Roxanne Schinas has always had a passion for wildlife. Long before she was old enough to read of Gerald Durrell s adventures she was emulating them, with pets ranging from rabbits and half-tame hedgehogs to toads, sticklebacks, locusts, and a crayfish. In the spring of 2008, while her family were cruising in southern Spain, Roxanne decided to make a survey of the seagull colony on an uninhabited island. The project began with a hand-drawn map on which the nests were plotted. Phase two was to have consisted in the study of the young birds growing up on the island, but when a local nature...