Just Eagles. - Review - book review

Just Eagles By: Alan Hutchison Photographer: Bill Silliker, Jr. Willow Creek Press, Minocqua, WI [C] 2000, 127 pages, $29.50 US

Alan Hutchinson is currently the Executive Director of the Forest Society of Maine, and has written "Just Loons: A Wildlife Watcher's Guide" (also published by Willow Creek Press). Bill Silliker, Jr. teaches photography for L.L. Bean and works on assignments for "Outdoor Photographer" He has produced "Special Places," a television program for Maine Public Television. He was one of the photographic guest speakers at the PSA Conference in New Mexico.

This text consists of written discussion of the habits and characteristics of eagles, and splendid photographs of these majestic birds, in flight, nesting, hunting and warily regarding the photographer.

Eagle conservation is a central theme. The North American eagles suffered greatly through thoughtless hunting, industrial and urban growth and particularly the use of DDT pesticides. Today the population has grown, but careful conservation is still needed if eagles are not again to be threatened with extinction. Perhaps this is the best message of this book.

Few amateurs will have the opportunity, let alone the skills, to find these great birds and capture the stunningly focused images that this book is full of. However, we can all appreciate the haughty beauty of the various species of eagles, recognize why the bald eagle is an appropriate symbol of the United States, and support all the efforts to restore their population. Certainly their romantic appeal is powerful -- I recall, to be personal for a moment, my first close-up sighting of a bald eagle near Bar Harbor, Maine. I was so moved that I quite forgot to take a photograph! This is a book that is a joy to read.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group