Nature Boy: A memoir of birdsong and belonging

(Hardback)

Available Formats

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Ornithologist Sean Ronayne always knew he was different. While he struggled to fit in at school, when he was surrounded by nature, listening to birdsong, he felt a sense of calm and could truly be himself. His happiest times were spent walking in the woods with his father and grandfather, learning to identify the plants and birds around their home in Cork. Other children called him 'Nature Boy'.

Sean went on to qualify as an ornithologist, dedicating his life to studying and photographing birds. When, at the age of thirty-two, he discovered he was autistic, his life began to make sense. He grew to recognize that his difference was a gift, enabling him to use his passion to help spread awareness of the beauty of the natural world - and the danger it currently faces.

In 2021, Sean set out on his mission to be the first to sound record all the regularly occurring bird species in Ireland: a journey of discovery and wonder that has taken him to the four corners of the country.

Nature Boy is a celebration of birds, connection and being true to yourself - and of the extraordinary, healing power of nature.

Author Bio

Sean Ronayne is a Cork-born ornithologist and naturalist who has spent a life immersed in nature. Following a childhood spent exploring the fields and woods of his hometown, Sean went on to study Zoology at University College Cork (UCC), as well as a Master's in Marine Biology, also at UCC. After graduating, he worked at a seabird sanctuary in the UK, and then returned to Ireland to enroll in a Master's in Ecological Impact Assessment, specialising in ornithology.

He secured his first professional ornithologist job in 2017, and in 2018 he moved to Barcelona with his partner Alba, a Catalan native, where he began recording birds and wildlife in earnest. And following their return to Ireland in 2020, he embarked on his project to sound-record all of Ireland's regularly occurring birds, bringing him all over the country in search of rare and elusive species, some of which were on the cusp of extinction. He has now just three species left to record, out of almost 200, and has amassed a collection of over 12,000 recordings of Irish birds and other wildlife.

In spring 2024, Birdsong, a documentary about Sean's recording project, was released to great acclaim. Birdsong is directed by Kathleen Harris and produced by Ross Whitaker and Aideen O'Sullivan for True Films.

Sean lives near Cobh, County Cork, with Alba and their dog Toby. Nature Boy is his first book.

@irishwildlifesounds (Instagram)

@soundsirish (Twitter)

https://soundcloud.com/irishwildlifesounds