Birdland is an account of how birds inhabit and enhance our lives in Britain. Jon Gower explores our deep and various relationships with birds, from the way in which rare ones excite twitchers through to how they inspire artists and musicians. He visits some of the best places in Britain to watch them at a time when many species are under threat, searching for some species he has always wanted to see such as wryneck, dotterel and barred warbler.

Jon started watching birds when he was 14 years old and so he can chart changes over 50 years, at a time when the countryside has seemingly emptied and in many ways fallen silent. But despite the many reasons for concern, he chooses, still, to be a celebrant of birds and their beauties, in the hope that this will accelerate the care we take of our feathered friends.

Birdland will be published in the spring of 2026 by HarperNorth.