The House on Ipswich Marsh: Exploring the Natural History of New England
"I fell in love with a field in the spring of 2001." So begins this charming, edifying look at a New England wetland by science writer Sargent (A Year in the Notch: Exploring the Natural History of the White Mountains, etc.). A year after falling in love with said field, Sargent moved into a "charming monstrosity" of a house set on one of the field's corners, and thus began his project of studying the natural and cultural history of the area known as the Great Marsh. Shared by Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the Great Marsh is home to many species of rare birds. Sargent, who once classified birds by color (as in, that's a brown one and that's a black one), soon finds himself mesmerized by the call of the bobolink and the flight of the least tern. In a series of pleasing meditations that progress by season, Sargent reflects on the flora and fauna of the area, as well as on the 19th-century New England ice trade, what a mastodon hunt must have looked like, why the New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins (it has to do with mitochondria) and plenty of other subjects. Sargent's blend of science, history and personal memoir will engage all fans of good nature writing, and those fond of New England especially.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.