Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq by Jonathan Trouern-Trend. First published 2006.
Subtitled A Soldier's Journal from Iraq, Birding Babylon began life as a natural history and birding blog by a deployed National Guardsman in Iraq. The book is formatted as journal, from the faux handmade paper cover to the short, dated entries of no more than two pages for each date. At just under 80 pages this is a quick read. A year of birding and observing wildlife in various spots in Iraq is covered, beginning in February 2004.
While the observations are interesting and the surroundings are at times riveting, I found the writing a bit dry and would hope for a bit more fluid text when the online journal was turned into a book. Trouern-Trend's blog, birdingbabylon.blogspot.com, is still active, and it seems he has recently returned to the Middle East once again. I will be following the blog to see what other interesting Mideast specialties are found in his day to day routine. Meanwhile I give Birding Babylon 3 Goldfinches out of 5.
How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes. First published 2005. Look out the window. See a bird. Enjoy it. CONGRATULATIONS! You are now a bad birdwatcher. Throughout How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher, Simon Barnes shares his premise that birdwatching should simply be done for the joy...
I recently got my hands on a copy of Birds of Europe: Second Edition (Princeton Field Guides). This review will be done in two parts; I will post the conclusion after I have had a chance to use the book in the field when I visit the Netherlands...
Kingbird Highway: The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand by Kenn Kaufman. First published 1997. The back of my Mariner Books copy of Kingbird Highway indicates the category as Travel and Adventures, which perfectly suits this extremely enjoyable, exciting and well-written memoir...
The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner. First published 1994. I'll admit I hadn't heard of The Beak of the Finch when I picked it up at the Unclaimed Baggage shop in Alabama. Arthur had pointed it out to me; he knew I was looking for bird-related...
