This is a book about what it's like being a birder in an age of
natural decline. It is part autobiographical - tales of
spell-binding birding encounters that left indelible memories - and
it is part reflective. The travellers' tales of birding adventures
are about places and events that were variously entertaining,
amusing, captivating, inspiring, exciting and awesome, literally.
They also feature the amazing, eccentric, dedicated, inspiring
people in the birding community. Travels to Madagascar, Cambodia,
India and many other places are recalled. There is birding in the
Himalayas, in the Australian outback, on the Southern Oceans and in
hotel gardens and city parks and there are tales of the 'big
listers', 'big-lensers', professional guides, and local
conservation workers who try to keep their habitats safe for us.
There are lots of images to accompany these stories. Martin's
experiences in becoming a birder late in life revealed some strange
behaviour which he soon learnt to take for granted as a member of
the birding community. Why tear off chasing the next tick when we
were having such a good time in the forest we were already
exploring? Why was seeing a rare parrot in a cage less significant
than seeing a 'wild' one that was being hand-fed in a nature
reserve? Why was he visiting all those rubbish tips and sewerage
farms in search of birds when birding excursions to a forest or a
natural wetland were so much more pleasing? There are chapters
about all of these puzzles and oddities, and more - their origins
and, in some cases, how they shape our behaviour in somewhat
perverse ways - on 'authentic' birding, the origins and importance
of the life list, on rarities and trophy birds, and why the idea of
a 'species' is elusive yet so important. All these tales and
reflections are shaped by birding during an extinction crisis and
the growing biodiversity crisis. As he observed trashed habitats
and vanishing bird populations during his travels, Martin's growing
dismay and alarm about these issues coloured everything. So he came
to ponder what birders are doing in response, whether it is for
good or harm. There is the paradox of 'extinction birding' - it is
not difficult today to see some vanishingly rare birds, because
they are hanging on in reserved, fenced spaces, kept alive by
artifices such as captive breeding. Because our visits to these
places provide funds, we are also among these species' last hopes
for survival. Is this the best we can do? More self-reflection
among all birders is necessary. Faced with the growing crisis, we
can all do better.
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