haha Lindsay!!! sounds like it's worth the read, if just for a good laugh at
these misgivings!!! a spoondill spearing fish got me down on the floor!!!
thanks for sharing...cheers, martin cachard, Cairns
> Date: Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:44:31 +1000
> From:
> To:
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] The Birdwatcher
>
> Just before Christmas I borrowed the new novel, by William McInnes
> entitled The Birdwatcher from our local library. Now William McInnes is
> a finet actor and I am sure his previous books, mainly autobiographical,
> have been excellent. However, his latest novel 'The Birdwatcher" has
> left me quite puzzled. He has obviously done a lot of research and many
> of his ornithological observations are correct, but I am left wondering
> if he is just having a go at the birdwatching fraternity or what?.
>
> The plot moves from Melbourne to Cairns and north to the Daintree area
> and the geography becomes extremely confusing as if William visited the
> area about 20 years ago and is relying on his memory and getting it
> dreadfully wrong. He also keeps referring to 'The Escarpment' -- maybe
> he thinks he's in Kakadu! The bird that causes the main character, David
> Thomas from Melbourne (as he is referred to), to use the last of his
> savings to fly north, is a delightfully named Pale Pygmy Magpie Goose or
> PPMG. This amazing bird migrates from PNG and is very rarely seen, but
> has the interesting ability to sing! I have no problem with inventing
> such an imaginative bird for the purpose of the novel, but when it
> refers to the closely related Cotton Pygmy Goose being on the tidal
> flats, it starts to get a bit unreal to say the least.
>
> Also, staring out to sea from the beach David observes 'gannets or are
> they boobies' -- not unless his eyesight can see beyond the reef! It is
> winter, but somehow there are waders galore on the beaches and then he
> decides to go and look for a Rainbow Pitta -- maybe on the Kakadu
> Escarpment otherwise he'd just have to be content with a plain old Noisy
> Pitta north of Cairns! Masked Owls seem to have replaced Barn Owls as
> the common species and what is an 'Australasian Harrier (?) doing
> feeding on road-kill at night? Oh, and a spoonbill spearing fish! I
> could go on. It seems such a shame to ruin an otherwise readable tale by
> not getting his facts right. Does anyone know if William is actually a
> birdwatcher?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Lindsay
>
> Keith & Lindsay Fisher
> Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge
> RN 6 Mt. Kooyong Road
> Julatten QLD 4871
> Ph : (07) 4094 1263
> Web Site: www.birdwatchers.com.au
> Blog: http://kingfisherparkbirdwatchers.blogspot.com/
>
> Winner: Wet Tropics 2010 Cassowary Award for Nature Based Tourism
>
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