Submitted by Griffin Bay Bookstore.

Griffin Bay Bookstore hosts Lopez Island author Peter Cavanagh featuring his beautiful new book, ‘How Birds Fly,’ on Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m. in the bookstore café.

Bird flight is a mesmerizing spectacle, yet its intricacies remain largely shrouded in mystery for most. Even after over a century of study, certain aspects of bird flight continue to baffle the public and ornithologists alike.

Cavanagh has dedicated a decade to crafting this remarkable book, ‘How Birds Fly.’ Through awe-inspiring photography and conversational prose, Cavanagh unveils the complex evolutions and physics of bird flight, making it accessible to bird lovers of all levels. His remarkable slides are sure to captivate.

Within the pages of his new book, readers discover the elegant mechanics behind how birds fly, exploring the evolution of flight, the roles of bones, muscles and feathers, and the variable functions of wings, wingtips and tails. From takeoff to landing, soaring to diving and hunting to hovering, Cavanagh presents unprecedented insight into avian movement.

A brief discussion will follow the reading. Copies of Cavanagh’s books ‘How Birds Fly’ and ‘100 Flying Birds’ are on sale in the bookstore, and he will be happy to inscribe individual copies.

Cavanagh is a Lopez Island wildlife photographer and author who has been taking photographs since he was a boy of 5, growing up in England. His images have been featured in the Audubon Society’s Audubon Photography Awards Top 100. He guest curated the exhibit ‘How Birds Fly’ at the Seattle Museum of Flight.

After a career in academia as a professor and biomechanics researcher (including work for NASA exploring bone loss in spaceflight) Cavanagh turned his attention to photographing and writing about flying birds. His books include ‘100 Flying Birds: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight’ and ‘How Birds Fly: The Science and Art of Avian Flight.’ Cavanagh has traveled widely to photograph birds on every continent. He can be found on Instagram @petercavanaghbirds and at www.petercavanagh.us.

Griffin Bay Bookstore, located at 155 Spring St., Friday Harbor, is part of IndieBound, developed by the American Booksellers Association, to promote the benefits of independent bookstores across America as well as the benefits of shopping or buying locally. When you shop locally and support your independent bookstore, you nurture your own community.