Goshawk Summer

The 2022 James Cropper Wainwright Prize — Winner for Nature Writing

In early 2020, wildlife film-maker James Aldred was commissioned to make a documentary following the lives of a family of Goshawks in the New Forest - the place of his childhood. He began to plan a treetop hide in a remote site that would allow him to film the Gos nest, their newly hatched chicks and the lives of this illusive and enchanting bird.

Then lockdown. And as the world retreated, something remarkable happened. The noise of our everyday stilled. No more cars, no more off-roaders, no more airplanes roaring in the skies, no one in the Goshawk woods - except James.

At this unique moment, James was granted a once in a lifetime opportunity to keep filming. And so, over that spring and into summer, he began to write about his experiences in a place empty of people, but filled with birdsong and new life.

Amidst the fragility and the fear, there was silver moonlight, tumbling fox cubs, calling curlew and, of course, the soaring Goshawks - shining like fire through one of our darkest times. A Goshawk summer unlike any other.