During World War I, on the Queensland Gold Coast of Australia, we meet Jim Saddler. Jim loves birds and spends much of his time at an estuary near his home, an estuary that is inherited by Ashley Crowther. The two men become close when Ashley makes Jim the warden. Jim meets Imogen, a photographer who has spent much time capturing the birds in pictures. The Sandpiper's photographs are especially beautiful.
Eventually, Jim leaves the estuary behind to do his part in the war against Germany, and he goes to the Western Front. His perception has been honed by birdwatching, and so his experience of warfare is uniquely disturbing. He is like a religious witness to the disaster and chaos of the Great War, and its trench warfare in particular. Jim's friend Clancy is hit by a random shell, and his blood covers Jim. He sees another kid having his legs blown off. In fact, the death doesn't stop—he continually watches gruesome deaths.
When Jim meets Ashley again, Ashley is an officer. Jim himself is not innocent in warfare either, no matter how much he detests the violence of warfare. He learns this when another man named Wizzer attacks him one day—a man who later is killed by an explosive. Jim notices that the crows are proceeding with their normal migration.
Then one day, Jim loses it a little bit, and goes crazy against the enemy during an attack. He is wounded and dies in a beautiful, lyrical fashion. On the Australian coast, Imogen mourns Jim's death and considers the implications of this war, the meaninglessness and futility of life. But she can't help but remember Jim the way he was, and the way he found unimaginable beauty in nature.
