Flight Lines

Andrew Darby

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781643135779
• Subtopic: Zoology
• Index: Biological Sciences

A trans-world journey with an extraorindary shorebird—from Australia's southern ocean to the Arctic and back—that explores the mysteries of the natural world and its power to heal. As the sun lowered and turned Gulf St Vincent fiery, they each called a high-pitched 'peeooowiii!', flashed their black wing-pits, spread their tail skirts and took flight... In a luminous new boook, Andrew Darby follows the odysseys of two seemingly-humble Grey Plovers, little-known migratory shorebirds, as they take previously uncharted ultramarathon flights from the southern coast of Australia to Arctic breeding grounds. On these death-defyingflights they dodge predators, typhoons, exhaustion, and countless other dangers before they can breed...and then survive the jrouney all over again and returnsouth to their feeding grounds. But the greatest threat to these, and other long-distance migrants on the flyway, is China's "dragon economy, " which is engulfing their vital Yellow Sea staging spots. In Flight Lines, we meetthe dedicated people of all nationalities and backgrounds working to save these intrepid birds, from Russia to Alaska, from the rim of the Arctic Sea to the coasts of the Southern Ocean. Out of their hard-won science Darby finds hope for the birds—an unexpected bright light for our times. But his journey to understand these marvellous birds almost ends when he is suddenly diagnosed with an incurable cancer. Then he finds science coming to his rescue too, as his own story and the journey of these little birds intersect in an unexpected and beautiful way.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• List of Maps
• Chapter One: Hunting on a No-Good Shore
• Chapter Two: Three Letters Will Do
• Chapter Three: Tiny Sparks
• Chapter Four: The Undertone
• Chapter Five: The Treasure Map
• Chapter Six: The Treasure House
• Chapter Seven: Perfectly Suited
• Chapter Eight: The White Bear Bird
• Chapter Nine: Beringia
• Chapter Ten: A Portion of their Secrets
• Chapter Eleven: Now South
• Chapter Twelve: A Flick of the Dragon’s Tail
• Chapter Thirteen: Lost Flocks
• Chapter Fourteen: A Spoonful of Hope
• Chapter Fifteen: Navigating the Possible
• Chapter Sixteen: In Harmony with the Sun
• Author’s Note
• About the Author
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright