This image is the cover for the book Birds of a Feather

Birds of a Feather

In this new collection, Maine guide, bush pilot, journalist, and professional photographer Paul Fournier spins more stories of the wild outdoors in the inimitable style that earned him the Best Book of 2011 Award from the New England Outdoor Writers Association for Tales from Misery Ridge. In the title essay, Fournier tells the fascinating story of how devoted scientists, citizens, and outdoor professionals brought back the bald eagle in Maine one nesting pair at a time. Other tales strike a similar vein: a group of volunteers and biologists strive to save the rare Arctic char in a remote Maine lake, the author attempts to spy a cougar in Maine, and he and a friend find a daring way to film a world famous clowning skier’s downhill run in one “take.” Among his adventures and misadventures over the decades, Fournier covers the Sonny Liston/Mohammed Ali fight in Lewiston, gets perilously close to a rutting moose, and witnesses how a pair of deer poachers are literally caught in their own trap. Experienced outdoorsmen in particular will nod with appreciation and pleasure at the author’s experiences, and armchair explorers will enjoy his entertaining essays about the strange habits of forest fauna. This diverse collection of stories finds its unity in the author’s humor, authority, and love of his subjects: Maine and its wild and civilized inhabitants, whether they climb, slink, swim, fly—or walk on two feet.

Paul Fournier

The late Paul Fournier was a native Mainer with a long career in the Maine woods, starting out as a registered Maine Guide and bush pilot. For twenty years he was the public information officer for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. He also produced a weekly television program, Maine Fish and Wildlife, for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. He has written and photographed extensively for a number of magazines, including Audubon, Natural History, National Geographic,Yankee, Down East, Field & Stream, and Outdoor Life, among others.

Islandport Press