Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard Book by Joan E. Strassmann

I very much enjoyed this book and it comes as a reminder about how important it is to keep in mind the things that are literally right outside your door. And the slow in the title is not a reflection on the intelligence of the birder, but rather that you are slowing down and taking your time rather than marching from house to car and back again, but rather taking your time to see what is on offer in your own neighborhood. It is a push back against the relentless drive to incessantly add to birding life lists; the book advocates for deep study in one area rather than spotting a bird and moving on to the next one. The commoner can be just as fascinating as the exotic. The book covers 16 birds, from Blue Jays to Snow Geese, that can be seen in her part of St. Louis. What makes her book particularly compelling is the research she shares on each of these so-called common birds--they are so much more varied and interesting than at first glance. The book also breaks down the sections based on location, covering her home as well as sites which are within a 20-mile radius of home. She gives examples of the differences that motivate different birds when they are competing for resources and what the outcomes might be between everything from interspecies competition to competition between siblings in the nest and what factors might dictate the outcome. This is maybe not a book for an experienced birder, or a competitive life list birder, but rather for someone who wants to experience more of the world right around them.

Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor

I am not big on celebrity writing as a rule, but I enjoyed this, partly because I think all things bird have a way with me, and partly because it contains a nice collection of observations and wisdom that it behooves us all to pay attention to. She starts off by making the point that as an actor of several decades length she knows how to look and how to listen. She’s been trained to use these skills to give outstanding, grounded performances that move her audience. Here she writes about how she’s applied these and other actorly skills to learning to know the birds around her, whether she’s on the job in New Mexico, a newbie at a large birding festival, or simply walking in her neighborhood in Brooklyn. But that’s not all. Like any good essayist, Taylor effortlessly connects the personal to the universal, in this case going from bird observation to major conservation issues. Birds are both the feature and the bug in this case--they are worthy in and of themselves, and they are also a barometer of what is happening in the world around us. This is well worth your time to both read and think about. The author has also used her notoriety for good--to promote increased awareness of the changing environment and how that is affecting birds--and since we share the same environments, ourselves.

North Seymour Island, Galápagos, Ecuador

Named after the English nobleman Lord Hugh Seymour, North Seymour was formed by a series of uplifts of submarine lava along with Baltra (also called South Seymour) and the northeastern part of Santa Cruz, resulting in flat plateaus. In the early 1930s, members of the Hancock Expeditions moved approximately 70 land iguanas from Baltra Island to North Seymour in order to provide better conditions for their survival, as introduced goats were destroying the habitat on Baltra and contributing to their declining population. Land iguanas are not native to North Seymour Island.

The trail on North Seymour includes a loop that goes along the coast then veers inland, providing visitors with ample opportunity to observe the largest colony of magnificent frigatebirds in Galápagos, blue-footed boobies, and land iguanas, shore birds, as well as sea lions and marine iguanas along the coast.

So many babies!! We were never again so close to nestsm and so many of them. It is very close to the airport, and a wonderful first day introduction to the islands.

Flight Paths by Rebecca Heisman

I saw the author speak as a key note speaker at the San Diego Bird Festival right before this book was published, and she is a great speaker, one who should be considered for a variety of different events, because the story of bird migration and resiliency is one that could fit a lot of different professions. I think while it is billed as great for avid birders, in some ways it is more amazing for people who know almost nothing about birds. The modern technology for tracking migratory birds can sound like something out of science fiction—for example, analyzing the hydrogen isotopes of a single feather from a bird can indicate the breeding range of that particular species. Weather data can show their migration patterns on radar, and minuscule devices can be implanted under feathers, using the movement of the sun to determine their location. Earlier techniques, on the other hand, bordered on the mystical: moon-watching parties, for example, where ornithologists would spend hours with a telescope, waiting for a bird to fly across the full moon. The author creates a skillful and accessible narrative about how we research and understand bird migration, from the first birds ever to be banded to current methodologies. As the author shows, community science, where people who track birds as a hobby contribute essential data, is more important than ever in the current era of dramatic climate change. I hope this gets more people than ever downloading eBird and adding to the body of living knowledge about birds!

San Diego Bird Festival

There I was, in the middle of an atmospheric river-something that sounds so lovely and is really a climate catastrophe, trying my hand at birding for the first time. The women who invited me, very good life long friends, called and said maybe I shouldn't come, that birds don't care for high wind and torrential rain, but I had committed. I was doing what Mel Brooks reccommended, I was trying out potential post-retirement hobbies while I was still active enough and with a full time salary to support me, and birding held a lot of appeal for me. It got you outdoors, looking for things in all sorts of natural places, and learning more about them. Despite the weather we saw a couple hundred different kinds of birds over the course of three days. I discovered that birders are generally very kind and willing to share what they know. I found out that with a good pair of binoculars I, too, could spot birds and in the end, I decided I would happily do this all over again.