Book Review: The View from Lazy Point, by Carl Safina

Montauk Lighthouse - a mere stone's throw from Lazy Point

The View from Lazy Point: A Natural Year in an Unnatural World is Carl Safina's latest book which I recently received in the mail.  While I've known of Dr. Safina for some time (he is the President and Co-Founder of the Blue Ocean Institute) and had the privilege of listening to some of his guest lectures while I was a student at SUNY Stony Brook University, The View from Lazy Point made me feel like I have met him many times before.  Dr. Safina's inviting prose and carefree candor lets the reader experience the far flung trips and lazy local fishing jaunts with ease.  This book reads like an in-depth, year long journal, following the author as he struggles to grasp the perils of this unnatural world and balance them with the familiarities of his aptly named home.

A dovekie - the Penguin of the North

In today's scientific and ecological world, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the bad - the scary end-of-the-world scenarios that Al Gore and the like brought into our living rooms.  How does one escape the ill effects of the never ending CO2 smokestack, the bleached white coral reefs of the Caribbean or the melted glaciers of our polar regions?  Even the most optimistic scientist struggles with this task, but Dr. Safina makes it a point to see the natural good left in the world and appreciate it.  He may not stop to smell the roses - but he does pause to pursue the bass and bluefish that remain abundant in his backyard.  While each new month in this book brings with it a reminder of what has been lost, it also brings reminders of what remains, or in those rare instances, what has come back.

An Endangered Roseate Tern forages on Long Island

Thanks to the dedication of a former federal biologist (Rachel Carlson and her 1962 book Silent Spring) and the non-profit environmental advocacy group the Environmental Defense Fund (founded on Long Island by the likes of former SUNY Stony Brook professor Charles Wurster and former BNL Scientist Dennis Puleston) birds like the Osprey and Peregrine Falcon got a second lease on life and are now common visitors to Lazy Point and the rest of Long Island.  Even after a long and cold trip to Antartica, where Dr. Safina sees first hand the raw chain reaction effects of climate change, he can return home and witness the abundance nature continues to offer, like harbor seals loafing yards from his bedroom window.  The Ruddy Turnstone - that small and unmistakable multi-colored shorebird - is a metaphor throughout the book.  It seems to follow the author nearly wherever he goes and suggests that while things are bad, not all is lost.  There is hope.  Things can change.  Beauty and natural wonder, they surround us.

A Ruddy Turnstone during migration

The View from Lazy Point is an eye opening adventure and scientific endeavor.  By book's end, the title takes on a literal meaning.  The View is not simply the picture that mother nature paints outside Dr. Safina's beachfront cottage.  The entire world truly can be seen from Lazy Point - every link in the food chain - every side effect of man kind's gluttonous and wanton ways.  The author analyzes the ravenous desires of man and points out the political and economic hurdles that pit us against a natural world in harmony.  This book is not to be speed read to discover the ending - for there is no "ending" to the problems that face us.  It is a glimpse in time, a mere fraction of a second on planet Earth's clock that shows us where we are and how we got here.  Dr. Safina does not have every answer for every problem facing us - but he gives us guidelines to right the ship before we discard our miraculous gifts like so many others we have swept under the proverbial carpet.  If we stop being selfish, stop justifying our wasteful ways because we are the "Have's" and therefore can exploit the shares of the "Have Not's" - then we can get back on the proper heading.  The modern world is used to throwing the used and spent in the garbage - but there is no landfill to toss nature into - only a cold and dark grave.  Writes Dr. Safina, "To advance compassion and yet survive in a world of appetites - that is our challenge".

Please click on the image below to purchase this book from Amazon.com.  It is easily the most thought provoking environmental book I've had the pleasure to read and it will both entertain you and influence how you see the world.  And if you're living on the Island, a trip to Montauk is in order once you have finished this journey.

Book Review: The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography

I previously reviewed National Geographic's: The Ultimate Field Guide to Photography which is a wonderful publication that illustrates the ins and outs of photography, I wanted to take the time to review a book that is much more specific to Nature Photography which is where my passion lies.  So I pulled out my copy of The Ultimate Guide to Digital Nature Photography which was put together by the Mountain Trail Photo Team.  While you may have never heard of the "Mountain Trail Photo Team" if you are a lover of fine art nature and wildlife photography you almost certainly have seen their work.  The team consists of a 10 professional photogs, including the very skilled Ian Plant and one of my favorite landscape photographers, Marc Adamus and is a modern day photographic version of the Rat Pack.  They combined their skills, knowledge and experience into an amazingly helpful guide to Nature Photography.

Book Review: Waterbirds, by Theodore Cross

Today's book review is on a magnificent collection of beautiful images and exciting adventures in pursuit of birds - compiled by the late Theodore Cross whose life accomplishments would be proud achievements for a college's alumni, let alone one person.  He was an advisor to the White House, a distinguished professor on minority economics and law at Harvard, Cornell and the University of Virginia.  He was a trustee for the NAACP legal defense fund and Amherst college and still found time (a lot of it) for birds.  Perhaps he was trying to play catchup as he paid little attention to our feathered friends for the first 40 years of his life (not unlike author Luke Dempsey).  But once he "caught the bug" he literally went to the edges of the world to pursue their beauty.

I was fortunate enough to receive Waterbirds as a gift for Christmas from my thoughtful brother and his wife.  He had heard an interview on NPR with Mr. Cross (listen / read here: Extreme Birding) about this book and promptly went out and purchased it for his budding photographer brother.  I must say, it's one of the best presents to date I've received and easily the best book I've unwrapped on Christmas morning. This collection is massive (in depth and weight - reading this book is an exercise for the mind and the arms!) and covers decades worth of birding adventures - each of which is accompanied by amazing photos.  When I say that the photos are amazing - there is no exaggeration.  I'd be happy to stamp my name on any of them, but when you consider the vast majority were taken in the pre-digital, pre-photoshop, pre-memory card days you begin to understand how much talent and passion was really involved.

Theodore's favorite type of birds are the water lovers and livers (hence the title).  From Snowy Egrets to Snow Geese, from the understatedly beautiful Willet, White Tern and Whimbrel to more showy and aptly named Reddish Egrets and the Purple Gallinule, if a bird was dependent on water for life, Theodore Cross would stop at nothing to see and photograph one of God's wonders.  While many of the pages are filled with a beautiful image matched with a brief but in-depth description of the species, the author takes many opportunities to tell the stories behind the photos.  The most incredible story and adventure involves the Ross's Gull.  For those of you who don't know, you may think what could be so "incredible" about a Gull, well I'll leave it up to the author to lead you down that path as he is a much better story teller than myself.  But his pursuit involves helicopter rides in Eastern Siberia, mosquitoes that could suck you dry in minutes and 100 degree temperatures - the ending of this story is a hard irony which many of you will be able to relate to (almost certainly on a much smaller scale).

I can only hope that at the end of my life journey I will have a collection of photos that could be compared to that of Theodore Cross's.  In this entire volume there are pictures that would make you say, "Oh, that's a nice picture of that species".  There are no ID photos - no snapshots.  No, each image is a work of art that can stand on its own, which is wildly enhanced with Mr. Cross's words.  He makes Great Blue Herons look as wild and rare as a Crested Auklet.  If there was ever one book to buy it would be this one.  Don't be surprised if you find yourself spending hours staring at the images... turning the giant pages in excitement to see what is next. The price of the book is steep - but this is the type of book that will hold a prominent place on your book shelf and not collect dust under a pile of tired and worn old field guides.

For a quick obituary from NPR click here: Ted Cross - White House Advisor / Birder

For a short overview of the book from the NY times go here: "Waterbirds" by Theodore Cross

To purchase the book and read more reviews, please click the image/link below.