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As I watch our insects as closely as I can, such mysteries proliferate. In June I was mesmerised by the courtship flights of ghost swift moths, in which the males danced and swooped over a patch of reeds with wings vibrating so fast they looked like tiny balls of mist. Described as Britains greatest living nature writer, Richard Mabey has revealed his passion for the natural world in elegantly written stories for BBC Wildlife Magazine for the past 25 years. This enchanting collection brings together his favourite pieces and presents a fascinating and inspiring view of the changing natural landscape in which we live. With marvellously observed detail, Mabey recalls following a barn owl hed encountered while walking near his home in Norfolk, and talks of studying lichens through the lens of a Victorian microscope. Alongside tales of ants and hornets, swifts and pink footed geese, we read about the hustle and bustle of his village in the heat of the summer, and his musings on the significance of Constables The Cornfield. Mabeys fascination lies in the way that we live and work within the nature that surrounds us. Peppered throughout with references to the heritage of nature writing, and great writers from Richard Jefferies and John Clare to Roger Deakin and Robert MacFarlane, A Brush With Nature is part memoir, part nature journal, part social history, giving us a unique insight into a nature lovers reflections on the past 20 years.
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