Post by accipiter on Aug 31, 2022 16:12:32 GMT
Members may remember my reported sightings of a “very large bird,” heading south some time ago. After looking into this further and given the incident some considerably thought I now know it was a lammergeier as the time period matches my sightings, not to mention the silhouette this bird clearly showed – long narrow pointed wings / diamond shaped tail. If you remember other sighing of this bird were also reported from the peak district.
I probably wouldn’t have brought the matter up again but for finding a book in the local charity shop entitled (St Michael) (Adventure stories,) in particular one short story entitled Operation Bonebreaker by Eric Hosking which tell his encounter with this bird, well worth reading I might add.
As the title of the book suggest it does cover a range of adventure stories from mountaineering to you name it. As a reference the blue dust cover shows the picture of a diver with a harpoon gun and shark. Further to this the authors include H. Rider Haggard, Jules Vern, Dennis Wheatly, Edmund Hillary which is also printed on the dust cover.
For those whom are interested I’m fairly sure you could find a copy on line. Failing that he wrote quite a few books on birds although I have no idea which one also includes the said story. To that end you could also look at the links I’ve provided for more information, I also suggest you look at all the five pages on Amazon as he does cover a range of species from owls to waders starting from page 1. Eye for a Bird: Autobiography of a Bird Photographer.
I think just about every birder knows the story of him of losing an eye to a tawny owl, but I must admit I never knew about his conservation work. I particularly like reading the following paragraph taken from the link below.
Eric Hosking brought birds into all our lives. He opened our eyes to the beauty of their world, their grace and fascination. He probably achieved more for avian conservation than any other naturalist of our day.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hosking
www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=stripbooks&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AEric+Hosking&page=5&qid=1661685136&ref=sr_pg_5
