Book Review

On the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth With the Peregrine Falcon

On the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth With the Peregrine Falcon by Alan Tennant, published by Knopf

Reviewed by Mike Shea

September 2004

Buy it at BookPeople

The migration patterns of Falco peregrinus tundrius sound like less than the stuff of great adventure. But preconceptions fall by the wayside in On the Wing: To the Edge of the Earth With the Peregrine Falcon (Knopf) as free-spirited Texas naturalist Alan Tennant spins riveting yarns about tracking the migrating tundra peregrine falcons by air from Padre Island north to Alaska and south to Belize. Tennant and old-school pilot George Vose (a charming septuagenarian rogue) embark on their odyssey in a rickety Cessna Skyhawk equipped with stolen radio-tracking equipment. Every air mile and fuel stop deserves an anecdote. Their entry into Canada becomes a seriocomic encounter with the Mounties and their Mexican landings involve mordida, smuggling accusations, and encounters with armed pot smugglers. By turns moving and hilarious the book is destined to become an instant classic of popular naturalist writing.

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