"Gulls don't get much respect, a situation that author/photographer Bree sets out to change through photos, anecdotes, poetry, even legends. Readers of this small, fascinating book will take a second look at our inland gulls, those ubiquitous masters of the air..."--Val Cunningham, birding column, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune
There's a lot of information packed into 96 pages, including the near extinction of these clever birds, their flight patterns, behavior and humorous interactions with humans." --Mary Ann Grossman, St. Paul Pioneer Press
"I enjoyed reading Amazing Gulls. The writing was really nice and captured the nature of the gulls, their habitats and interactions with people very well. Thank you for sharing it with the Cornell Lab. --Jessie Barry, Merlin Projects Leader, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
For sailors, boaters and birdwatchers everywhere: Here is the poetry of the seagull's flight, the majesty of its soaring wings, and its amusing antics as gulls gregariously interact with humans. Through digital hi-rez photography, this tribute to the author's favorite birds introduces their habits and habitats, their special abilities, and their remarkable intelligence.
Via details drawings and illustrations, author Marlin Bree examines the gulls "wings of wonder" and how they achieve their amazing sense of air, control their soaring and hovering, and remain aloft over great distances on their long-range migrations, sometimes from the Artic regions to the Gulf of Mexico and South America.
Amazing Gulls also recounts some of the fascinating legends that have sprung up over the years about gulls and their mystical symbolism in life and death. There are also light-hearted stories, such as the Old Fooler gull in California that puts on its own act to get some snacks and Sam, a gull who walks into a seafront store and picks up the same brand of chips day after day.
For anyone who appreciates gulls -- or wants to know more about these fascinating seabirds -- here is an extraordinary book by a man who has come to know and love them well.
A gull races a sailboat at Cabo San Lucas. Gulls often interact with people and "play" with them in their crowd-pleasing antics. (Photo by Clive Dudley)
Illustrations show parts of the gull and features.
About the Author: As he sailed through some of the waters of the world, and in particular his native sailing grounds of Lake Superior, Marlin Bree became fascinated with the seabirds that were his companions on some of his lonely anchorages as well as busy ports. The author is an award-winning marine journalist and the only two-time winner of Boating Writers International's Grand Prize. He's a former magazine editor of the Minneapois Tribune, a past president of the Minnesota Press club, and a contributor to such magazines as Cruising World, DIY Boat Owner, the Ensign, Lake Superior magaizne, and Good Old Boat as well as Northern Breezes. He is the author of numerous boating books including In the Teeth of the Northeaster, Wake of the Green Storm, Call of the North Wind and Broken Seas. He built his own sailboat, the remarkable 20-foot wood veneer and epoxy centerboard sloop, Persistence. He and his family live in Shoreview, Minenesota.
Gulls have inspired poetry, literature and legends, such as this in Amazing Gulls.
The author is indebted to many who contributed to this book, especially the photos from his old Armored Infantry buddy from California, Dennis J. Renault, formerly of the McClatchy newspapers; Clive Dudley, of Thunder Bay, Ontario, his Canadian friend when he took refuge on an island after surviving the notorious Lake Superior "Green Storm," and his contribution of several excellent photographs; the photography of gulls around Clive's special historic tugboat in Thunder Bay, the James Whalen, by his brother Kim Dudley; and lastly, the aid of Thunder Bay fireman Dave Grant, whose wife, Gina, photographed the fireman's rescue of a hapless seagull near Thunder Bay.
