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Product Description
Review
Remarkably touching, honest and dryly witty --Time Out
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Enjoyable and entertaining
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am struggling to finish this mildly amusing story. If I knew the author I would enjoy reading about his passion for football ect. The birding bit is almost a side issue as the author learns from scratch the basics,making this a book of little interest to birders. Try instead The Biggest Twitch, Life List or The Jewel Hunter.
Format:Hardcover
Of late i have become much more interested in birds, but i read this book in 2009 whilst doing wildlife research in Namibia and at that stage, i was far more casual about it! i wasn't as ignorant as the author, but would fall at the feet in awe at duncton! but this book is a great read for anyone who is new to the game or is a hardened spotter. If you're a newbie then he is accessible and genuine - you are completely convinced that this chap is entirely normal and thus it is ok to go birdwatching! His style is informal and without the least pretension and detailed without being fussy.
yet this is a book that every expert should read. Up and down the country there will be hides with a group of pros sitting together and in the corner there will be someone who is completely clueless - possibly wearing yellow trainers jeans and a red shirt. That person will almost certainly be feeling what the author does so experts out there: read and understand! Birdwatching is a massively confusing world to many and Alex's narration highlights this brilliantly. So if you read this book as an expert, one day you will be in that hide and the yellow trainers will walk in and you can be on hand to sort out the pochards from the wigeon and the tuftys from the goldeneyes!
This book won't teach you about all the birds in the uk and it doesn't provide much science; instead it gives a beginners guide to what life is like as a birder! It's a great read anywhere, but it makes especially good travel material!
yet this is a book that every expert should read. Up and down the country there will be hides with a group of pros sitting together and in the corner there will be someone who is completely clueless - possibly wearing yellow trainers jeans and a red shirt. That person will almost certainly be feeling what the author does so experts out there: read and understand! Birdwatching is a massively confusing world to many and Alex's narration highlights this brilliantly. So if you read this book as an expert, one day you will be in that hide and the yellow trainers will walk in and you can be on hand to sort out the pochards from the wigeon and the tuftys from the goldeneyes!
This book won't teach you about all the birds in the uk and it doesn't provide much science; instead it gives a beginners guide to what life is like as a birder! It's a great read anywhere, but it makes especially good travel material!
Format:Paperback
Birdwatchers have a bit of an image problem. Like train spotters, stamp collectors and Morris dancers they are considered nerdy and are generally looked down upon by those of us who pass our time doing more sensible things like watching grown men chasing a ball around a field or drinking a liquid that not only makes you do stupid things but also makes you feel lousy the next day. Of course, opinions like this are borne out of ignorance; I don't have a clue what a bird watching is like nor do I have a clue what birdwatchers are like, only that they are probably all short, bearded middle aged men who always carry a pair of binoculars and look remarkably like Bill Oddie. At least this was my perception of birdwatchers before I read this book. Having read it I know better now.
I wouldn't usually have considered reading a bird watching book but having enjoyed Alex Hornes Wordwatching I gave it a go. I'm glad I did because it is a lovely book, providing good entertainment and was a pleasure to read. I wasn't too sure at first, because the premise behind the story seemed clichéd to say the least; in an attempt to both bond with his father and to also gather knowledge that he can use to impress any kids he and his wife may have in the future he challenges his father to see who can `spot' the most birds in a calendar year. Because his father is a devoted birdwatcher and the author can barely tell a sparrow from a swallow it seemed to be a one-sided contest but, almost predictably, it doesn't quite turn out that way. It all comes together very well though and I even found myself getting caught up in the father versus son skirmish, sneaking peeks at the end of month scores to see who wins in the end.
Reading this book hasn't inspired me to take up bird watching (I don't like the hours) but at least I now understand the buzz that people get of it and why they become almost addicted to it. Also I promise that I will never call birdwatchers `bird botherers' ever again.
I wouldn't usually have considered reading a bird watching book but having enjoyed Alex Hornes Wordwatching I gave it a go. I'm glad I did because it is a lovely book, providing good entertainment and was a pleasure to read. I wasn't too sure at first, because the premise behind the story seemed clichéd to say the least; in an attempt to both bond with his father and to also gather knowledge that he can use to impress any kids he and his wife may have in the future he challenges his father to see who can `spot' the most birds in a calendar year. Because his father is a devoted birdwatcher and the author can barely tell a sparrow from a swallow it seemed to be a one-sided contest but, almost predictably, it doesn't quite turn out that way. It all comes together very well though and I even found myself getting caught up in the father versus son skirmish, sneaking peeks at the end of month scores to see who wins in the end.
Reading this book hasn't inspired me to take up bird watching (I don't like the hours) but at least I now understand the buzz that people get of it and why they become almost addicted to it. Also I promise that I will never call birdwatchers `bird botherers' ever again.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Birdwatchingwatching
This is a brilliant book; intelligent, thoughtful, informative and very funny. One of the best books I have read for a while. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2010 by N. Baker
More than birdwatching
As the title suggest this book is more than just birdwatching, it is one guy's discovery of what birdwatching is about, what type of people birdwatchers are and about how amazing... Read more
Published on 10 May 2009 by N. Upton
Get an editor
Another book about a bloke who doesn't understand his father's enjoyment in watching birds and sets out, via a year long competition, to find out just what makes this innocent... Read more
Published on 11 April 2009 by Melissa Mason
Highly recommended, laugh out loud in places, beautifully written
I have read a lot of books written by comedians about the various adventures and challenges they have undertaken and this is one of the funniest, most touching, beautifully written... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2009 by S. Turnbull
Could be Better
What do you get if you mate childhood jottings and the fortunes of Liverpool FC and the England World Cup team with a family bird spotting contest. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 2009 by Colin Jervis
Birdwatchingreviewing
Saw this in B*rde*s and thought must get it but cheaper so Amazon as usual came up trumps! Just read it on the 'plane to and from the US (after reading 'The Reader' so a bit more... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2009 by Rob Sawyer
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