The RSPB’s Book of the Season The distinctive white-tailed sea eagle was driven to extinction in Britain more than 200 years ago, but this immense predator is making a return to our skies, thanks to Roy Dennis, an ornithologist, conservationist and arguably the driving force behind the UK’s reintroduction agenda. Roy was instrumental in returning the Osprey, red kite and golden eagle to the British Isles, but the road to reintroduction isn’t an easy one. In what will surely be the seminal book on British reintroductions, Roy details the painstaking process of returning the Goldeneye to Scotland, one duckling at a time, the die-hard determination needed to make a dazzling success of the red kite reintroduction and the leap of faith we will all need to make to accept sharing our forests and skies with large carnivores again. He also illustrates all that we have to gain by restoring our ecosystems to balance.Filled with a lifetime’s worth of stories from the front lines of conservation, Reintroduction offers an eye-opening insight into the complexities of reintroducing extinct animals to Britain. It’s also an intimate portrait of these apex predators and a reminder of why we need them.

The RSPB’s Book of the SeasonThe distinctive white-tailed sea eagle was driven to extinction in Britain more than 200 years ago, but this immense predator is making a return to our skies, thanks to Roy Dennis, an ornithologist, conservationist and arguably the driving force behind the UK’s reintroduction agenda.Roy was instrumental in returning the Osprey, red kite and golden eagle to the British Isles, but the road to reintroduction isn’t an easy one. In what will surely be the seminal book on British reintroductions, Roy details the painstaking process of returning the Goldeneye to Scotland, one duckling at a time, the die-hard determination needed to make a dazzling success of the red kite reintroduction and the leap of faith we will all need to make to accept sharing our forests and skies with large carnivores again. He also illustrates all that we have to gain by restoring our ecosystems to balance.Filled with a lifetime’s worth of stories from the front lines of conservation, Reintroduction offers an eye-opening insight into the complexities of reintroducing extinct animals to Britain. It’s also an intimate portrait of these apex predators and a reminder of why we need them.

Ospreys are one of our best known and best loved birds and the name Roy Dennis is not only synonymous with the successful return of the osprey to Scotland, but is also renowned for his international work with a variety of species. From the time he saw his first osprey, back in 1960, Roy has worked to help this magnificent raptor establish itself once more in a country where it had been hounded and persecuted to near-extinction over hundreds of years. This book tells the story not only of the osprey, but of the osprey watcher, following the bird''s fortunes in Scotland, seeing its numbers rise from that single pair in the 1950s to close to 200 pairs today. From a look at its history in Scotland and the rest of the UK including the bad old days of egg thieves and the shooting of birds as specimens, it moves to the present day, with satellite radios allowing us to follow the every move of the osprey on its migration to Africa and back. Roy has pioneered the building of artificial nests for ospreys, which had been instrumental in increasing their numbers and range, as well as starting the first European trans-location taking chicks from their nests in the Highlands and releasing them at Rutland Water Nature Reserve in the Midlands. The book also covers the ecology of the osprey with many personal anecdotes and insights. Diary entries give a more immediate feel to the chapters, and the worldwide distribution of ospreys is enlivened by that sense of immediacy. Roy''s writings, at a time when no one knew whether or not his lifetime''s work would succeed, add a sense of history to this personal tale.

The Highland Cow & the Horse of the Woods by Roy Dennis is a powerful conservation and environmental science book addressing the urgent decline of Scotland’s capercaillie, an iconic woodland bird now reduced to around 400 individuals in native Scottish pine forests. Once widespread across the Highlands, capercaillie populations have collapsed due to degraded forest habitats and ecological imbalance.Drawing on decades of wildlife conservation expertise, Dennis explores how restoring Scotland’s woodland ecosystems is essential to preventing extinction. The book argues that the solution lies in reintroducing traditional land management practices, particularly the use of Highland cattle, to recreate the ecological role once played by ancient woodland grazers.Historically known in Gaelic as capallcoille — the 'horse of the woods' — the capercaillie has declined from around 20,000 birds in the 1960s to just a few hundred today. Dennis highlights how dysfunctional forest structure, limited biodiversity, and loss of natural grazing have contributed to this crisis.By reintroducing Highland cows into woodland environments, the book proposes a nature-based solution that restores habitat complexity, increases invertebrate populations and improves biodiversity. These changes not only benefit the capercaillie but strengthen the wider Scottish forest ecosystem.The Highland Cow & the Horse of the Woods is an essential read for those interested in Scottish wildlife conservation, biodiversity restoration, capercaillie recovery, and sustainable forest management. It offers a hopeful and practical vision for the future of Scotland’s native woodland habitats.

A collection of vibrant essays to inform, stimulate and inspire every nature lover. Through unparallelled expertise as a field naturalist, Roy Dennis is able to write about the natural world in a way that considers both the problems and the progress in ecology and conservation. Beginning with cottongrass, whose snow-white blooms blow gently in the wind across the wetter moors and bogs, this is a year-round trove of insight and knowledge for anyone who cares about the natural world – from birdsong and biodiversity to sphagnum and species reintroduction. Written by one of our most prominent advocates for rewilding, the essays have a clear message: “Never give up on trying to conserve and restore wildlife and the wild places you cherish. It’s essential to try and to succeed. And remember, it’s never ‘if’, but ‘when’ – and with climate chaos closing in, the time is now.

The RSPB’s Book of the Season The distinctive white-tailed sea eagle was driven to extinction in Britain more than 200 years ago, but this immense predator is making a return to our skies, thanks to Roy Dennis, an ornithologist, conservationist and arguably the driving force behind the UK’s reintroduction agenda. Roy was instrumental in returning the Osprey, red kite and golden eagle to the British Isles, but the road to reintroduction isn’t an easy one. In what will surely be the seminal book on British reintroductions, Roy details the painstaking process of returning the Goldeneye to Scotland, one duckling at a time, the die-hard determination needed to make a dazzling success of the red kite reintroduction and the leap of faith we will all need to make to accept sharing our forests and skies with large carnivores again. He also illustrates all that we have to gain by restoring our ecosystems to balance.Filled with a lifetime’s worth of stories from the front lines of conservation, Reintroduction offers an eye-opening insight into the complexities of reintroducing extinct animals to Britain. It’s also an intimate portrait of these apex predators and a reminder of why we need them.

The RSPB’s Book of the SeasonThe distinctive white-tailed sea eagle was driven to extinction in Britain more than 200 years ago, but this immense predator is making a return to our skies, thanks to Roy Dennis, an ornithologist, conservationist and arguably the driving force behind the UK’s reintroduction agenda.Roy was instrumental in returning the Osprey, red kite and golden eagle to the British Isles, but the road to reintroduction isn’t an easy one. In what will surely be the seminal book on British reintroductions, Roy details the painstaking process of returning the Goldeneye to Scotland, one duckling at a time, the die-hard determination needed to make a dazzling success of the red kite reintroduction and the leap of faith we will all need to make to accept sharing our forests and skies with large carnivores again. He also illustrates all that we have to gain by restoring our ecosystems to balance.Filled with a lifetime’s worth of stories from the front lines of conservation, Reintroduction offers an eye-opening insight into the complexities of reintroducing extinct animals to Britain. It’s also an intimate portrait of these apex predators and a reminder of why we need them.

Ospreys are one of our best known and best loved birds and the name Roy Dennis is not only synonymous with the successful return of the osprey to Scotland, but is also renowned for his international work with a variety of species. From the time he saw his first osprey, back in 1960, Roy has worked to help this magnificent raptor establish itself once more in a country where it had been hounded and persecuted to near-extinction over hundreds of years. This book tells the story not only of the osprey, but of the osprey watcher, following the bird''s fortunes in Scotland, seeing its numbers rise from that single pair in the 1950s to close to 200 pairs today. From a look at its history in Scotland and the rest of the UK including the bad old days of egg thieves and the shooting of birds as specimens, it moves to the present day, with satellite radios allowing us to follow the every move of the osprey on its migration to Africa and back. Roy has pioneered the building of artificial nests for ospreys, which had been instrumental in increasing their numbers and range, as well as starting the first European trans-location taking chicks from their nests in the Highlands and releasing them at Rutland Water Nature Reserve in the Midlands. The book also covers the ecology of the osprey with many personal anecdotes and insights. Diary entries give a more immediate feel to the chapters, and the worldwide distribution of ospreys is enlivened by that sense of immediacy. Roy''s writings, at a time when no one knew whether or not his lifetime''s work would succeed, add a sense of history to this personal tale.

The Highland Cow & the Horse of the Woods by Roy Dennis is a powerful conservation and environmental science book addressing the urgent decline of Scotland’s capercaillie, an iconic woodland bird now reduced to around 400 individuals in native Scottish pine forests. Once widespread across the Highlands, capercaillie populations have collapsed due to degraded forest habitats and ecological imbalance.Drawing on decades of wildlife conservation expertise, Dennis explores how restoring Scotland’s woodland ecosystems is essential to preventing extinction. The book argues that the solution lies in reintroducing traditional land management practices, particularly the use of Highland cattle, to recreate the ecological role once played by ancient woodland grazers.Historically known in Gaelic as capallcoille — the 'horse of the woods' — the capercaillie has declined from around 20,000 birds in the 1960s to just a few hundred today. Dennis highlights how dysfunctional forest structure, limited biodiversity, and loss of natural grazing have contributed to this crisis.By reintroducing Highland cows into woodland environments, the book proposes a nature-based solution that restores habitat complexity, increases invertebrate populations and improves biodiversity. These changes not only benefit the capercaillie but strengthen the wider Scottish forest ecosystem.The Highland Cow & the Horse of the Woods is an essential read for those interested in Scottish wildlife conservation, biodiversity restoration, capercaillie recovery, and sustainable forest management. It offers a hopeful and practical vision for the future of Scotland’s native woodland habitats.

A collection of vibrant essays to inform, stimulate and inspire every nature lover. Through unparallelled expertise as a field naturalist, Roy Dennis is able to write about the natural world in a way that considers both the problems and the progress in ecology and conservation. Beginning with cottongrass, whose snow-white blooms blow gently in the wind across the wetter moors and bogs, this is a year-round trove of insight and knowledge for anyone who cares about the natural world – from birdsong and biodiversity to sphagnum and species reintroduction. Written by one of our most prominent advocates for rewilding, the essays have a clear message: “Never give up on trying to conserve and restore wildlife and the wild places you cherish. It’s essential to try and to succeed. And remember, it’s never ‘if’, but ‘when’ – and with climate chaos closing in, the time is now.