In this extraordinary narrative, Alan Tennant, a passionate observer of nature, recounts his all-out effort to radio-track the transcontinental migration of the peregrine falcon-an investigation no one before him had ever taken to such lengths.
On the Wing transports us from the windswept flats of the Texas barrier islands-where the tundra falcons pause during their springtime journey north-to the Arctic, and then back south, through Mexico, Belize, and into the Caribbean, in a hilariously picaresque and bumpy flight. At the helm is Tennant's partner in falcon-chasing, George Vose, a septuagenarian World War II vet who trusts his instincts as much as his instruments. As the two men nearly lose their lives and run afoul of the law in the race to keep their birds in view and their rattletrap Cessna gassed up and running, Tennant renders with gorgeous precision and skill the landscape and wildlife they pass on the way and the falcons that direct their course.
"His writing burns with the same intensity with which he lives.." - Anthony Brand, National Geographic Adventure
"...reveals the true nature of our planet" - Homer Hickman, New York Times Book Review
Alan Tennant grew up in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. He has taught film and literary criticism at the University of Texas and lectured on ecology in more than twenty countries. He is the author of several prize-winning books on wildlife and nature. He lives in west Texas and conducts natural history seminars and trips around the world.
[UNK] 'Packs a powerful punch...Wistful...lyrical' - Guardian [UNK] 'Resembles a buddy movie crossed with a nature documentary' - Financial Times [UNK] 'An ornithologist's On the Road...A curiously affecting book' - Glasgow Herald