Subject: [Tweeters] Re: First Birders Book?
Date: Mar 8 07:33:59 2008
From: Devorah Bennu - birdologist at yahoo.com


Ah, I stand corrected, michael,

thanks for that.

oddly, i have that very book on my shelves, too, but i
think i forgot about it because of its size (i
sometimes think i am the only person out here who
loves to dive in to thick, luscious books, even though
i am in NYC, where mostly everyone rides the train and
carries a book). but burt's book is certainly one of
the first birding books for beginners out there that
is genuinely useful and further, it is, as you note, a
good companion volume to The Complete Birder.

i have not read either Baker's or Service's books,
although they both sound worth it since you
specifically mention them here when there are so many
other titles you could have chosen to mention,
instead.

as far as book reviews go .. i try my best to keep up
with those books that are less than one year old
because many publishers are kind enough to send me a
free review copy, so the least i can do is to read the
book as soon as possible (i do sometimes purchase my
review copies, though). i do, however, occasionally
review books that are older than one year old because
i read and loved them and think that my readers would
enjoy reading them, too. of course, i have been
sitting on a few book reviews for an embarrassingly
long time (they will appear, eventually) but those are
books that were so amazingly good that i couldn't
think of anything unique to say about them. on the
other hand, i also have a "100 page rule" where, if a
book cannot keep my attention, i abandon it on page
100, and thus, don't review it. i mean, life is short,
why waste it reading books i don't like? okay, enough
about my book reviewing philosophy!

GrrlScientist
devorah

--- Michael Price <loblollyboy at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Devorah
>
> >because this is, to my
> knowledge, the first book available that teaches
> interested people how to become bird watchers.
>
> Ummm, actually....
>
> First, hats off to Burt for his book!
>
> As to previous introductory titles, and without
> making any comparisons, may
> I have the pleasure of acquainting you with a lovely
> book done by Jack
> Connor in 1988 and updated a few years ago, called
> *The Complete
> Birder,*still in print? It was to my mind the single
> best introduction
> to birding
> I'd ever encountered, and at many levels. He had a
> very sure grasp of what
> was necessary for the beginner to achieve competence
> and enjoyment together,
> and expressed it in a slightly ironic, informal
> writing style which was as
> entertaining and occasionally outright funny as it
> was richly informative.
> Given the different perceptual and cognitive skills
> which the entry-level
> birder needs to develop without becoming too dazed
> and intimidated, Connor
> not only acknowledged them but also helped the
> beginner focus on those which
> would be the most productive and lasting.
>
> I won't belabor you with the many reasons why
> Connor's book is still an
> excellent basic introduction (one is his now-famous
> 'warbler four-count':
> 'huh?..what?..where?..*damn!*' where he demonstrates
> that the birder's
> exasperation is synchronised exactly with the
> migrating warbler's
> 'land..search..pick..*leave*' forage-cycle). Should
> you wish to see more of
> why I found his book so useful---I used to lead a
> lot of field trips to help
> beginners find their feet and minimise their
> confusion, and recommended *TCB
> * to them not only as the best textual start then
> available but also as a
> great birding read to which they could return
> regardless of what level of
> skills they would eventually attain---to encourage
> any prospective reader
> that this was a title worth picking up, I put a
> short review of it on Amazon
> here:
>
>
www.amazon.com/Complete-Birder-Guide-Better-Birding/dp/0395468078
>
> If you choose to read it, I hope that you may find
> it informative and useful
> if and when comparing the two titles. Given Burt's
> great knowledge and
> dedication to teaching people the joys of birding,
> I'm sure the two titles
> would be complementary rather than competitive, and
> that both belong on the
> birder's shelf. Perhaps, if his title becomes
> available on Amazon---and I
> hold no brief for the company, just making the
> suggestion---you might write
> a reader's review of it, similarly to recommend that
> people to pick it up?
>
> Speaking of good books on birds, have you ever read
> John Baker's superbly
> brilliant memoir, *The Peregrine*? Or William
> Service's witty little
> masterpiece, *Owl*?
>
> Best wishes
>
> Michael Price
> Vancouver BC Canada
> loblollyboy at gmail.com
>
> "I feel like a fugitive from th' law of averages!"
> -- GI Willie
>



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