While I?m in this ?sharing? mood, can I very warmly recommend to
Birding-Aussers looking for a good birding book one that I was recently
given by a non-birding friend who read a review of it in the Bulletin.
To See Every Bird on Earth (subtitled A Father, a Son and a Lifelong
Obsession) is the story of one of the world?s ?big-listers?, New York-based
doctor Richard Koeppel (> 7000 species), written by his son, Dan, an
established and widely published outdoor/nature writer (The New York Times
Magazine, Outside, Audubon, Popular Science, National Geographic Adventure).
It has some of the very enjoyable elements of Sean Dooley?s Big Twitch, and
much more ? being the story of a father and a son, their somewhat fractured
relationship and subsequent re-discovery of one another (written in an
accessible and sensitive way without being schmaltzy), the causes and costs
of lifelong obsession, and the thrills of world birding.
Try it ? you might really like it (as I did). I attach below a review from
the UK Observer newspaper. Richard
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In To See Every Bird on Earth, Dan Koeppel delicately captures the story of
his father and ornithologists in general, says Kim Bunce
Sunday August 14, 2005
The Observer <http://www.observer.co.uk>
To See Every Bird on Earth
by Dan Koeppel
Michael Joseph £14.99, pp278
When Dan Koeppel's father, Richard, was a boy, more than 8,600 species of
bird on Earth had been recorded. Although Richard's dream of becoming an
ornithologist was opposed by his Viennese-Jewish parents who fled to America
when Hitler came to power, the budding young ornithologist continued to
build his 'list' throughout his life. When his marriage collapsed, he found
solace in his pursuit, considering the counting and listing of birds as the
only thing in his life he had any control over.
Dan Koeppel's idealisation of his father is evident and although he cannot
muster the same enthusiasm for avian life, the bonds between father and son
are cemented when Richard decides to increase his list with Dan's help. Over
a number of years, thousands of miles and 60 countries, Richard achieves a
staggering 7,200 sightings, only stopping when illness prevents him from
travelling. What the author has succeeded in conveying is that birdwatching
is not just a sport but a way of life. The intimate portrait he draws of his
father is moving, the insight into a community obsessed with the thrill of
the chase an enlightening one.
____________________________________________________________________________
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Richard NOWOTNY
Port Melbourne, Victoria
M: 0438 224456
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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