Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World, by Noah Strycker

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I just found this on a shelf at the library and picked it up. I’m not a huge bird fan, but by brother is interested in birds and taking photographs of them. (Apparently it’s a huge year for snow owls!) So I thought I should learn more about birds, and I always like books about adventures. I will read almost anything that people write that has the basic plot of “I took a year and did this thing!” This book is about a guy who takes what bird people call The Big Year – taking a year to travel the world and see as many birds as possible. It’s a pretty good adventure!

From Amazon: “In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world’s birds in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled across forty-one countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species—by far the biggest birding year on record.

This is no travelogue or glorified checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the globe. By pursuing the freest creatures on the planet, Noah gains a unique perspective on the world they share with us—and offers a hopeful message that even as many birds face an uncertain future, more people than ever are working to protect them.”