Caw Caw!

   I've never been interested in reading about birds, but Don Stap helps make it easier. In "Flight of The Kuaka," his use of imagery makes the reading appealing to the reader. The descriptive language helped me visualize his bird watching when the Kuaka's would fly south. "Hundreds of godwits—large, long-legged, cinnamon-breasted sandpipers with upturned bills—flew to this roosting site when high tide submerged the mud flats of the Firth, where they spent the day feeding and preening." Here Stap makes the readers visualize his own experience for the reader to see how the birds behaved.
   Not only does his descriptive language appeal to the reader, it also helps learning about the material being read. He talks about the birds migration courses and their tendencies. The birds would "usually follow coastlines as they travel, stopping at shoreline mud flats along the way to rest and feed." It's almost as I am actually Stap observing the birds myself. "These “quartering” tailwinds (midway between a tailwind and a crosswind) push the birds along, but if they do not compensate for the westward wind flow, they will be blown far off course." Not only is he stating facts but he is doing so in a way that the reader can picture the bird flying as they read.