The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession

by Mark Obmascik

Every year on January 1, a quirky crowd of adventurers storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year -- a grand, grueling, expensive, and occasionally vicious, "extreme" 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would be a whirlwind, a winner-takes-nothing battle for a new North American birding record. In frenetic pilgrimages for once-in-a-lifetime rarities that can make or break their lead, the birders race each other from Del Rio, Texas, in search of the rufous-capped warbler, to Gibsons, British Columbia, on a quest for Xantus's hummingbird, to Cape May, New Jersey, seeking the offshore great skua. Bouncing from coast to coast on their potholed road to glory, they brave broiling deserts, roiling oceans, bug-infested swamps, a charge by a disgruntled mountain lion, and some of the lumpiest motel mattresses known to man. The unprecedented year of beat-the-clock adventures ultimately leads one man to a new record -- one so gigantic that it is unlikely ever to be bested...finding and identifying an extraordinary 745 different species by official year-end count. Prize-winning journalist Mark Obmascik creates a rollicking, dazzling narrative of the 275,000-mile odyssey of these three obsessives as they fight to the finish to claim the title in the greatest -- or maybe the worst -- birding contest of all time. With an engaging, unflappably wry humor, Obmascik memorializes their wild and crazy exploits and, along the way, interweaves an entertaining smattering of science about birds and their own strange behavior with a brief history of other bird-men and -women; turns out even Audubon pushed himself beyond the brink when he was chasing and painting the birds of America. A captivating tour of human and avian nature, passion and paranoia, honor and deceit, fear and loathing, The Big Year shows the lengths to which people will go to pursue their dreams, to conquer and categorize -- no matter how low the stakes. This is a lark of a read for anyone with birds on the brain -- or not.

Genres: Nonfiction, Birds, Nature, Travel, Animals, Memoir, Biography

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2003

About the author

Mark Obmascik is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and bestselling author of The Big Year, which was made into a movie with the same name. He won the 2009 National Outdoor Book Award for outdoor literature, the 2003 National Press Club Award for environmental journalism, and was the lead writer for the Denver Post team that won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. His freelance stories have been published in Outdoor and other magazines. He lives in Denver with his wife and sons.

Reviews

[Jim Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here’s a strange but fascinating world I knew nothing about: competitive birding. It can be fun but it can also be almost vicious.

Every year there are state competitions and a national one to see who can spot the greatest number of different birds over a calendar year. There’s also a non-competitive annual Christmas day bird count.



The author interviewed the top three winners of the 1998 competitive birding year to come up with his story. Part of the year for one man is written in a day-by-day diary. He intersperses the tale with brief bios of other famous people connected with birding such as John James Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson, who came up with the idea of field guides.

It’s certainly exciting. Serious birders know in advance where major gathering grounds are for that season or week. So at any given time they might be in – of all places – the New Jersey Meadowlands! Who would think that location is one of the major sighting areas due to the seasonal bird migration paths along the east coast? Or the site of the week may be the Everglades or the Dry Tortugas in Florida. Then it may be islands off the coast of Texas or Duluth, Minnesota in the dead of winter. Even Attu Island far out in the Aleutians is a special site. And no matter how isolated the site, you’ll probably find a bunch of birders who got there before you.

In addition to the standard, well-known bird gathering areas, competitors rush to rare bird sightings posted on the internet. These may be at someone’s back-year bird feeder or at a landfill. And by the time you get there the bird(s) may be gone.



At various times the birders travel by air, auto, canoe, bicycle or even helicopter. There are bird-watching boat cruises, like whale watching excursions. It costs money to do all this traveling. One wealthy competitor spent $65,000 that year, mostly on his 135,000 miles of airline travel. But another spent only $5,000 (a loan from the Bank of Dad) and often hitchhiked.

Not just the three main competitors, but just about all the birding characters are men. A lot are divorced. Is it the birds or the competition that attracts these men to this sport? (Is it a sport?) Is the divorce thing cause or effect? Divorced men have more time to bird and more freedom to do so. But men absent from home on all the holidays, with or without kids, does not bode well for a marriage. The serious competitors will be on the road birding more than 200 days a year and maybe close to 300. Or it could be the personality type that starts it. One competitor’s wife told the author she had a friend who warned her against marrying the guy saying “…if Dale Carnegie had ever met [him], he would simply have given up.”

There is a lot of other humor in the book. When one birder is impatient to get flat fixed out in the wilderness, the mechanic “…took his time fixing the flat. Even in a 30 mph wind, locals could smell desperation.”

“In the late 1950’s, Nevada state fish and game commissioners worried about a nagging problem: they had thousands of square miles of open space, but nothing to kill in it.”



A good read. I enjoyed learning about something I knew nothing about. And thanks to my sister for sending me this book.

Top photo of migrating birds along the Texas Gulf coast from smithsonianmag.com
Air photo of the New Jersey Meadowlands from environmentalgeography.files.wordpress.com
The author from cdn.skyhinews.com

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, on Thanksgiving, while we were waiting for the Turkey to finish, Robin wanted to watch a movie and we picked "The Big Year." Robin, Sarah, and I had seen it years ago, but it was a "new pick" for James and Rebecca. After dinner, we went up to "Red Gate" (a fire road near our house that's in the Shenandoah Forest) and went "birding." There wasn't much out, but we had a lot of fun. Ruth (our Grandpuppy) got a scent and James and Sarah had to chase after her, but she had a great time. I think we got 5 birds that day.

Since then, I've been reading this book a bit every night. I'm really enjoying it...and my new found hobby of birding. I'm up to 40 birds! I find one of the most enjoyable things about this book is how I feel when I'm out in the woods (or just walking my land) and I feel that same sense of excitement when a bird I've never seen before comes into view.

I've added High Island Texas to my list of places to visit. It's neither high nor an island but it's a great stopping off point for many birds flying across the Gulf of Mexico during migration. And, yeah, there are species who follow the land, (who have to avoid raptors), but a good number are built for endurance and take the over water route.

Finished the book and a highly recommend for people who enjoy birds as much as I do. In a slightly related topic. A flamingo was blown north by the recent huricane and it (and a juvenile) landed in Pennsylvania (just about 2 hours drive from here). My daughter and wife went to go see it, alas I had to stay home because our Internet went out and I had to wait for the repair guy. But they both have it added to their life lists! So jealous.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to the world of Competitive Birdwatching!



Nope, I didn't know there was such a thing either.

And not to sound sexist, but leave it to MEN to turn the gentle pastime of enjoying our feathered friends - into a pissing contest!

This book chronicles the adventures of three men competing to get the highest bird count in one year. From the Dry Tortugas to Attu, these guys spare no expense - braving horrific weather and gut-churning boat trips, all in the hopes of catching a glimpse of a rare bird.



The author does a nice job of introducing the men and explaining how they became interested in birdwatching. He also touches briefly on the history of birding, though I'm not sure even Audubon and Roger Tory Peterson were as obsessed as these guys.

The book is fast paced and it's easy to get caught up in the excitement as the year draws to a close and the counts grow ever higher. All the same, I think I'll stay home, and stick with watching whatever happens to show up at my back yard feeders.

[Jay Schutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this look into the world of competitive birdwatching, or "birding" as it is most commonly known.
For the serious "birders" there is something called a Big Year. A Big Year is what you do if you want to spend upwards of $60,000., travel hundreds of thousands of miles and put yourself through hell in the hopes of finding and recording more species of birds than anyone else in one calendar year.
This book is about the exploits of three men who decided on doing a Big Year in 1998.
The author did a great job of bringing their stories together as they crisscrossed their way around Canada and the U.S. from Attu Island, Alaska to the Dry Tortugas off the Florida coast and from Newfoundland to the islands off the coast of California.
Being a casual birdwatcher myself, I found this to be very interesting, informative and humorous all at the same time.
If you enjoy the outdoors and get excited at spotting a new bird which you haven't seen before, give this a try and see how they made out.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome book. It took recommendations from several friends before I finally decided to give this book a try. The subject matter seemed so uninteresting to me.

When you're wrong, you're wrong, and I was totally off base on this one. It was fascinating from start to finish. What I realise now is that books like this one, which document someone's obsession (doesn't have to be the author's) often turn out to be completely engrossing, if the author (as Obmascik does) succeeds in conveying the inherent excitement in a topic that gave rise to the obsession in the first place.

Never thought I would say it about a book related to birding, but I just cannot give this book a high enough recommendation.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Obmascik's style here is playful and almost conversational. He really plays up the competition among the three contenders. I discovered, however, that I'd much rather read about birds than about bird chasers.

I'm generally content to observe the more common species of birds sharing the habitat close to my home. I can be thrilled by a robin feasting on fall berries, barn swallows building a nest in spring, hundreds of crows gathering in a huge pine for an evening confab, or a winter wren singing his heart out, putting on a concert just for me. I do enjoy the challenge and excitement of identifying a bird I've never seen before, but I've never kept a "life list" and never will.

To me, the concept of "competitive birding" is absurd. Birdwatching is not a sport. People who race around the country checking off species as quickly as possible are not watching birds. They are bird chasers. We may as well put them on a reality TV show and forget about the enjoyment of nature for its own sake, as a meditative pursuit.

All that said, I did enjoy the book. I learned a lot about how the national and international birding communities operate, and there's some fascinating information about birds and migration. Chapter 9 was particularly excellent in that regard. Obmascik also includes some history of famous birders---much more interesting than modern-day fanatics.

There were three competitors for Big Year 1998. Al Levantin and Greg Miller seemed like pretty decent guys. I found Sandy Komito so odious that I had a hard time reading about him and his exploits. He's one of those guys who goes out of his way to be obnoxious and offensive just to get attention and amuse himself. I might have been impressed by his bird knowledge if he had used it for anything other than to stroke his over-sized ego and outdo other hopefuls. He had already won the Big Year competition several years before. He could have stepped aside and let someone else have a chance. The author seemed to genuinely like Komito, though, while still doing a perfect job of showing what a complete jerk he was.

[Gustine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The topic of the "big year" is really quite compelling, and I thought this book would take its place on my shelf right next to The Orchid Thief, in the section reserved for obsessives who focus solely on one aspect of the natural world and seek that single thing with complete devotion. Unfortunately, the writing in this book is nowhere near the quality of The Orchid Thief, and doesn't deserve a spot on my shelf at all! First, the good things: The three birders featured are exactly right for the book. The author sort of succeeded in teaching the reader about birds, their environment, and birding. (He's about 70 percent there.) Most importantly, he clearly explains why 1998 is the year that MUST be covered, even though it was a decade ago.

But the writing! He needs to learn how to describe an animal without using ANY references to pop culture. He needs to understand that in a book about birding, the reader does NOT want constant references to media and commercialization.

Here are specific examples of bad writing that distracted me so much I almost didn't finish the book:

1. The pygmy owl "weighed less than a pack of cigarettes." Is the author a heavy smoker with no concept of the fact that most nature lovers (his market for the book) think smoking is disgusting? It's especially disgusting in nature. Now he has combined, in my mind, the image of a cute little owl in a tree with a rude creep blowing smoke next to the owl's tree, with a disgusting, overflowing ash tray next to him. There are SO many other, far less distasteful, ways to describe the owl's weight.

2. "...the keel-billed toucan, that screeching, big-honkered bird made famous by Froot Loops." I almost threw the book across the room right here. I am mortally offended that the author thinks I, or anybody else who would buy this book, might not remember what a toucan is without a crass comparison to a stupid commercial for a repulsive product that nobody should be eating anyway. This is a book about BIRDS. I really, really don't want to be reminded of commercials! And everybody buying this book knows what a toucan is! Don't worry, we're not complete idiots! Also, the word "honker" is unnecessarily disrespectful. Toucans have beautiful and correctly sized beaks, and there is no need to use a disparaging, fifth-grade insult such as "honker." Things like this make me think the author doesn't like birds. That is a serious problem for an author writing a birding book.

3. "The yellow rail was the Greta Garbo of the bird world." This means nothing to me. I know she was a movie star (1950s? `60s? `40s?), but that's the extent of my knowledge. That is the crux of the problem. When an author relies on constant references to outdated movie stars to explain a concept, he leaves behind all the readers who don't share his media obsession. Five sentences later, "the yellow rail would never win any Miss Congeniality contests." Is this an unnecessary reference to that stupid movie years ago by the same name? Or is the author being mean and insulting to birds again?

4. "Maybe this really was a Bud Light commercial." Please leave all the commercials out of the birding book! Likewise, please note: brand names cheapen a book, they don't add "authenticity" or "flavor" or whatever it is that some inexperienced teachers call it in their writing classes. The following brand-name plugs all insulted me in the short space of just ten pages: Snickers, Wal-Mart, Spam, Wonder Bread, Jif peanut butter, Lipton, Mr. Salty pretzels. And if that's not bad enough, I later suffered this, probably the worst sentence in the entire book, or any other book I've read in the last year: "Miller clicked his Netscape Navigator back over to www.travelocity.com."

5. The bird was "...as tall as a Coke can but without the fizz." With regard to comparing a bird to junk food, I'm thinking again that the author doesn't really respect birds. With regard to putting in a plug for Coke, see #4. With regard to "the fizz," I have no idea what the author is trying to say. That completely mystifies me.

6. "He wasn't supposed to feel like Evel Knievel every time a bill came due." What the hell?!

I was particularly disappointed because there's actually a great deal of potential for this book due to its subject matter and characters. If I could have offered advice prior to its publication, it would have been this: The author should first decide whether or not he loves birds. If so, he should show that in his writing. Then, he should remove every movie star, media reference, and brand name. He should add more background information on specific birds and their environment. He should provide the American Birding Association's list of rules for the Big Year (I was wondering about this throughout the entire book). He should read The Orchid Thief and learn from it. Then, this would be a fabulous book!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am sure no one will be surprised, that I LOVED this book. It tracks 3 birders, as they attempt to do a "Big Year", seeing as many bird species in North America that they can, in a calendar year. It is like Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but with birds and lots and lots of disposable income. It sure helps, that the author is a very fine writer and a seasoned birder himself. Now, I want to see the film version.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of you who haven’t seen the charming movie adaptation of this equally charming book, the Big Year is a competition in which birders try to spot as many species of bird as they possibly can in the U.S. and Canada in one calendar year. Note that I use the term “birder,” as opposed to “bird-watcher.” In the movie, Steve Martin’s character bristles when his co-workers use the term “bird-watching,” but the book explains the difference. I am a birdwatcher. I own a field guide and I use it to identify all the species that land on my deck. I let the birds come to me. A birder goes out to find the birds. And Big Year contestants will spend a fortune of money seeing birds wherever and however they can, whether by boat, by helicopter, or on a remote island of Alaska called Attu. These guys are all about the chase.

Because of that, the book reads like an adventure story. It follows the top three winners of Big Year 1998: Sandy Komito, the record-setting champion, (played by Owen Wilson and named Kenny Bostick in the movie); Al Levantin, a newly-retired former CEO, (played by Steve Martin and named Stu Preissler), and Greg Miller, a computer programmer who held down a job and placed second in the Big Year, which is an amazing accomplishment. (He’s played by Jack Black and was renamed Brad Harris.) Though Steve Martin and Jack Black have both played their share of obnoxious characters, they’re the likable ones in the movie, and Owen Wilson is the jerk. Though the real Sandy Komito is actually quite a bit older than Owen Wilson, the book presents him in the same (mostly) negative light.

Not only does the book give you much more back story about the three men, it includes the history of birding in North America and a fair bit about the birds themselves. As a bird-watcher now inspired to try to some birding, I was already interested in the subject, but even if you’re not wild about birds, there’s enough human story here to interest anybody. Sandy Komito and Al Levantin were both children of the Depression, and determined to overcome the poverty they knew in childhood, both became successful businessmen. (Both became bird lovers through the Boy Scouts.) Greg Miller was raised a Mennonite in the “Land of No,” so now he spends his life saying “yes” and “playing like a ten-year-old.” What that teaches me is that people end up driven by the thing they feel they lacked the most in childhood. I also learned lessons from the brief bio of Jean Jacques Audubon. He failed at every business he ever tried, but made his name by pursuing his favorite hobby: drawing birds. So ultimately, the book is about doing what you love with the utmost zeal. Ask yourself: if you could spend one year pursuing one goal, what would it be?

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely. I saw 7 types of birds in my backyard while listening to this.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not sure when I started developing my love of birds. Maybe from birth? Who knows. It was definitely before reading this book. That said, AFTER this book my interest was absolutely reinforced and sharpened from casual into… well, less casual. While primarily about three competitive birdwatchers and their lives, it covers a huge amount of other interesting stories too, from broad topics like migration to species specific stories and facts. Although of course some of it is outdated now, I still think it’s an excellent and accessible primer on birds, birders, and birding.

But I'm biased. I cannot overstate how iconic this was to me as a young adult. I was given this book as a gift around age 12ish, and I probably reread it once a year from then until age 18 at least. Picking it up to reread again now at age 33 was a total indulgence, but also a total delight.

[Juliann Wetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I doubt anyone would ever guess that I'd read this book. I found it on the clearance table at Barnes & Noble, and since I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket, I thought - why not?

I am 100 pages into the book. It is part memoir, part travel expedition, part field guide, and part history. I found it interesting that James Audubon started out on his birding journey from right here in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm surprised that's not played up more around here.

I chuckled just a few pages in when it described "warbler's neck":
Komito tilted back his head to scan the highest mesquite branches. His neck was so accustomed to this exercise that it had bulged in size from fourteen and a half inches to seventeen inches. Among birders, this peculiar condition was known as warbler neck -- spending too much time looking up at treetops for darting songbirds.

That's when I knew I was hooked. I may not have much interest in birds, but I absolutely love learning about subcultures I never really knew existed.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a thoroughly entertaining book. It was a strange subject, bird watching, but the dedication, single mindedness and obsession of the individuals is both scary and admirable. I have always enjoyed watching birds but will not be trying for a big year myself but I will notice and maybe even make a note of the birds I know see. The book also prove we can make a contest out of just about anything. I think everyone would find something to like about this book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the world is too much, sometimes you just need a book about competitive birding.

[Martha☀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction book like no other I've read. Obmascik is so obviously enthralled with his discovery of competitive birding that his style swoops you up in the chase. Written in a intensely readable way, with plenty of comic flourish, I learned so much about habits of our feathered visitors and the impact of weather on their lives. Who knew that ~760 different species of wild birds consider the US & Canada home? And so many more end up here either while passing over or completely by accident.

Obmascik recounts the historic birding year of 1998 when three American birders exceed all previous records for most bird species seen within a calendar year.

Due to factors in 1998 like an intense El Niño current (which brought huge numbers of non-native birds to the North American continent), the freedom of last minute travel (which changed significantly after 9/11) and birder access to the remote Attu island outpost in Alaska (which closed to all non-military expeditions after this season), the conditions for this level of species' sightings will never occur again.

Obmascik boils down his hours of interviews and grueling fact-checking into a concise tale of win-at-all-cost adventure. His three birders are portrayed as caricatures. Al Levantin is an uber-wealthy businessman who fits his working life around his passion for birding. Sandy Komito, who already holds The Big Year record, is crass and repellent with his loud-talking ways and his coat-tail swinging antics. Greg Miller is a relative novice birder who works full-time while pursuing the record and comes across as a relatable 'everyman', albeit nerdy and a bit tragic.

With a hearty dose of bird information and birding history, I felt equally informed and entertained by this book. It'll make you take notice of what's outside your kitchen window.
(PS I'm familiar with more that 50 unique species who frequent my backyard!)

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought there was such a thing as competitive bird watching or that it would be interesting enough to be an engaging story.

This story is bizarre but I found myself being drawn into this crazy world. Definitely a book I would recommend.

[Becky Spratford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review on my blog:

https://raforall.blogspot.com/2010/05...

Three Words That Best Describe This Book: Birds, Quest, Character-Centered

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit that I'm interested in bird watching--I know, I know, it doesn't fit into my Devil May Care attitude--and always felt that I had a decent life list. That is until I picked this book up. Who knew that there is Competitive Birdwatching? Certainly not me. And A Big Year? That was a completely new concept to me. Apparently you start on January 1st and count the number of bird species that you see during a calendar year. Prior to 1998, the record Big Year was 721 species. In 1998, three men, Sandy Komito (who held the 721 record), Greg Miller, and Al Levantin found themselves in a neck and neck race to spot the most birds that year. Individually, they traveled thousands of miles from the Dry Tortugas off Florida to Attu in the Aleutian Islands and endured unbelievably harsh conditions in order to score sightings of additional species. Since North America has only 645 naturally nesting species, the lists had to be augmented with rarities and accidentials--birds that normally were not seen in North America. While the birder I was rooting for didn't win, the winner set a new record with 745 different birds. A fascinating book about a little known competitive event. I'm never going to view bird watchers the same way again.

[Jolina Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, really enjoyed reading this book! Well written - it was a short easy read. Parts are very funny - we've seen a few of those "birders" when we got to Spring Wings Migratory Bird Festival in Fallon. I understand the appeal of seeing a life list or rare bird. And I like nothing better than a good book in my back yard looking at what flies in, but I just can't wrap my head around why someone would go to such lengths to compete in a Big Year. Interesting stuff - made me curious to search out more information about a Big Day, a Big Year and the folks in this story. Steve Martin is starring in the film adaptation of the book - slated to come out this fall. I think it will be worth the price of the ticket!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining look into the world of ‘competitive’ birding. Oddly, the book has made me more keen to see the movie, starring Steve Martin. The author does a good job of making repetitive tasks (travel, find a bird, repeat) interesting and profiles the three main competitors very well.

Through it all, I had a continuous sense of disbelief at how these middle aged, overly-competitive men manage to utterly transform a beautiful, peaceful pastime into an anxiety-driven, miserable competition.

[Ruth P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book and wanted to give it 10 stars!.One of the most wonderful books I have ever read and now want to go right back to the beginning and start again.I am a bird looker....I like searching for them then love looking at them...these guys are the storm chasers of the avian world....utterly obsessed to the point of madness...and Mark O has taken the tale of three of them and their search to be the record holder of most birds seen in North America in one year and made the funniest,most entertaining and informative account of twitching that probably exists.It is a masterpiece ...if you have ever been seasick on a pelagic tour,just missed a rarity seen by dozens of others or simply love birds then this is the book for you.

[Mwrogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a light and fun read for those of us who love bird watching. It made me want to get back out into the woods with my camera. It also taught me that I love to look for birds for the beauty of the bird and that I would never enjoy the competition of The Bird Year. To see over 700 species of birds in North America in one year is amazing. Interesting read!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked this book a lot. Very close to 5*. One of those rare books where really want to see the film. Feel maybe better

[Cali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Josh got this as my Christmas Eve book and it was fun. I recently started getting into birding. We watched the movie a few months ago. It surprisingly has an impressive cast: Jack black, Steve Martin and owen Wilson!

I liked the book. I like hearing about people's passions.

[Charlie Eason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid. An entertaining glimpse into a world I have never seen before— competitive birdwatching. The story follows the three finalists of the 1998 Big Year as they endure freezing rain on Aleutian Islands, helicopter chases through the Rocky Mountains, and grueling travel schedules to every corner of North America to see rare species. An enjoyable read.

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay bird watching - not my cup of tea but apparently very popular. People spend a fortune looking for specific birds in America.

[Darya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я відкрила для себе жанр: мемуари про те, як хтось робив "великий рік" - спробу поставити рекорд і побачити якомога більше видів птахів (здебільшого це американська фішка). Ця книжка виділяється поміж іншими тим, що це, власне, не мемуар, а репортаж/нон-фікшн про те, як 1998 року троє людей змагалися за цей рекорд. Аж до того, що межує з документальною прозою, я би сказала: тобто люди, про яких ідеться, цілком реальні, і оповідь базована на інтерв'ю з ними - але стиль такий, що почасти виглядає, ніби вони - вигадані персонажі, про яких розповідає всезнаючий наратор. Тож не дивно, що за цією книжкою було знято фільм, який ще набагато більш вдається до художніх засобів і ще далі, очевидно, відходить від життєвих прототипів у зображенні персонажів. Довший час єдине, що я здала про бьординґ, було з цього фільму, тобто досягти широкого загалу, який взагалі про це дивне хобі нічого не знає, авторам вдалося, тому нормально, напевно, що вони мусили вдатися до спрощень і увиразнень.
Ідея така: існує американська асоціація птахоспоглядачів (ABA), яка визначає, що "рахується" - її територія охоплює континентальні США, Канаду, деякі острови біля берегів (але не інші) і 200 миль у море. І хоча люди можуть змагатися також на менших територіях (наприклад, одне графство, штат, 48 штатів, тощо), більшість цих історій про спроби поставити рекорд - саме про всю цю територію. Заковика: на ній постійно живе чи регулярно залітає під час сезонних міграцій десь 570 видів птахів. А от попередній рекорд на той момент, коли взялися до своєї справи герої цієї книжки, уже був за 700. Як? За рахунок випадкових залітних птахів - азійських, які тайфуном принесло на Алеутські острови, європейських, яких принесло у Нюфаундленд чи центральноамериканських, які випадково залетіли нетипово далеко на північ.
Отже, на відміну від звичайного птахоспоглядання на дозвіллі, ці спроби взяти рекорд полягають радше у гонитві за цими рідкісними залітними птахами, а не у спогляданні питомих місцевих птахів у їхньому питомому середовищі. Найбільше абсурдність цього мені впала в очі, коли один з героїв має багато клопотів з тим, щоб додати собі до списку чергового птаха, який на території асоціації буває тільки далеко в морі (а герой страждає на морську хворобу). Цей птах був карибський фрегат, magnificent frigatebird, і це мене особливо вразило, оскільки під час подорожі до Мексики я бачила представників цього виду стільки і так запросто, що вони потрапили у мій фотоархів, навіть попри те, що птахами я тоді зовсім не цікавилася. Персонаж, звісно, не міг би полетіти до Канкуна, як я, а мусив страждати і вишуковувати, бо інакше не рахується. Птах має вибрати правильний берег Ріо Ґранде, щоб до нього вишикувалася черга з американських бьордерів. Але ж кордони - це просто лінії на карті, і саме птахи віддавна були у багатьох культурах метафорою того, які випадкові людські закони і кордони.
Стою в чергу в бібліотеці на мемуар одного нідерландця, який ставив рекорд по всьому світу - тобто він мав можливість за кожним видом поїхати в його найпитоміше середовище. Сподіваюся, там мені весь задум виглядатиме менш абсурдним.
Обмасік завершує книжку думкою, що це змагання трьох чоловіків у 1998 дійшло до такого божевілля, що після того уже ніхто не брався. На момент написання книжки, мабуть. Але станом на зараз рекорд уже за 840 - почасти через те, що у 2016 році американська асоціація включила в свою території Гаваї, почасти через те, що дізнатися про те, де знайти якийсь рідкісний вид, тепер стає дедалі простіше.
Написано дуже жваво, гарно читається, добре для початку знайомства з темою.

[Don Osterhaus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was browsing a nonfiction table at a used book sale a couple of years ago and the cover of The Big Year caught my eye: a cerulean sky, a beach, and a weird, spiky-headed sea bird perched on a pair of binoculars. It was fifty cents. I bought it.

It was an unlikely purchase. It’s about bird watching, for crying out loud. How interesting can a book about bird watching be? Apparently it can be downright compelling. I couldn’t put it down.

First things first. The term “bird watching” is taboo. Practitioners of the art refer to themselves as “birders.” Birders are passionate about their avocation. Author Mark Obmascik provides a concise summary of the upside of birding, “Birding is hunting without killing, preying without punishing and collection without clogging your home.” Obmascik was not a birder when he began writing this book. Now, in his own words, “When somebody cries, ‘Duck!’ I look up.” His enthusiasm for the subject infuses every page. The settings are so painstakingly rendered, the tension is so excruciatingly recreated that you’d swear he was there every step of the way. He wasn’t.

The book is the result of interviews that Obmascik had with three birders: Greg Miller, Sandy Komito and Al Levantin. In 1998 each of these three gentlemen, unbeknownst to one another, decided to take on a “big year.” For the uninitiated, a big year is dedicating one calendar year to personally observing as many species as possible within the confines of the continental United States. To have a really good big year, that’s about two new species each day. The record on January 1, 1998 was 721 species recorded in 1987 by Sandy Komito.

Think of it as extreme birding. The demands are ridiculous. Climate runs the gamut from tropical to arctic. Terrain ranges from desert to swamp to prairie to woodland to mountain. Beyond that, there are the pelagic birds – avian species that essentially spend their lives at sea. One memorable incident finds Greg Miller, who is prone to motion sickness, missing a pelagic bird sighting because he is throwing up over the side of his boat.

Not challenging enough? Consider, then, that many of these birds are not permanent residents. They can only be viewed along seasonal migratory routes. Sometimes the window for observation of these species is unreasonably small. And what about travel? What happens when you are in North Carolina and you get a rare bird alert for a sighting in Oregon? How do you get there pronto? How do you pay for it? What about families, friends and careers? The challenges of a big year are formidable.

Which brings us back to 1998. Without spoiling the end of the story, all three competitors surpass the coveted 700 mark. The reader can’t help but pull for all three of these guys. Sandy Komito, a hard-nosed, often abrasive building contractor is the reigning champion trying to best his best. Al Levantin is an affable, wealthy retiree. He has considerable resources at his disposal and is more than capable of giving Komito a run for the money. The wild card is Greg Miller. Miller is an overweight computer programmer. He has maxed out six credit cards and borrowed money from his parents to finance this endeavor. He needs to work forty hours a week to (almost) pay the bills. This severely cramps his birding style. The advantage that he does have is a birder’s ear. He can instantly identify virtually all of the 675 species normally found in the United States by their calls. He can reproduce many of those calls as well.

The travails of this trio kept me turning the pages. Readers can expect to learn more than a little ornithology and to be amused by Obmascik’s low-key, deadpan humor while waiting for a victor to emerge. I found myself choosing a favorite and cheering him on. Ash-throated flycatchers, flammulated owls, northern wheatears, and Xantus’s hummingbirds make for excellent reading companions. All in all, an enjoyable and satisfying book. Go figure.

[Bookslut · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book. It's hard to say what I loved more, the book or the movie. This gives me a renewed sense of hope about nonfiction.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book and the subsequent movie starring Steve Martin was written in order to document what is known to the birding community as a "big year". This effort is simply to observe as many bird species in the continental United States and Canada as possible in a single calender year. I am well acquainted with this effort since I had been the "annual list editor" for "Birding Magazine" for ten years and was responsible for documenting these efforts. This particular adventure took place in 1998 and is written about three birders with very different financial circumstances and temperments. Up until this time there had only been a small handful of people that had been able to identify 700 species during the required timeframe. The unique aspect of this particular year was that four people were successful in this effort. I was the fourth. The book is very special to me because it allows me to relive much of my adventure in 1998 since I saw many of the same birds, visited the same places and witnessed each of these individuals on pelagic trips out into the oceans of North America and in remote locations from Alaska to the Dry Tortugas. Our paths crossed frequently during the year and I enjoyed just being a quiet observer. I did follow one of the three participants closely because he had a website which I found informative, but also very entertaining. The author of this book has a gift for relating the personalities of the participants and also for giving an accurate reflection of the commitment, the focus and the expense involved in such an endeavor. The beauty in this adventure is not a number, it is to know what it is like to stand on a small spit of land at Point Barrow, Alaska and know that you are standing on the northernmost point of land on the North American continent. It is also the beauty of a short grass prairie at sunrise in the Pawnee Grasslands or Fort Jefferson during a tropical rainstorm or standing at the finish line of the Iditarod. It is watching the never ending turn of a blue whale next to your puny boat near Monterey or seeing the stark shape of the Panamint Mountains as the sun comes up or the forest of the Uncompahgre Plateau at dusk. It includes getting off an airplane in Phoenix when thermometer is registering 115 degrees while you recall a February day when you are shaving ice off the inside windows of your car with a credit card when it is 42 degrees below zero in some remote corner of Minnesota. Mark Obmascik is extrememly capable of sharing this adventure with the reader while adding humor to the effort. It is his humor that makes his writing so special to me because when you are traveling hundred of thousands of miles, spending untold amounts of cash, dining out at Circle-K's and sleeping with critters, you somehow lose track of how crazy and funny this is. While a normal American would do a travelogue which might include Yellowstone, the Washington Monument, Yosemite, the St. Louis Arch and perhaps Fisherman's Wharf, we were visitng Yaqui Wells, the I'on Swamp, Kotzebue, the Sax-Zim Bog and Pink Cave Canyon. Thanks for putting it all in perspective.