Sneak Peek
THE FLIGHT OF THEIR LIVES
THE FLIGHT OF THEIR LIVES
When a September hurricane savages ordinarily snug Pulpit Harbor on the island of North Haven, Maine, a timid heron and a pompous osprey forge an unlikely friendship to survive. More terrifying and deadly is what’s next--their migration down the Atlantic Flyway from Maine to the Caribbean. Along this route hundreds of thousands of birds die annually against the hypnotic lit-up skyscrapers of coastal cities. Close to a quarter of a million are killed in New York City alone (some 900 million birds nationally), in what is our nation’s greatest wildlife disgrace.
Traumatized by the carnage in New York, hawk and heron part. The frightened heron turns back; the bolder osprey proceeds. Their friendship falters. But with time apart, they reevaluate their bond. Recalling the pleasure of close conversations on night flights guided by the great constellations Aquila the eagle and Cygnus the swan, their "star sisters," the two birds find a way to reconnect and move forward.
The background of scientifically accurate geography, meteorology, astronomy, ornithology, and biology includes the latest research on how birds navigate using landmarks, constellations, wind currents, and the earth’s magnetic field. This true-life material takes the reader deep inside the real world of birds, just as Watership Down (worldwide bestseller) did with rabbits.
Traumatized by the carnage in New York, hawk and heron part. The frightened heron turns back; the bolder osprey proceeds. Their friendship falters. But with time apart, they reevaluate their bond. Recalling the pleasure of close conversations on night flights guided by the great constellations Aquila the eagle and Cygnus the swan, their "star sisters," the two birds find a way to reconnect and move forward.
The background of scientifically accurate geography, meteorology, astronomy, ornithology, and biology includes the latest research on how birds navigate using landmarks, constellations, wind currents, and the earth’s magnetic field. This true-life material takes the reader deep inside the real world of birds, just as Watership Down (worldwide bestseller) did with rabbits.
Chapter One: "Hurricane Coming!"
Zigzagging down Pulpit Harbor, Squawk the Laughing Gull shrieked a warning so loud everyone could hear it. “Hurricane coming! Hurricane coming!” She was a fluffy, pudgy little white bird, usually cheerful. Now she was terrified.
No one paid attention.
First of all, Squawk was always screeching about something.
Second, it was a lovely September morning on the island of North Haven, Maine. The sky was blue, the sun radiant. Yachts and fishing boats sat still as paintings at moorings. The gulls on the town dock gossiping didn't even look up.
Finally, the harbor was a natural circle, so protected. Spruce trees grew to the shore forming a green wall. There was only one narrow entrance, with Pulpit Rock, craggy and steep, right in the middle, a natural guardian. Storms rarely got in. What could go wrong?
But in the wild world of creatures, it was life and death every moment. Everyone had predators. Nights could be scary. Often you couldn’t find food. Once you got out of the nest or den, there was no one to watch out for you--except you. You got used to it, but life was never really easy or comfortable.
“Hurricane coming! Hurricane coming!” Squawk screamed to Stretch, the fish hawk, gliding above the harbor. With her scary black and white mask and strong, broad wings, she looked tough as the rocks below.
“Queen of the sky” Stretch liked to call herself. But right now, she didn't feel so great. Dizzy and weak, in fact. She hadn't had a fish in two days. Where was that silver flash in the water? The sure sign of a meal?
“Get lost!” Stretch snapped. “You're in my way. I can’t see a thing.”
“Hurricane coming! Hurricane coming!” Squawk dove down to Blink, the Great Blue Heron.
Blink stood on the shore, eyes fixed on the water flowing by. Where was that silver flash in the stream? She hadn't eaten in three days. She had stunning black and blue feathers, the longest legs in the world, and a skinny beak like a spear. Her name came from the speed she struck with. You’d miss it if you blinked.
Squawk cried, “You should really pay attention! The wind is really up in the bay. The waves are really big. It's going to really pour and blow!”
“Go away,” hissed Blink. “You’ll scare my fish. Storms don’t come here. You know that.”
Up high, Stretch looked down at Blink. How much better, she thought, to be a heron. Just stand there doing nothing while your dinner swims right up to you. No endless flapping here, there, and everywhere, getting a headache squinting at the sunstruck water…while you’re totally starving.
Blink glanced up at Stretch as her shadow passed. How she wished she were an osprey like Stretch! Never have to wait for your meal. Just fly around till you spot a fish, drop down, snatch it up…. what an easy life!
No, no one paid attention to Squawk’s warning, a big mistake.
For suddenly the sky went dark, like the sun just shut off. Lightning unzipped the sky. Giant sound boulders of thunder rolled into the harbor, one after another. Charging in from the bay, the wind flung wave after white-capped wave at Pulpit Rock. Great sheets of rain sashayed down the harbor, their drops piercing the water like a million tiny nails. Gusts attacking the spruce trees twisted their branches into slashing whips. The moored boats reared like horses. One broke loose. Another swamped completely, then sank.
Now everyone—including the gulls on the town dock—paid attention.
Even Bounce the black duck, bobbing quietly, woke up.
But they were all too late to escape.
A big wave knocked Blink straight back, almost off her feet.
Overhead, gusts punched Stretch one way, then the other. She couldn’t fly, not this way, not that.
“Hey!” Blink cried, as if someone could hear or care. “Stop it!”
Bounce cried, “No, no! More!'' She rose on a crest, flapped her wings. “Isn't this cool?”
“No, it's not!”
Bounce disappeared down a trough, popped back up. “What a ride! This never happens here!”
The harbor was so sheltered, all kinds of creatures lived around it, not only birds like Blink and Stretch and Bounce but also rabbits, deer, foxes, raccoons…. People who fished for a living moored their boats here. Summer visitors anchored yachts.
Blink staggered up the bank, the waves chasing her.
Overhead, Stretch fought just to stay aloft. Large for her age, she weighed four pounds. She was strong. But these gusts were like hammers. “Queen of the Sky?”
As the thunder crashed, the bows of the fishing boats plunged out of sight in the surging waves. The masts of the sailboats flailed in sickly arcs.
Blink staggered up to a tall spruce, ducking under its branches. A Great Blue Heron by birth, despite the name she was small in body, just three and a half pounds.
With a loud crack, a dead branch high in the tree snapped off, tumbling all the way to the ground. This was a real storm, Blink thought.
With a huge effort Stretch turned towards home, the nest on Pulpit Rock at the harbor’s entrance.
Squawk blew by again. “Look! Our own personal tornado!”
“What?” cried Stretch.
Then she saw what he meant. A spinning, giant, line squall of rain and wind raced down the harbor towards them, sucking the foam right off the tops of the waves and flattening and blackening the water behind it. Howling…no, screeching…like some midnight monster….
Blink just stared. Until it flung her against the tree trunk.
Snatching up Stretch, it pasted her into the top of the nearest spruce as if she were just a chip of wood. Her left wing snagged on a branch, twisting backward. Stretch almost passed out. She tried to stand up but only one wing worked. Then the treetop, thrashing back and forth, hurled her out. Unable to fly, she fell, down, down, down through the branches.
“Hey, Blink!” Bounce was shouting now. “Don't you just love hurricanes?”
“Are you crazy?”
“The waves are fantastic. Up and down, up and down. What fun! Coming out?”
“I like calm,” called Blink.
For Stretch, the bad news was, it was a long way down. The good news was, the branches got longer top to bottom, slowing her fall.
When Stretch finally landed, Blink stared. Stretch on the ground? Right in front of her? Wing smashed back? She didn't know what to say.
Their eyes locked. Blink saw real fear in Stretch’s eyes. In their world, can’t fly, can’t live.
End of Excerpt
No one paid attention.
First of all, Squawk was always screeching about something.
Second, it was a lovely September morning on the island of North Haven, Maine. The sky was blue, the sun radiant. Yachts and fishing boats sat still as paintings at moorings. The gulls on the town dock gossiping didn't even look up.
Finally, the harbor was a natural circle, so protected. Spruce trees grew to the shore forming a green wall. There was only one narrow entrance, with Pulpit Rock, craggy and steep, right in the middle, a natural guardian. Storms rarely got in. What could go wrong?
But in the wild world of creatures, it was life and death every moment. Everyone had predators. Nights could be scary. Often you couldn’t find food. Once you got out of the nest or den, there was no one to watch out for you--except you. You got used to it, but life was never really easy or comfortable.
“Hurricane coming! Hurricane coming!” Squawk screamed to Stretch, the fish hawk, gliding above the harbor. With her scary black and white mask and strong, broad wings, she looked tough as the rocks below.
“Queen of the sky” Stretch liked to call herself. But right now, she didn't feel so great. Dizzy and weak, in fact. She hadn't had a fish in two days. Where was that silver flash in the water? The sure sign of a meal?
“Get lost!” Stretch snapped. “You're in my way. I can’t see a thing.”
“Hurricane coming! Hurricane coming!” Squawk dove down to Blink, the Great Blue Heron.
Blink stood on the shore, eyes fixed on the water flowing by. Where was that silver flash in the stream? She hadn't eaten in three days. She had stunning black and blue feathers, the longest legs in the world, and a skinny beak like a spear. Her name came from the speed she struck with. You’d miss it if you blinked.
Squawk cried, “You should really pay attention! The wind is really up in the bay. The waves are really big. It's going to really pour and blow!”
“Go away,” hissed Blink. “You’ll scare my fish. Storms don’t come here. You know that.”
Up high, Stretch looked down at Blink. How much better, she thought, to be a heron. Just stand there doing nothing while your dinner swims right up to you. No endless flapping here, there, and everywhere, getting a headache squinting at the sunstruck water…while you’re totally starving.
Blink glanced up at Stretch as her shadow passed. How she wished she were an osprey like Stretch! Never have to wait for your meal. Just fly around till you spot a fish, drop down, snatch it up…. what an easy life!
No, no one paid attention to Squawk’s warning, a big mistake.
For suddenly the sky went dark, like the sun just shut off. Lightning unzipped the sky. Giant sound boulders of thunder rolled into the harbor, one after another. Charging in from the bay, the wind flung wave after white-capped wave at Pulpit Rock. Great sheets of rain sashayed down the harbor, their drops piercing the water like a million tiny nails. Gusts attacking the spruce trees twisted their branches into slashing whips. The moored boats reared like horses. One broke loose. Another swamped completely, then sank.
Now everyone—including the gulls on the town dock—paid attention.
Even Bounce the black duck, bobbing quietly, woke up.
But they were all too late to escape.
A big wave knocked Blink straight back, almost off her feet.
Overhead, gusts punched Stretch one way, then the other. She couldn’t fly, not this way, not that.
“Hey!” Blink cried, as if someone could hear or care. “Stop it!”
Bounce cried, “No, no! More!'' She rose on a crest, flapped her wings. “Isn't this cool?”
“No, it's not!”
Bounce disappeared down a trough, popped back up. “What a ride! This never happens here!”
The harbor was so sheltered, all kinds of creatures lived around it, not only birds like Blink and Stretch and Bounce but also rabbits, deer, foxes, raccoons…. People who fished for a living moored their boats here. Summer visitors anchored yachts.
Blink staggered up the bank, the waves chasing her.
Overhead, Stretch fought just to stay aloft. Large for her age, she weighed four pounds. She was strong. But these gusts were like hammers. “Queen of the Sky?”
As the thunder crashed, the bows of the fishing boats plunged out of sight in the surging waves. The masts of the sailboats flailed in sickly arcs.
Blink staggered up to a tall spruce, ducking under its branches. A Great Blue Heron by birth, despite the name she was small in body, just three and a half pounds.
With a loud crack, a dead branch high in the tree snapped off, tumbling all the way to the ground. This was a real storm, Blink thought.
With a huge effort Stretch turned towards home, the nest on Pulpit Rock at the harbor’s entrance.
Squawk blew by again. “Look! Our own personal tornado!”
“What?” cried Stretch.
Then she saw what he meant. A spinning, giant, line squall of rain and wind raced down the harbor towards them, sucking the foam right off the tops of the waves and flattening and blackening the water behind it. Howling…no, screeching…like some midnight monster….
Blink just stared. Until it flung her against the tree trunk.
Snatching up Stretch, it pasted her into the top of the nearest spruce as if she were just a chip of wood. Her left wing snagged on a branch, twisting backward. Stretch almost passed out. She tried to stand up but only one wing worked. Then the treetop, thrashing back and forth, hurled her out. Unable to fly, she fell, down, down, down through the branches.
“Hey, Blink!” Bounce was shouting now. “Don't you just love hurricanes?”
“Are you crazy?”
“The waves are fantastic. Up and down, up and down. What fun! Coming out?”
“I like calm,” called Blink.
For Stretch, the bad news was, it was a long way down. The good news was, the branches got longer top to bottom, slowing her fall.
When Stretch finally landed, Blink stared. Stretch on the ground? Right in front of her? Wing smashed back? She didn't know what to say.
Their eyes locked. Blink saw real fear in Stretch’s eyes. In their world, can’t fly, can’t live.
End of Excerpt