author, artist, naturalist
Jamie K. Reaser is a scientist, philosopher, award-winning writer, artist, and regenerative farmer. In all forms, Jamie’s work explores the inter-relatedness of Nature and human nature. She is tended by the meandering Rockfish River and steadfast Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia.
Dawn Songs invites you into the deep terrain of birds and bird watchers. It will take you on a lyrical journey that spans miles, ecologies, and cosmologies. It is an anthological exploration of migration at the interface of Nature and human nature. It is well-travelled voices rising, collectively, to call upon a new day.
“As a child, I listened to the dawn chorus with my father, trying to identify each species. Crow, my spirit animal, was always first to call out. The chorus grew in power as new voices joined...until, crescendo! This book brings together a diversity of uplifted human voices--echoing the magic of a dawn chorus. It's an artful celebration in service of birds, of nature, of human nature. Enjoy!” –Mike Parr, American Bird Conservancy
“This collection flits like a songbird among the leaves, offering glimpses of wonder. It is simple, yet profound--capturing the essence of wild winged things and the nourishment we draw from a connection to them. As haunting as a thrush singing from deep in the woods, Dawn Songs calls us to come back home.” –Christian Cooper, host of TV’s Extraordinary Birder and author of Better Living Through Birding
“A gem of a book! It is an original, engaging, and timely poetic narrative sparkling with inspiration–inspiration to explore, evermore deeply, our relationship with birds that visit our lives. Dawn Songs is testament to Nature's migratory spectacle, as well as the joys and heartaches that come from knowing migratory birds–and through them, ourselves.” –Gabriela Chavarria, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
Proceeds from Dawn Songs benefit the American Bird Conservancy’s Conservation and Justice Fellowship program.
"I believe that people can return from the wintering grounds. Animals will depart the ground of scarcity when abundance becomes available to them elsewhere."
– Jamie K. Reaser, The Wintering Grounds
in Dawn Songs: A Birdwatchers Field Guide to the Poetics of Migration
"In recent memory, I sat on a boulder next to a mountain stream and the waters talked to me. They said that voices are like water, they can change things.”
– Jamie K. Reaser, Water and Stone
in Truth & Beauty: Poems on the Nature of Our Humanity