Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

[tmanson]

Hi everyone, and thanks to Pat for the heads up on the Life of Birds series. Somehwat along the same lines, I would recommend the dvd, Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, a film by Judith Irivine. I had read the book by Mark Bittner, and so was keen to see the visual rendition. It was well done. If you believe that all contact with wild birds should be kept to an absolute minimum, you may not like the book, or the dvd. To me, it represents another part of the great circle of life. Cheers, Thor

Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.

[tmanson]

Forgot to mention this dvd is available on loan from the Fraser Valley Regional Library. Cheers, Thor

Thor Manson
Hope, B.C.

[deb&tony]

I agree with Thor -the DVD is a great companion to the book "Wild Parrots...".

Just wondering if fellow FV Birders might like to list their favourite bird-related novels or works of non-fiction. I'm always looking for a good book to read on these rainy days....


1. My all-time favourite novel is still "Last of the Curlews" by Canadian writer Fred Bodsworth. It is in the "form of a novel but
is based on great insights about shorebirds".
2. Another good work of fiction is "Creation" by Canadian-born author Katherine Govier. She recreates the journey Audubon took to the nesting grounds between Nfld. and Labrador.
3. Biologist Bernd Heinrich's "Winter World" is a work of non-fiction based on his observations in his stomping grounds of Vermont and Maine where winter conditions can be quite harsh. He focuses on both animals and avian survival -his observations of the Golden-crowned kinglet are especially interesting.

Deb

[tmanson]

Hi Deb: Last of the Curlews is one of my favourites as well, and thanks to you, for originally recommending it to me.
I didn't like Creation, though; couldn't get into it, even though I lived on the Coast of Labrador for 5 years, one of Audubon's birding destinations.
Being a lister, I like books that deal with quests like trying to see the most birds in a particular area, in a year, or autobiographies of people who have devoted a lifetime to try and see as many birds as possible. They appeal to my obsessive personality!!

There are quite a few titles out there that deal with these themes.

1) The Big Year by Mark Obmascik
2) Feather Quest by Pete Dunne
3) To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel
4) Call Collect, Ask for Birdman by James Vardaman
5) A Year for the Birds by Bill Rydell
6) The Big Twitch by Sean Dooley
7) Phoebe Snetsinger's birding autobiography, the title of which I forget.

Two books I would recommend to you, ( and others ), are:
Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufman: The first teenager to do a big year, hitchiking across North America, with no money. A great road, and birding story.
On the Wing by Alan Tennant: True story of a crazy birder/researcher, who tags
Peregrine Falcons, and then tries to track them using a small Cesna, or Cesna like plane, from the Arctic to Central America; a great adventure story.

Good Reading. Thor

Thor Manson; in Hope looking for a good bird book to read.

[Gord]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I used to be an avid reader, but of late do very little. I did, however, get a very amusing book for Christmas. It's called "Down and Dirty Birding" by Joey Slinger. Lots of tongue in cheek comments and joking around, but it's all about birding and is written by an avid birder.