Reviews for On the Wing
Review - On the Wing
Tennant was helping a friend track Peregrines on Texas’ Padre Island. They trapped and tagged the birds with transmitters to see when they left the area for the breeding grounds. Tennant decided he want to know more, so he worked out an arrangement with George Vose, a 70-year-old WWII pilot who owned a dilapidated Cessna Skyhawk. Eluding the military, who wanted their monitor back, Alan caught and tagged an adult female. The two men followed it north into Canada, battling weather and always on the edge of danger from running out of gas. They finally gave up when the Peregrine flew north of all available runways.
Later that summer, Alan headed up into Alaska by himself and spent several weeks observing Peregrines along the Colville River. In the fall, he was back in Texas where he tagged three birds, two females and a young male. He and George followed them south into Mexico, quickly losing two of them as they followed the fastest flying into Belize. They finally had to give up when the bird took off over the ocean, presumably for Brazil. They hung around until another one showed up, followed it for a short time, then lost its signal also. When the third didn’t arrive, they headed north, but soon located it and followed it back into Brazil before heading hom.
Their adventures on their journey through Mexico and into Belize included being held at gunpoint by drug growers, meeting wildlife poachers, having their engine conk out over the Gulf of Mexico and being nearly run down by British Harrier jets. Tennant describes the people they met and the other birds and wildlife they saw, and spends a lot of time talking about evolution and mans’ destruction of the planet.
While the book was interesting, I don’t care for the author. He was very self-centered, pursuing his dream so determinately that he didn’t mind breaking several laws, including stealing government transmitters, tagging Peregrines without a license and illegal entry into Canada and Guatemala. His girlfriend, Jennifer, was very patient with him, but finally broke off when he made it very clear that his adventures were more important to him than she was. And in the end, he admitted that his quest had served no useful purpose. I have no issue with his quest, but his lack of regard for others or for rules shows me that he’s flat-out selfish.
Later that summer, Alan headed up into Alaska by himself and spent several weeks observing Peregrines along the Colville River. In the fall, he was back in Texas where he tagged three birds, two females and a young male. He and George followed them south into Mexico, quickly losing two of them as they followed the fastest flying into Belize. They finally had to give up when the bird took off over the ocean, presumably for Brazil. They hung around until another one showed up, followed it for a short time, then lost its signal also. When the third didn’t arrive, they headed north, but soon located it and followed it back into Brazil before heading hom.
Their adventures on their journey through Mexico and into Belize included being held at gunpoint by drug growers, meeting wildlife poachers, having their engine conk out over the Gulf of Mexico and being nearly run down by British Harrier jets. Tennant describes the people they met and the other birds and wildlife they saw, and spends a lot of time talking about evolution and mans’ destruction of the planet.
While the book was interesting, I don’t care for the author. He was very self-centered, pursuing his dream so determinately that he didn’t mind breaking several laws, including stealing government transmitters, tagging Peregrines without a license and illegal entry into Canada and Guatemala. His girlfriend, Jennifer, was very patient with him, but finally broke off when he made it very clear that his adventures were more important to him than she was. And in the end, he admitted that his quest had served no useful purpose. I have no issue with his quest, but his lack of regard for others or for rules shows me that he’s flat-out selfish.
Reviewed by Roger on 2008-08-22 09:52:16