Of Men and Marshes

Rating:
Summary: A little-known gem of nature and environment writing
Review: Paul Errington grew up tramping prairie pothole marshes,
then became one of Aldo Leopold's early students, at a time
when traditions of nature observation and waterfowl hunting
were contributing to the growth of ecological science.

This book is a set of connected thoughtful chapters on
the seasons and years of pothole marshes - "Of Marshes
and Winter", "Of Marshes and Spring", etc., concluding with
"Of Marshes and Time" and "Of Marshes and Man".

Marsh environments change greatly from year to year;
vivid paragraphs of here-and-now description alternate
with meditations on past years and the ebb and flow of
life. Muskrats, hawks, mink, ducks and geese, shore birds,
owls, foxes, fish: Errington watched and tracked and
recorded their lives, and their deaths.

Errington's clean spare style is a pleasure, and Hochbaum's
pen-and-ink illustrations beautifully complement the text;
I particularly love one with a few flocks sharing a dawn sky
with the morning star.

Highly recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed
Aldo Leopold, Sigurd Olson, David Rains Wallace, or
Barry Lopez, and to waterfowl hunters, bird watchers --