Marshes : The Disappearing Edens

by William Burt

• ISBN13: 9780300122299
• ISBN10: 0300122292
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2007-05-16
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

Drawn since boyhood to the beauty and allure of marshes, naturalist William Burt has prowled them by day and night, in every season, from one edge of North America to the other. For thirty years he has hauled his large-format camera with him, seeking to capture on film the elusive birds, the wildflowers and grasses, and the unique wild beauty of the marshes. In this breathtakingly lovely book, he selects ninety of his most striking photographs. He also offers his reflections on the marshes he has visited, inviting his readers to come with him and become acquainted with this hidden world, its richness, and its vulnerability. Burt explores marshes near and far, from Connecticut to Manitoba, the Gulf of Mexico, California's Central Valley, the Northern Plains, and elsewhere. His photographs explore all aspects and seasons of marsh life but focus especially on such shy inhabitants as rails, bitterns, grebes, and gallinules. While the photographs tell stories of their own, Burt's narrative invokes the marshes of the past and compares them to today's, with prose as picture-sharp as the photography. No book has ever evoked the mystery and beauty of the marshes so compellingly as this by William Burt. And no reader, having accompanied the author to this secret world, will fail to appreciate the rare privilege of having been there.

Author Biography

William Burt is a naturalist, photographer, and writer with a passion for wild places and elusive birds. He is the author of two previous books, and his photographs and stories have appeared in Smithsonian, Audubon, National Wildlife, and other magazines. He lives in Old Lyme, CT.

Table of Contents

Connecticut : home marsh	p. 17
To Maryland and a big-league meadow	p. 41
Manitoba : sedges	p. 61
South and along coasts	p. 79
West and water	p. 101
Mountain west and water	p. 117
Saskatchewan : plains, sloughs, and a certain Eden	p. 133
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.