From an award-winning wildlife cameraman comes the unique story of filming a family of wild Goshawks in the New Forest when suddenly, unexpectedly, the woods emptied of people, but filled with birdsong and new life

WINNER OF THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2022

James Aldred’s prize-winning lockdown diary of his summer in the New Forest, featuring a stunning new linocut cover by illustrator Nick Hayes.

’A beautiful inspirational tale set in an extraordinary time.’ Ray Mears

‘Wonderful … they don’t come much more expert than James Aldred’ Lauren Laverne

What happens to nature when we are no longer there?

In early 2020, wildlife cameraman James Aldred was commissioned to film the lives of a family of goshawks in the New Forest. Then lockdown. No more cars, no more aeroplanes, no one in the woods – except James – in a place empty of people but filled with birdsong and new life.

In these silver nights and golden days, there were tumbling fox cubs, calling curlew and, of course, the soaring goshawks – shining like fire through one of our darkest times. A goshawk summer unlike any other; an extraordinary season in the forest.

‘Magical and transporting… a beautiful and deeply evocative hymn to love, hope and connection.’ HELEN MACDONALD, author of H is for Hawk



‘[An] entrancing, acutely observed, beautifully paced diary of the secretive raptor’s breeding season… Fascinating.’ BBC Wildlife