Birdsong In A Time Of Silence by Steven Lovatt

Book Review

I listened to this book as an audio book on my way to work. It’s a very short work, only 138 pages making it just over 4 hours as an audio book. Perfect for a week’s worth of commutes.

The second advantage of the audio book is there are snippets of different birdsongs between each chapter, which are rather glorious and tap into a particular love of mine which Simon Barnes coined as ‘Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed’, another book I’d heartily recommend, however today I am reviewing ‘Birdsong In A Time Of Silence.’

Here’s the blurb:

As the world went silent in lockdown, something else happened; for the first time, many of us started becoming more aware of the spring sounds of the birds around us. Birdsong in a Time of Silence is a lyrical, uplifting reflection on these sounds and what they mean to us.

From a portrait of the blackbird - most prominent and articulate of the early spring singers - to explorations of how birds sing, the science behind their choice of song and nest-sites, and the varied meanings that people have brought to and taken from birdsong, this book ultimately shows that natural history and human history cannot be separated. It is the story of a collective reawakening brought on by the strangest of springs.

There have been many books about nature that have come out of lockdown but this one particularly caught my attention for the reasons previously stated: I love identifying birdsong.

This book is about more than that though, it’s about how we interact with birds. There’s a sprinkling of folklore, personal stories and of course the birds themselves and the science behind their song.

Climate change and habitat loss are also covered in relation to the way birdsong is changing and how our soundscapes are now reflect this. Lovatt also ponders various philosophical points which I don’t always agree with but, in my humble opinion, a book that gets you thinking, even if only to disagree, is a book worth reading.

I actually loved this book so much that when I spotted it in a local bookshop I bought it for my library. I was delighted to discover that the printed versions have the various avian inspired poems in the back of it that Lovatt refers to in the book including ‘Sumer is icumen in’, a personal favourite of mine!

This is a great read and if you love bird watching, bird listening and … well … the wild life outside the four walls of your house, you will love this book.

You can buy Steven Lovatt’s , ‘Birdsong In A Time Of Silence’ in all good bookshops. If you would like to buy a copy online, please consider visiting my page on Bookshop.org where I have gathered some of the books I read and recommend. Here you will find a plethora of myth, legend and folktale.

And don’t forget to support your local library too and see if they have a copy to borrow. This book was available on BorrowBox when I listened to it. If you are a member of your local library you can listen to BorrowBox books for free via the app.