever glimpse of a woodpecker hard at work! This book might just turn me into a bird watcher!