The Traveling Birder : 20 Five-Star Birding Vacations (Traveling Birder)

CLIVE GOODWIN

1 What happened to South America?
How can a book about great birding spots not have a single mention of South America?

2 Guide for Bird Watchers who Travel
Birders (a.k.a. bird watchers) can approach their hobby several ways. There's the backyard birder who enjoys feeding and otherwise attracting birds to his/her backyard. Then there's the lister, who keeps a list of species seen (whether in a time period such as a year or in a lifetime) and is always trying to see the next new bird. I feel that among listers there are several types, some who chase the rare (pronounced "lost") birds that blunder to a "migrant trap" near the birders' home, and others who'd rather travel to where the birds should be. This book is for the later group.

There are quite a few bird finding books out there, many good but perhaps none of them perfect. Some of them give detailed lists of what can be seen at each location covered. This one does not. However, that's not necessarily a strong negative because some of the lists in the other books seem to list lots of rarities. If you follow the lists blindly, you may find yourself searching for rarities rather than what is common at that locale.

This book is first and foremost a book for daydreaming. Sure, the advice is practical and you get a good idea of what to expect at each location. But the scope of the chapters range from specific sanctuaries to countries. You may end up getting practical advice about an outstanding sanctuary not terribly far from you and start day dreaming about a trip to Kenya "someday".

If you are a bird watcher who likes to travel, you will probably enjoy this book very much. In fact, you don't need to be an expert birder to enjoy this book.