Download or read book Birding Under the Influence written by Dorian Anderson and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-02 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a personal and professional crossroads, a man resets his life and finds sobriety, love, and 618 bird species, cycling his way to a very Big Year. In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding. A North American Big Year—a continent-spanning adventure in which a birder attempts to see as many species as possible in twelve months—is a massive undertaking under any circumstances. But doing it on a bike while maintaining sobriety? That’s next level. As Dorian pedals across the country, describing the birds he sees, he confronts the challenges of long-distance cycling: treacherous weather, punctured tires, speeding cars, and injury. He encounters eccentric characters, blistering blacktop, dreary hotel rooms, snarling dogs, and an endless sea of smoking tailpipes. He also confronts his past struggles with alcohol, drugs, and risky behaviors that began in high school and followed him into adulthood. Birding Under the Influence is a candid, honest look at Dorian’s double life of academic accomplishment and addiction. While his journey to recovery is simultaneously poignant and inspiring, it is ultimately his love of birds and nature that provides the scaffolding to build a new and radically different life.
Download or read book Birding Under the Influence written by Dorian Anderson and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2023-11-02 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "One hell of a ride."—Nick Offerman, actor, woodworker, New York Times bestselling author "Candid and often moving reflections . . . make for absorbing reading. . . . [This is] a memoir of a journey that was more than just a chase after numbers."—Booklist (starred) At a personal and professional crossroads, a man resets his life and finds sobriety, love, and 618 bird species, cycling his way to a very Big Year. In Birding Under the Influence, Dorian Anderson, a neuroscience researcher on a pressure-filled life trajectory, walks away from the world of elite institutions, research labs, and academic publishing. In doing so, he falls in love and discovers he has freed himself to embrace his lifelong passion for birding. A North American Big Year—a continent-spanning adventure in which a birder attempts to see as many species as possible in twelve months—is a massive undertaking under any circumstances. But doing it on a bike while maintaining sobriety? That’s next level. As Dorian pedals across the country, describing the birds he sees, he confronts the challenges of long-distance cycling: treacherous weather, punctured tires, speeding cars, and injury. He encounters eccentric characters, blistering blacktop, dreary hotel rooms, snarling dogs, and an endless sea of smoking tailpipes. He also confronts his past struggles with alcohol, drugs, and risky behaviors that began in high school and followed him into adulthood. Birding Under the Influence is a candid, honest look at Dorian’s double life of academic accomplishment and addiction. While his journey to recovery is simultaneously poignant and inspiring, it is ultimately his love of birds and nature that provides the scaffolding to build a new and radically different life.
Download or read book Keep Looking Up written by Tammah Watts and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2023-03-07 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A BIRDING JOURNEY AT HOME AND BEYOND It began with a flutter of yellow feathers flitting through the trees, casting beams of sunshine and promise that burst through her kitchen window. This was her sign to look up. As a licensed therapist, Tammah Watts knew that she needed to seek and accept hope, love, and support to overcome her chronic pain and cultivate resilience. But she could not predict that the little yellow bird would put her on the path to healing by fostering a powerful connection with birds and the experience of birding. Tammah shares her emotional journey of finding comfort and inspiration from her feathered friends, while providing practical tips and tools to help you: Explore the practice of birdwatching from the comfort of your own home and community Increase your self-awareness, mindfulness, and concentration Find acceptance and alignment with the spirit and beauty of birds Right outside your door flies just what you’ve been looking for to help ease symptoms of stress, pain, depression, and anxiety. All you have to do is look up, take notice, and open your heart and mind. No matter where you are, what you look like, or what you're going through, you can create sacred space and connection with birds and begin to heal.
Download or read book One More Warbler written by Victor Emanuel and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Victor Emanuel is widely considered one of America’s leading birders. He has observed more than six thousand species during travels that have taken him to every continent. He founded the largest company in the world specializing in birding tours and one of the most respected ones in ecotourism. Emanuel has received some of birding’s highest honors, including the Roger Tory Peterson Award from the American Birding Association and the Arthur A. Allen Award from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He also started the first birding camps for young people, which he considers one of his greatest achievements. In One More Warbler, Emanuel recalls a lifetime of birding adventures—from his childhood sighting of a male Cardinal that ignited his passion for birds to a once-in-a-lifetime journey to Asia to observe all eight species of cranes of that continent. He tells fascinating stories of meeting his mentors who taught him about birds, nature, and conservation, and later, his close circle of friends—Ted Parker, Peter Matthiessen, George Plimpton, Roger Tory Peterson, and others—who he frequently birded and traveled with around the world. Emanuel writes about the sighting of an Eskimo Curlew, thought to be extinct, on Galveston Island; setting an all-time national record during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count; attempting to see the Imperial Woodpecker in northwestern Mexico; and birding on the far-flung island of Attu on the Aleutian chain. Over the years, Emanuel became a dedicated mentor himself, teaching hundreds of young people the joys and enrichment of birding. “Birds changed my life,” says Emanuel, and his stories make clear how a deep connection to the natural world can change everyone’s life.
Download or read book Chasing Birds Across Texas written by Mark Thomas Adams and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author tells of his trek across thousands of miles of Texas territory to explore nearly five hundred different species of birds and their habitats.
Download or read book Sibley s Birding Basics written by David Allen Sibley and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2008-12-18 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the renowned author of the New York Times best seller The Sibley Guide to Birds, a comprehensive, beautifully illustrated guide to identifying birds in the field. Sibley's Birding Basics is an essential companion for birders of all skill and experience levels. With Sibley as your guide, learn how to interpret what the feathers, the anatomical structure, the sounds of a bird tell you. When you know the clues that show you why there’s no such thing as, for example, “just a duck” birding will be more fun, and more meaningful. An essential addition to the Sibley shelf! The Sibley Guide to Birds and The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior are both universally acclaimed as the new standard source of species information. And now David Sibley, America’s premier birder and best-known bird artist, turns his attention to the general characteristics that influence the appearance of all birds, unlocking the clues to their identity. In 200 beautifully rendered illustrations and 16 essays, this scientifically precise volume distills the essence of Sibley’s own experience and skills, providing a solid introduction to “naming” the birds. Birding Basics reviews how one can get started as a birder—the equipment necessary, where and when to go birding, and perhaps most important, the essential things to look for when birds appear in the field—as well as the basic concepts of bird identification and the variations that can change the appearance of a bird over time or in different settings. Sibley also provides critical information on the aspects of avian life that differ from species to species: feathers (color, arrangement, shape, molt), behavior and habitat, and sounds.
Download or read book How to Know the Birds written by Ted Floyd and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this elegant narrative, celebrated naturalist Ted Floyd guides you through a year of becoming a better birder. Choosing 200 top avian species to teach key lessons, Floyd introduces a new, holistic approach to bird watching and shows how to use the tools of the 21st century to appreciate the natural world we inhabit together whether city, country or suburbs." -- From book jacket.
Download or read book Bird Therapy written by Joe Harkness and published by Unbound Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-13 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Longlisted for the 2020 Wainwright Prize 'I can't remember the last book I read that I could say with absolute assurance would save lives. But this one will' Chris Packham 'Fabulously direct and truthful, filled with energy but devoid of self-pity . . . I was impressed and enchanted. Highly recommended' Stephen Fry 'Succeeds – triumphantly – in articulating with great honesty what it is like to suffer with a mental illness, and in providing strategies for coping' Mail on Sunday When Joe Harkness suffered a breakdown in 2013, he tried all the things his doctor recommended: medication helped, counselling was enlightening, and mindfulness grounded him. But nothing came close to nature, particularly birds. How had he never noticed such beauty before? Soon, every avian encounter took him one step closer to accepting who he is. The positive change in Joe's wellbeing was so profound that he started a blog to record his experience. Three years later he has become a spokesperson for the benefits of birdwatching, spreading the word everywhere from Radio 4 to Downing Street. In this groundbreaking book filled with practical advice, Joe explains the impact that birdwatching had on his life, and invites the reader to discover these extraordinary effects for themselves.
Download or read book Look Up written by Woody Wheeler and published by . This book was released on 2014-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You don't have to travel around the world or spend a ton of money to enjoy the wonders of nature. Look Up! Birds and Other Natural Wonders Just Outside Your Window is a series of well-researched nature essays that will inspire readers to experience the outdoors in an affordable, accessible and joyful way. The essays encourage backyard and local bird watching, native plant landscaping and restoration, practical energy conservation and land conservation. They also explore how we can derive psychological benefits from these activities--how nature can help us live happier, more fulfilled and rewarding lives.
Download or read book Birds in a Cage written by Derek Niemann and published by Short Books. This book was released on 2012-01-11 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At Warburg, Germany, in 1941, four British PoWs find an unexpected means of escape from the horrors of internment when they form a birdwatching society, and embark on an obsessive quest behind barbed wire. Through their shared love of birds, they overcome hunger, hardship, fear and stultifying boredom. Their quest draws in not only their fellow prisoners, but also some of the German guards, at great risk to them all... Derek Niemann draws on original diaries, letters and drawings, to tell of how Conder, Barrett, Waterston and Buxton were forged by their experiences as POWs into the giants of post war wildlife conservation. Their legacy lives on, in institutions such as the RSPB and the British Wildlife Trust.
Download or read book The Big Year written by Mark Obmascik and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Follows the 1998 Big Year competition between Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, during which the three rivals risked their lives to set a new North American birding record.
Download or read book More Birds Than Bullets written by Geoffrey McMullan and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'More Birds Than Bullets' is not just as the title suggests, there is more to it than that, it can be seen as a metaphor for life's experiences. I struggled with how I should go about writing it, should it be factual, or should it be like a novel? In the end I decided to write about my experiences from my time in the army through to civilian life, I have included some facts about birds, and rather than write out a long list of the birds I have seen, I concentrate instead on a small number of birds in slightly more detail... My aim is to give you an insight into my world as a birder, the stories are true and based on my experiences. I have changed names to protect people, unless it shows them in a good light as it's not my intention to cause harm to anyone. I will share with you some of my background and my relationship with birds, people, and the countries I have visited, and how they formed my understanding of the world by concluding with my transition from civilian, to military and back to civilian life. I hope you find it amusing, informative. I would also like to thank the following people for their input: Cliff Wright my good friend who painted the original cover designs of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I had to drop that one in; and for the excellent drawing on the cover to this book. I am grateful for the wonderful, powerful, and amazing Close Encounters of the Bird Kind. Mark Cocker - Author of Birds and People Brought up in a land of sectarian conflict and for the first half of his working life a soldier in the British Army, Geoffrey McMullan is, I suppose, your average warrior. As he himself loves to tell us, he is six foot four and built like the proverbial shithouse door. But Geoffrey has a softer side as well as a secret inner life that he exposes among all the rambunctious, globe-trotting adventure of this humour-filled memoir. He is one for the birds. Give him a Heart-spotted Woodpecker, it seems, and this great big bear of a man is moved to his soul. Birds? I hear one or two readers ask. Isn't that a bit, well, cissy? What can be so moving or special about birds? The truth is that Geoffrey's passion is both ancient and universal. To the Sufi mystics of central Asia, God was sometimes known as 'the unnamed bird'. For Native Americans - the Cheyenne and Lakota peoples of the American plains - the mythic 'thunderbird' was central to their spiritual lives. In the Andes the Quechua held the condor sacred for thousands of years. Zeus the preeminent deity of the ancient Greeks was represented as an eagle... The truth is that these creatures are central images for our most cherished ideals - love beauty, inner peace. Geoffrey McMullan knew this instinctively. In his book he describes a moving moment when, as a small boy, to fend off the casual violence of his boarding school, he alighted on a woodpecker on the lawn outside the dining room window. To that troubled child the bird was a source of peace and comfort. He goes on in More Birds than Bullets to show how this understanding has blossomed into a lifelong form of personal therapy. In the second half of his working life, as a teacher on the healing power of the natural world, Geoffrey is again summoning the birds but to demonstrate to others their uplifting potential. Encounters of the feathered kind are written into the DNA of Geoffrey's autobiography.
Download or read book Gulls Simplified written by Pete Dunne and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-11-13 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A simpler and more user-friendly visual approach to gull identification This unique photographic field guide to North America’s gulls provides a comparative approach to identification that concentrates on the size, structure, and basic plumage features of gulls—gone are the often-confusing array of plumage details found in traditional guides. Featuring hundreds of color photos throughout, Gulls Simplified illustrates the variations of gull plumages for a variety of ages, giving readers strong visual reference points for each species. Extensive captions accompany the photos, which include comparative photo arrays, digitized photo arrays for each age group, and numerous images of each species—a wealth of visual information at your fingertips. This one-of-a-kind guide includes detailed species accounts and a distribution map for each gull. An essential field companion for North American birders, Gulls Simplified reduces the confusion commonly associated with gull identification, offering a more user-friendly way of observing these marvelous birds. Provides a simpler approach to gull identification Features a wealth of color photos for easy comparison among species Includes detailed captions that explain identification criteria and aging, with direct visual reinforcement above the captions Combines plumage details with a focus on size, body shape, and structural features for easy identification in the field Highlights important field marks and physical features for each gull
Download or read book Bird watcher s Bible written by Jonathan K. Alderfer and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A guide to bird watching covers topics ranging from mythology and birdhouses to the work of Audubon and Angry Birds, combining images with trivia, top ten lists, and bird watching guidelines.
Download or read book Peterson Reference Guide To Birding By Impression written by Kevin T. Karlson and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A highly visual guide to identifying birds in the field based on the important, unchanging features of size, shape, structure, and behavior Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic “birding by impression” method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a bird’s unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process.
Download or read book Learning the Birds written by Susan Fox Rogers and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-15 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The thrill of quiet adventure. The constant hope of discovery. The reminder that the world is filled with wonder. When I bird, life is bigger, more vibrant." That is why Susan Fox Rogers is a birder. Learning the Birds is the story of how encounters with birds recharged her adventurous spirit. When the birds first called, Rogers was in a slack season of her life. The woods and rivers that enthralled her younger self had lost some of their luster. It was the song of a thrush that reawakened Rogers, sparking a long-held desire to know the birds that accompanied her as she rock climbed and paddled, to know the world around her with greater depth. Energized by her curiosity, she followed the birds as they drew her deeper into her authentic self, and ultimately into love. In Learning the Birds, we join Rogers as she becomes a birder and joins the community of passionate and quirky bird people. We meet her birding companions close to home in New York State's Hudson Valley as well as in the desert of Arizona and awash in the midnight sunlight of Alaska. Along on the journey are birders and estimable ornithologists of past generations—people like Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Florence Merriam Bailey—whose writings inspire Rogers's adventures and discoveries. A ready, knowledgeable, and humble friend and explorer, Rogers is eager to share what she sees and learns. Learning the Birds will remind you of our passionate need for wonder and our connection to the wild creatures with whom we share the land.
Download or read book A Feathered River Across the Sky written by Joel Greenberg and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-09-02 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This beautifully written cautionary tale reveals how passenger pigeons have become extinct and how no series effort was made to protect this species that inspired awe in the likes of John James Audubon, Henry David Thoreau and James Fenimore Cooper until it was too late.
