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How to be a Bad Birdwatcher
 
 

How to be a Bad Birdwatcher (Hardcover)

by Simon Barnes (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Price For All Three: £29.02

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Short Books, London (2 Sep 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 190409595X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1904095958
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 116,273 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #66 in  Books > Humour > Cats, Dogs & Animals

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Product Description

Synopsis
Even the baddest birdwatcher in the world knows something about birds. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be an anoraked twitcher with top-of-the-range binoculars to have a good time admiring our often-neglected feathered friends in the sky. In this revolutionary approach to ornithology self-confessed bad birdwatcher Simon Barnes gives us the confidence and motivation to get pleasure from one of the simplest, cheapest hobbies there are: watching birds...without letting birdwatching get in the way.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

How to be a Bad Birdwatcher
81% buy the item featured on this page:
How to be a Bad Birdwatcher 4.3 out of 5 stars (23)
£7.49
A Bad Birdwatcher's Companion
7% buy
A Bad Birdwatcher's Companion 4.3 out of 5 stars (6)
£11.04
Bearded Tit: A Love Story with Feathers
6% buy
Bearded Tit: A Love Story with Feathers 4.4 out of 5 stars (14)
£5.99
The Secret Lives of Garden Birds
3% buy
The Secret Lives of Garden Birds 4.2 out of 5 stars (11)
£10.49

 

Customer Reviews

23 Reviews
5 star:
 (15)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
89 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy at least 2 copies of this book ..., 19 Oct 2004
By I. E. Weiss "iweiss@alphacrc.com" (Cambridge) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
If you don't know what book to buy as a Christmas present for a friend, parent, daughter, son, grandparent, or even your boss, I suggest you get this one. While you're at it, get two copies, because you will certainly want to keep one for yourself. A thoughtful friend gave it to me, out of the blue, and I LOVE it. It is thoughtful, funny, clever, instructive and full of surprising facts. Did you know that humans share 98.6 % of their genes with chimps, more than a willow warbler shares with a chiffchaff, which is why birds are so "ludicrously numerous", i.e. have so many different species.

Yes, this book is about birdwatching, but not about the rarefied art of birdwatching that is the realm of twitchers (a form of trainspotter that can be quite snobbish), but about being a bad birdwatcher. Which is neither a hobby nor a profession or a scientific pursuit, but a way of life, and a life-enhancing experience at that. A way of making an everyday occurrence into a rare and uplifting moment. It makes you feel less like Woody Allen who described himself as "at two with nature" and more understanding of our feathered friends. Barnes describes it as one of the most liberating feelings on earth. In fact he describes the purpose of the book as providing the reader with the chance to acquire a new sense - bird-awareness, to no longer be blind and deaf to nature but to actually change your relationship with it and to life.

Simon Barnes, who is an acclaimed and award-winning sportswriter, has written a beautiful book that is not only relaxing and great fun to read, but full of philosophical insight and humanity. He touches on man's fascination with flight, on Freud and dreams, and on why sacred beings in certain religions are equipped with wings. But his main focus is on our affinity with birds, and on evolution, and of course on the necessity of owning a field guide to help you to tell one bird from another and to enter this world of bewildering variety called "biodiversity".

One definition of birdwatching he offers is "not the chasing of the rare but the untroubled contemplation of the special". And of himself he says: "I don't go birdwatching. I am birdwatching." He also pays tribute to his friends and to his father with whom he shared the pleasure of birdwatching and who helped him to become a better birdwatcher, not so much by increasing his knowledge but by helping him to enjoy this most natural experience in the world.

It is also a wake-up call to us all (and to politicians) to become more aware of our environment and of the need for conservation, which is the only way to make sure that our grandchildren still have an environment that has diversity and that's worth living in.

So stop wasting your time with things you don't really want to be doing and start birdwatching - or rather start by buying this book.

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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read for all ages, 28 Sep 2004
By A Customer
I loved this book and so did the rest of my family. Simon Barnes injects just the right amount of humour and enthusiasm into his subject. This is one of those books you could give to anyone. It's beautifully produced with quirky illustrations inside. I never thought I would ever enjoy a book about birds so much.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful book for good or bad birdwatchers, 31 Aug 2006
By Greg Farefield-Rose (Hertfordshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
Like many birdwatchers I'm quite a bad birdwatcher. I enjoy watching birds and consciously try to improve my birding skills but can't be bothered with scanning through a flock of 500 gulls to find the elusive white-winged bird or 500 terns to find the one that may possibly be of the rarer roseate variety. Whether you are a good or bad birdwatcher or maybe not even a birder at all, there is plenty to enjoy and discover in this book.

How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher is an amusing book on how to watch birds by journalist Simon Barnes. It serves as a witty introduction to beginners and acknowledges facts to more experienced birders which they had realised inside but never fully expressed or thought through. In the book, the Award-Winning writer cleverly uses simple language and well-reasoned arguments to make fundamental, quite complex points on why we like watching and identifying birds, how to get more involved in birdwatching and much more.

How To Be A Bad Birdwatcher is a delightful, easy-to-read book. It is recommended for anyone who has a vague interest in birds as well as providing telling anecdotes to those of us who are already birdwatchers - good or bad ones.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Read
After reading this book I bought several other copies for presents. You don't have to be a birdwatcher to enjoy it - I wasn't. Read more
Published 26 days ago by T. P. Brennan

5.0 out of 5 stars Not so much a guide, more an ode to birds :)
There's been a lot of bad press about this book, that it's too preachy or too boring or that Simon Barnes is a bad writer and too good a bird watcher to be writing such a guide... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ms. Rmd Carney

5.0 out of 5 stars Baddest of them all
As my bird-watching skills develop and I read the book again, I can relate more and more with each passing chapter. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Deborah Santa Clara

5.0 out of 5 stars A celebration of our lovely countryside
I read Simon Barnes column in "The Times" every week, so thought I would try this. It is a lovely book, as good as his column, that makes me want to get out and enjoy the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Gonzo

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read but a bit too gushing
I enjoyed reading this book and agreed with virtually everthing in it, but the author's uber-enthusiasm for his subject (which I share) did occasionally grate. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Friend of Dorothy

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe the few negative reviews
I've long since been a fan of Simon Barnes' - due to his regular spot in the RSPB magazine. However, the book exceeded my expectations. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2006 by A. Shields

5.0 out of 5 stars fell in love with it
My son-in-law gave this book to me and my husband, as we started birdwatching about two years ago (I can't say we are good yet, but this summer we were overjoyed to realize just... Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2006 by Susla

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written
Part autobiography, part philosophy, part user manual, part call to arms, this book takes Simon Barnes' fascination with birds and nature at large as the starting point for an... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2006 by G. L. Haggett

1.0 out of 5 stars How To Be A Bad Bird Watcher
This is about the worst book I have read for a very long time. The author is egocentric and the language is appalling. Read more
Published on 8 April 2006 by Mrs M R Powell

3.0 out of 5 stars How to be a bad author
Actually, the book isn't that bad. It's just that Barnes has this awful patronising style that makes me want to punch him. Read more
Published on 1 April 2006

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