To See Every Bird On Earth

Part of my Lenten resolution is to bring back the Waughblog, and I think a good part of it is to review some media reviews. It actually took some time to remember how I do the links to Amazon, it's been so long since I've done it. And after bringing back the comments that were mistakenly disabled for like 6 months, I had to remember how to despam my comments. (Here's how you block spam: disable anything that has "http:" or ".." in it. Of course, you end up blocking good comments at the same time; everything gets blocked.)

I have an obsession with non-fiction books about obsesssions. I loved the Orchid Thief. I became fanatical over Word Freak.

But I especially swooned over To See Every Bird On Earth and The Big Year which should be companion books, bundled together in bookstores in the same cellophane wrap.

My wife bought me The Big Year for me a few years ago, and I read it about a year after that. As I was just looking for my review of it on the Waughblog, I couldn't find it. And it was so important to me! So I guess I need to review both of these books simultaneously.

Not long ago I couldn't tell the difference between a sparrow and a starling, or a mockingbird and a robin. I just never took much interest in the birds around me. And I take that as my younger self having an indifference to the world around me. But as I've matured and after reading these books, I've started to take notice.

I can't say that I'm a serious bird-watcher, but I did freak out the other day when I saw a Canada Goose in my backyard pasture, and positively identified it. I love my hummingbirds and woodpeckers in particular. Owls are still a mystery to me when I see them, and the hawks are attracting my attention now.

But more than that, I think I love the stories about the people who obsess over the birds.

To See Every Bird On Earth is a son's story to understand his father's bird-watching obsession. His father is one of the hard-drinking, chain-smoking types, which you wouldn't expect. But the story shows how the father evolves from someone who could start as a teenager with all the birds in his New York and New England area, who by happenstance started moving across the country, to luckily getting placed in Europe, to taking vacations in South America and Africa. Despite (or maybe because of) his divorce, he was in position to see most of the birds known to man.

The story is also about a son trying to understand his father. But because of his father, the son ends up knowing more about birds than most people. There's a memorable scene where the author, as a very young student, amazed a visiting orthonologist when asked about birds that they have seen. The normal kids say "blackbird" or "robin" while he says "Scissored-tailed flycather". He grows up to be a nature writer.

The Big Year follows a band a very different people who all try to identify the most different species within North America within the span of a year. They all start on New Year's Day and even though some of them are rich, and can afford to take off of work, and take expensive cruises offshore, others barely live out of their parent's house and have to hitchhike to find their quarry. Yet somehow, they all come within a few birds of each other in obtaining the best count for the Big Year.

I loved both of these books. I read The Big Year. I listened to To See Every Bird on Earth on compact disc.