Observing wildlife is my hobby. I keep a life list of all animals that I have identified and am in the middle of my second “Little Year” with the goal of spotting and identifying 100 vertebrates this year (current total – 44). My low key approach, designed to preserve balance in my life, is in contrast to the “Big Year” approach in which wildlife watchers, usually birders, seek to spot as many species as possible in one year. When they focus on one country, they have to pursue the rarest birds and chase down birds that have wandered briefly into the country.
I was excited to see this book by Noah Strycker, “Birding without Borders“, in which he describes an amazing Big Year quest to see more than half of the bird species in the world in one year, roughly 5000. Strycker began in Antarctica on January 1, 2015, worked his way through South America during their summer, then Central America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and back to India. He visited 41 countries, easily broke the existing record of about 4300 species and surpassed his goal, spotting 6042 bird species by the end of the year. By focusing primarily on birds that aren’t rare, skipping places with low densities of birds, studying the work of his predecessors, planning carefully and using a relatively low cost strategy, he has demonstrated a modern approach that others are likely to repeat.
This book provides a nice counterpoint to other Big Year quests. The “Big Year” movie, about a competition between birders to break the US record, illustrated how damaging a birding obsession can be to relationships. In contrast, Strycker used his quest to develop relationships with birders around the world, focusing as much as he could on working with local birders rather than corporate tours. He met friends, new and old, at different points during his journey. When he hit milestones, his hosts in various countries celebrated with him. Often spontaneous groups would join him to help in their country to be a part of his effort. In this book he educates about the birds, the countries and people he met. He made effective use of technology throughout his quest, especially eBird. He also blogged through the Audubon Foundation.
Unlike other books in this genre, there is not a strong element of “in seeking to find the birds, he also found himself”. The impression the author gives is that he has a good sense of himself and the time in his life (late 20’s at time of writing). The reader doesn’t get the impression that he left somebody behind. He does reflect on the tranquility of being in nature, the satisfaction of finding something you are looking for and the disappointment when you don’t. But the emphasis is strongly on the process and descriptions of some the most notable sightings.
While I could not repeat his achievement, it was a great joy to read about it. I highly recommend ordering this book from Amazon.
