Audiobook Review - The Ravenmaster

A great audiobook I listened to in recent years is called The Ravenmaster, written and read by Christopher Skaife.  The author is a Yeoman in the British Army who is in charge of taking care of the ravens in the Tower of London.  Prior to listening to this audiobook, I had no urge to visit the Tower of London, but now it is on my bucket list.

The author freely admits that he is not a scientist, and does not attempt to push the book as a scientific work.  He has had many interesting adventures with these birds, which make it into the book along with some very interesting history and mythology surrounding the Tower of London.

The reason the ravens are kept at the tower is based on a legend that there needs to be a certain number of ravens at the Tower of London, or the monarchy will fall.  He delves deeply into this legend, and comes to the conclusion that no one really knows where the legend started.  In going into the legend, he also goes over a lot of interesting history.

Some of my favorite passages in the book have to do with the mischief in which these birds engage.  For instance, one of ravens is good at getting sandwiches from the tourists.  It lands next to them when they are eating on the picnic bench.  Most people are so surprised at the sight of this large bird, that they drop their sandwich, which the raven grabs and flies away.

Another raven is good at flying in silently, and grabbing bags of crisps (chips in North America).  Before the person knows what is happening, the raven grabs the crisps with one foot, rips open the bag with its beak, fills its beak with crisps, and flies away.

Another interesting aspect of the ravens is the pecking order.  Ravens are highly intelligent birds, and they have a very definite pecking order within their flock.  At night, the ravens are put in enclosures, and they insist on being put in the enclosures in a certain order.  One time, the author and his wife had  dinner reservations to celebrate his birthday.  He thought that he could put the ravens in the enclosures in a different order just for that night; he was wrong.  The raven that thought it should be in first saw what was happening, and would not allow him/herself to be caught.  They never did make it to dinner that night.

The ravens at the Tower of London have their wings trimmed, but they are no longer rendered flightless after an accident several years ago.  One raven walking around near the top of the tower tried to leap from one perch to another, and did not survive the jump.  After that, they decided to lightly trim the feathers to discourage long distance flight.  If a raven is determined enough, it can fly away.  The staff then has to go try to retrieve the raven.  Since ravens are highly unusual in London, people often call the tower if one is seen.  However, some never return.

It was nice to listen to the author reading his own book.  Christopher Skaife is originally from the Dover area of England, and has a fun accent.

I highly recommend this audiobook.  It covers many interesting aspects of life with the ravens at the Tower of London.

Book and Film Reviews - The Big Year

One of my favorite book/film combinations is called The Big Year.  The book by Mark Obmascik is the true story of three birders who were competing to win the North American Big Year, a contest to see who can see the most birds in North America in one calendar year.  There are fewer than 700 breeding birds in North America, and each of these birders saw over 700 species.

You have to either have deep pockets, or be willing to go into a lot of debt to complete this contest.  A birder might be in Minnesota looking for a pine grosbeak, and hear of a unique type of hummingbird in Florida.  They drive to the nearest airport, hop on a plane, and go to Florida, and hope that they find their bird.  That combined with other travel expenses means someone can spend tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars to win.

An interesting part of the book is the history of the Big Year.  In one part of the history, the author wrote about one person decades ago who managed to do a Big Year for about 1000 dollars.  He hitchhiked around North America and still managed to see over 600 birds.

You can do a Big Year in less expensive ways.  Some people limit themselves to the Continental United States, their home state, a single county, or their back yard.  I did a couple of Big Years, and only birded in places I was already going.  To see my second Big Year list, go to my blog article on John Silliman's Birding Blog.

I saw the film The Big Year before I read the book.  It is starring Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black.  The strong supporting cast features the talents of Rashida Jones and Anjelica Huston.  As you can imagine with that cast, there is some good comedy thrown in.

The film is based loosely on the book, but definitely stands on its own two feet.  It really captures the obsessiveness of many of the serious birders.

Another way to learn about the determination of these birders is to do your own Big Year.  You can compete against yourself, or try to get some friends in on the action.  It is one of the best ways to learn about birding, and to get some great exercise (you often times have to walk a long way to see the birds).

I really enjoyed the film footage of the birds.  Especially interesting is the picture montage in the closing credits showing a picture of every bird seen by the winner.

Another highlight is Rashida Jones' bird call imitations.  She played one of the other birders (not competing for the Big Year) that often times showed up at birding events.  Rashida's character was also the love interest of Jack Black's character.

One of the top banjo players in the world today is Steve Martin.  He won a grammy for one of his albums, yet his music almost never appears in his films.  I was thrilled to hear his Pitkin County Turnaround in a scene in Texas where they are chasing a pink-footed goose (yes that's a real bird).

The book and film have been inspirations for many birders.  Every year, birders compete for the North American Big Year.  People are even starting to expand into a World-wide Big Year.  These works have inspired a huge amount of people to conserve birds, get outside, exercise, and go find some birds.  In an increasingly sedentary and indoor-oriented society, that contribution has been incredibly important.

I highly recommend both The Big Year book, and The Big Year film.  If you are already an avid birder, read the book first and then see the movie.  On the other hand, if you are not yet an experienced birder, I would see the film first.

Book Review - Code Girls

One of the best audiobooks I have listened to in the last year is called Code Girls by Liza Mundy.  It is about a little known aspect of World War II history in which talented women were recruited as code breakers.

The woman that were recruited were talented at math and language skills.  They were found in colleges and universities, as well as through ads in the newspapers.

After a number of tests, the qualified women would be offered a war-time job and told to report on a specific date.  When they were hired, they were not immediately told what the job would entail, but they were told that they would never talk about it outside of the office.  Much of their work remained classified until recently, and some things are still classified.  Liza petitioned for some declassification, so should could write the book.

As the war went on, many of these amazing women joined the military as WACS or WAVES.  WACS were in the Army, and WAVES were in the Navy.

Earlier in the war, these code breakers broke one of the Japanese codes, and found out their plans for the Battle of Midway.  The Imperial Navy was going to try to pull part of the United States Navy to the Aleutian Islands by starting a smaller battle, and leave most of their forces to attack Midway.  The United States Navy learned of their plans, and left the vast majority of their forces at Midway, resulting in a huge victory from which the Japanese Navy never fully recovered.  Without the incredible work of the code breakers, the battle could have ended very differently.

The book also portrays women who constructed the code breaking machines which were used to crack the German Enigma code.  They were brought to a factory in Ohio, where they were trained to make specific parts of the machine.  Very few people were given the knowledge of what their machine did, but many figured out that it had something to do with code breaking since they had to make 26 of every part, and that is how many letters are in our alphabet.

The reason the work of these code breakers was so secretive is if the other side found out their code had been broken, they would totally change the code, and it would take months or even years to break the code again.  This happened after the battle of Midway when a reporter credited the code breakers with helping to turn the tide of battle.

When a code was broken, they had to take steps to make sure the other side didn't know.  For instance, they would send a spotter plane ahead of the bombers to make it look like a ship was found by such instead of a broken code.

Every great audiobook needs a great narrator, and Erin Bennett fit the bill very nicely.  She had a good, consistent delivery throughout the book.  Her voice was expressive enough to do justice to the material presented.

I recommend this audiobook to young adults and adults.  It is a great portrayal of some of the silent heroes of World War II as well as a fascinating aspect of women's history.

Film Review - They Shall Not Grow Old

A few months ago, I met some British people on one of my naturalist activities.  They found out about my love of history, and recommended a film called They Shall Not Grow Old.

The film was directed and produced by Peter Jackson.  He was able to access film and audio recordings relating to World War One, and put them together in an amazing way.

The silent black and white footage showed life at the beginning of the war, and footage of the front lines.  It was meticulously restored and colorized.  Realistic sound effects were added, included the speech of those filmed.  Lip readers read the words, and actors from the army unit's region were used to voice the lines for the film.

Throughout the film were stories from the veterans themselves.  I found out in the extra features that those were recordings of the actual veterans made in the 1960s.

There were also some still shots of drawings done for a magazine during the war to fill in the things (such as hand to hand combat) that could not be filmed during the battle.

The film was very graphic.   It would be impossible to accurately depict that war without being graphic.  This is definitely not a film for kids, as it would likely give them nightmares.

I think adults should see the film because I am a firm believer that we should all know our history.  We should learn from the good and bad parts of our story.  That way, we can repeat some fo the good things, and avoid repeating the bad parts.

They Shall Not Grow Old was humbling, sad, and amazing.  I'm glad I watched it, and grateful that I did not directly experience the war to end all wars.  I've always had a huge amount of respect for veterans, and this film made me respect their sacrifices even more.

Recommendations - Audiobooks

In this time of sheltering in place, I decided to write about some of my favorite books and films.  Hopefully, they will help you get through this time.

I enjoy the audiobook format for both the writing and the performances.  Here are some of the audiobooks I enjoyed in recent years:

• Code Girls by Lisa Mundy (History)
• The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi (History)
• The Beautiful Brain by Hana Walker-Brown (Science)
• Dream More by Dolly Parton (Inspirational)
• Medical School for Everyone: Emergency Medicine by Roy Benaroch (The Great Courses)
• Gut by Giulia Enders (Science)
• A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs by Ben Garrod (Science)
• The Next Pandemic by Ali Khan and William Patrick (Science and History)
• The Mystic School of Musicraft by Jessica Khoury (Young Adult)
• Leadership by Doris Kearns Goodwin (History)
• Berlin 1961 by Frederick Kempe (History)
• Climbing with Mollie by William Finnegan (Family)
• The Unteachables by Gordon Korman (Young Adult)
• Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon (Young Adult)
• Medical School for Everyone: Pediatrics Grand Rounds by Roy Benaroch (The Great Courses)
• Alone with the Stars by David R. Gillham (Historical Fiction)
• Our Harlem by Marcus Samuelsson (History and Culture)
• A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa (History)
• Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen (Historical Fiction)
• The Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife (Nature and History)
• Devotion by Adam Makos (History)
• A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin
• The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord

My goal is to write in depth reviews of several of these works.  I'm also planning on reviewing some regular books, films, and television shows.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Winter Driving on the Gunflint Trail

Driving on the Gunflint Trail in the winter can be challenging.  In recent months, I have seen people engaging in many dangerous practices which put their life, and the lives of others at risk.  As a member of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department, I have seen the results of this carelessness, and know that many of those accidents could have been prevented.  Here are some basic tips of how to drive safely on the Gunflint Trail in the winter:

1. Don't drink and drive in a car or snowmobile!  In the state of Minnesota, if you get caught over the legal limit drinking and driving, drinking and snowmobiling, or drinking and boating, you lose the right to do any of those activities.  Many of the worst accidents I have responded to have involved alcohol.

2. Remember that your 4-wheel or all-wheel drive can get you going faster, but your brakes don't work any better.  If the conditions dictate it, drive slower.

3. If you are driving slower, and there is a line up behind you, pull over in a parking lot, turnaround, or side road to let them pass.  People generally don't mind if you drive slow, but they may not want to follow you for 40 or 50 miles at that speed.

4. If you see an animal or some beautiful scenery, look behind you before you put on the brakes!  I have had multiple cars slam on their brakes in front of me this past year and nearly cause an accident.  The first time I was driving a red fire truck with the emergency lights on, when someone saw a moose, and slammed on their brakes in front of me.

5. Follow other cars at "country distance" instead of "city distance."  In the rural areas, we give the vehicles about 3 times the distance as in the city.  When I had vehicles slam on their brakes in front of me, any one of those incidents could have resulted in an accident if I had been following at "city distance."

6. Don't stop in the middle of the road.  There are plenty of spots to pull off the road if you want to get pictures.

Picture from Gunflint Lake Scenic Overlook Parking Lot

Gunflint and Magnetic Lakes from the Gunflint Lake Scenic Overlook Parking Lot

7. Don't stop in the middle of a curve or on a hill.  Other cars will not have the time to stop if the drivers do not see you until the last second.

8. Don't come up the Gunflint Trail with bad tires.  It doesn't matter if you have 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive if your tires cannot grip the road.  I started out a winter with worn tires once, and it made a huge difference.  Shortly after the first winter driving conditions, I went to Duluth to get some new tires, making the driving much safer and more relaxing.

9. Put your phone away and enjoy the scenery.  American cell phone service disappears as you pass the George Washington Pines just outside of Grand Marais.  If you pick up a signal after that, you will be paying international rates since your signal is bouncing off the Canadian towers.  Besides, it is illegal to make calls on anything but a hands-free device while driving in Minnesota.

10. If you see emergency lights, be prepared to stop!  Please keep first responders and others at an accident scene safe!  Since the Gunflint Trail is only a 2-lane road, there will most likely be someone stopping you if there is an emergency incident.  Have patience, we will let you continue your drive as soon as it is safe.

Magnetic Rock in the Winter

Monday was a beautiful day on the Gunflint Trail, so I decided to take Ellie on a snowshoe hike to Magnetic Rock.  The sky was a deep blue, and the temperature started at about ten above, and ended at about two below zero Fahrenheit.

It was the first time I hiked on snowshoes with Ellie.  I tried walking in front, but Ellie kept stepping on the back of my snowshoes, so she ended up in front a little ways into the hike.

The snow off trail was deep, and the trail was relatively hard packed.  I probably could have gone without the snowshoes, but it is better to bring them along when you don't know the snow conditions.

Magnetic Rock and Border Route Trailhead

Magnetic Rock Trail First Pond

Ellie on the Trail

After about an hour of hiking, we came to Magnetic Rock.  It was shortly before sunset, so there was a nice golden glow over everything.

Magnetic Rock with the Setting Sun

Magnetic Rock

Ellie at Magnetic Rock

 Magnetic Rock is actually magnetic.  It contains magnetite, the most magnetic of the iron ores.  Compass needles are also made out of magnetite.

There are a plethora of lichens on Magnetic Rock.  Lichens are 3 forms of life living together symbiotically.  One part is a larger fungus.  The second part is algae or cyanobacteria.  Part three is a yeast type fungus.  The cyanobacteria or algae provides sugars/carbohydrates as a byproduct of photosynthesis, and the fungi provide mineral nutrients and a home outside of the water.  Lichens are a great bioindicator, since they are so sensitive to pollution.

Snow and Lichens of Magnetic Rock

 The last picture shows ice and lichens on Magnetic Rock.  Can you see which one is which?  The white on the peak is mostly ice, and the bottom 2/3 is mostly lichen.

Magnetic Rock

To get to Magnetic Rock, drive up the Gunflint Trail from Grand Marais for about 50 miles.  You will pass the South Gunflint Lake, North Gunflint Lake, and Warren's (Gunflint Narrows) roads on your right before passing the Round Lake Road on your left.  About 100 yards beyond the Round Lake Road on the left will be the Kekekabic Trailhead.  In about 100 more yard on your right will be the Magnetic Rock about Border Route Trailhead.  There is a small plowed parking lot in which to leave your car.

Bring snowshoes, water, sunglasses/goggles, snow boots, layers of clothing, and your camera.  Plan two to three hours for this moderately difficult hike.