Poetry Takes Flight: Birds of California

Poetry Takes Flight is James Roethe's second book about birds and his first book of poetry. The book is intended to provide the reader with a bit of knowledge about the birds of Northern California and, hopefully, some understanding of why so many people today have taken up birding as a hobby. Its focus is on the hills of San Francisco's East Bay where the author has lived, hiked and birded for the last half century. East Bay birders are blessed with hundreds of miles of trails along the shoreline and in the hills East of San Francisco Bay, most of them part of the East Bay Regional Park District - one of the country's largest park systems and home to several hundred species of birds. In addition, the local water utility makes available to hikers an additional 60 or so miles of trails on a permit basis.

Poetry Takes Flight's 77 poems are intended to tell readers a bit about the more common birds seen during a typical hike in Northern California. In some cases, they describe characteristics of the birds in question that new birders should look for when trying to identify birds that cross their paths. In others, the poems tell of events experienced by the author that demonstrate how even the most experienced birder can be surprised at the antics of these wonders of nature. The hope is that some readers will become more interested in birds - look for them when hiking or put up feeders so as to enjoy them when at home. For birds are fascinating to watch.

And if the book piques the interest of a just few readers to take up birding, that will be a bonus.