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All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures – A Collection of Essays and Photography on Natural History and Wildlife
Roger Tory Peterson’s unique perspective on birding comes to life in these highly personal narratives. Here he relates his adventures during a lifetime of birding and traveling the world to observe and record nature. Though Peterson was widely known for his illustrations, this collection reminds us to reconsider his accomplishments as a photographer, for Peterson was nearly as passionate about photography as he was about painting. The essays and photographs included here were carefully selected by Bill Thompson III, the editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest, which ran the column “All Things Reconsidered” during the last twelve years of Peterson’s life.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
22 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Bill Thompson III
50 books6 followersBILL THOMPSON III is the editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest and the author of the Peterson Field Guide Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, along with many other books. He lives in Ohio with his wife, the author and illustrator Julie Zickefoose, and their two children.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 29, 2021
There was a time, up until the early 20th century, when the orthodoxy was that bird identification should be done "bird in hand". This was a way of saying, "shoot it, and pick up the corpse and study it carefully". Roger Tory Peterson was among that generation of bird enthusiasts who rejected this method (although look closely at the cover picture for an entertaining spin on this saying). He was also one of the first generation of bird enthusiasts to become photography enthusiasts, despite (or perhaps because of) his profession as a painter of birds for field guides. This series of essays, originally writen for a periodical named "Bird Watcher's Digest", was from later in his life, when he had a half century or more of knowledge (and memories) to draw on.
Oddly, this is not really a book about birds, in particular. It is a book about birdwatchers. Whether telling of his efforts to get the perfect shot of one species or another, or of how he learned from the generation of painters who came before him, or of his many friends and colleagues who helped to create the post-WW2 conservationist movement with film, tours, and books telling a newly urbanized society why they should care about nature still, he is mostly writing about humans here. Humans who are in closer than usual proximity to birds, for sure, and there are a few dozen color prints of his masterful paintings or photographs of birds scattered through the book. But the real theme through all of these essays is other people.
I admit to being more interested in the birds than the people, myself, but the interesting thing is that the audience for his essays was, presumably, a lot of people who were interested in birds as well, and more knowledgeable about it than I am. But, one wonders if perhaps, as with dogs and cats and horses and so forth, the type of animal is in part an excuse to bond with other people over a common interest. Humans are a sociable lot. Having just finished Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone", however, I am reminded that the generation which Peterson came from was by historical standards a remarkably social one, prone to extraordinary levels of "clubbishness", that is joining of clubs and voluntary associations (such as the Audobon Society).
My own dad was for a time president of the local chapter of the Audobon society. I was very small at the time, and understood it to mean that he was President of the United States, and then to think that he was president of the entire Audobon Society, which would have been rather more work. Mostly, as I dimly recall it, being president of the local chapter involved talking to a lot of other people, and occasionally going on birding expeditions with them. Peterson mentions several years in which he is involved in attempts (as a group) to see as many species of bird in one 24-hour period as possible, which involved getting up early, driving around a lot, and a bunch of careful planning. I admit, I don't quite see the appeal, but it was entertaining enough to hear Peterson tell stories about it. The entire book, really, is much like sitting next to an old man who is telling tales of his youth, and you either enjoy that sort of thing or you don't (I mostly do).
In fact, it is probably the case that, if you are going to get humans to care overmuch about protecting bird species from DDT, vanishing wetlands, and the like, you will need more than to appeal to their concern over abstractions like ecosystems. If they also have a gut-level response of "that area where I go on fun birding expeditions with my friends every year", they are more likely to do what they can to see that it is preserved. As our species becomes ever-more-urbanized and remote from the wilderness, it will be a challenge for current and future generations to find a way to convince themselves to care, and I expect that will require different techniques each generation. Peterson's use of binoculars and camera instead of shotguns was quite a change from what came before. Hopefully we will produce an equivalent person, with the right combination of concern for wildlife and savvy PR instincts, in the generations to come.
Oddly, this is not really a book about birds, in particular. It is a book about birdwatchers. Whether telling of his efforts to get the perfect shot of one species or another, or of how he learned from the generation of painters who came before him, or of his many friends and colleagues who helped to create the post-WW2 conservationist movement with film, tours, and books telling a newly urbanized society why they should care about nature still, he is mostly writing about humans here. Humans who are in closer than usual proximity to birds, for sure, and there are a few dozen color prints of his masterful paintings or photographs of birds scattered through the book. But the real theme through all of these essays is other people.
I admit to being more interested in the birds than the people, myself, but the interesting thing is that the audience for his essays was, presumably, a lot of people who were interested in birds as well, and more knowledgeable about it than I am. But, one wonders if perhaps, as with dogs and cats and horses and so forth, the type of animal is in part an excuse to bond with other people over a common interest. Humans are a sociable lot. Having just finished Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone", however, I am reminded that the generation which Peterson came from was by historical standards a remarkably social one, prone to extraordinary levels of "clubbishness", that is joining of clubs and voluntary associations (such as the Audobon Society).
My own dad was for a time president of the local chapter of the Audobon society. I was very small at the time, and understood it to mean that he was President of the United States, and then to think that he was president of the entire Audobon Society, which would have been rather more work. Mostly, as I dimly recall it, being president of the local chapter involved talking to a lot of other people, and occasionally going on birding expeditions with them. Peterson mentions several years in which he is involved in attempts (as a group) to see as many species of bird in one 24-hour period as possible, which involved getting up early, driving around a lot, and a bunch of careful planning. I admit, I don't quite see the appeal, but it was entertaining enough to hear Peterson tell stories about it. The entire book, really, is much like sitting next to an old man who is telling tales of his youth, and you either enjoy that sort of thing or you don't (I mostly do).
In fact, it is probably the case that, if you are going to get humans to care overmuch about protecting bird species from DDT, vanishing wetlands, and the like, you will need more than to appeal to their concern over abstractions like ecosystems. If they also have a gut-level response of "that area where I go on fun birding expeditions with my friends every year", they are more likely to do what they can to see that it is preserved. As our species becomes ever-more-urbanized and remote from the wilderness, it will be a challenge for current and future generations to find a way to convince themselves to care, and I expect that will require different techniques each generation. Peterson's use of binoculars and camera instead of shotguns was quite a change from what came before. Hopefully we will produce an equivalent person, with the right combination of concern for wildlife and savvy PR instincts, in the generations to come.
December 29, 2024
An autobiography in essays: Peterson's stories of his birding and artistic life before birding was really a thing.
June 2, 2017
Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996) stood very tall as a naturalist, ornithologist, artist, and educator. Perhaps he is best known for his field guides. This is a book collecting a number of his essays, and it represents him very well-it is Peterson at his finest. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and would heartily recommend it to anyone who has a passion for nature in general and especially birding in particular. He gives pretty compelling glimpses into his thinking, his experiences, and his artistic inclinations.
September 17, 2020
Like any collection, I suppose, some of these articles (previously published in Birdwatcher's Digest) will capture the readers interest more than others. I found the most interesting articles to be about birds or birding adventures. I found the articles on other birding "notables" or on wildlife art and artists to be less interesting. Overall, the time spent in this collection was interesting and fun.
April 12, 2020
Peterson’s voice came across very similar to that of the Jay Peterman character from Seinfeld.
January 18, 2016
The advanced birder, Kenn Kaufman, once noted "Roger Tory Peterson was not really the originator of the system of arrows for identification. Thousands of years ago, long before the pharaohs, ancient men drew animals on cave walls with arrows sticking into them." True, perhaps. However Peterson perfected his drawing techniques as an aid to field identification - - this during a period of "revolution in birding . . . as birders shifted from the shotgun school of birding to the field glass." But Peterson was much more than field guide illustrator. This book is a compilation of selected columns from "Bird Watcher's Digest" written during the last twelve years of his life. They record Peterson's interest in wildlife photography, natural history writings, wilderness protection, and friendships with many of the great 20th century naturalists (Lars Jonsson, Edwin Way Teale, Guy Mountfort, Sir Peter Scott, Luis Baptista, etc.). What most shines forth in this book, besides Peterson's love of nature, is his warm wit and pioneering spirit – one that is sorely missed since his death in 1996.
August 2, 2011
It's wonderful to get a chance to read a collection of articles by one of history's greatest birders! The only real complaint I have is that the articles are all over the place. While it's nice that they're in chronological order, at the same time, it's a bit weird to abruptly jump from one subject to the next.
May 3, 2008
This collection of Peterson's articles is excellent.
November 25, 2008
Don't bother unless you are interested in birds or Roger Tory Peterson!
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November 1, 2010Interesting read about Roger's birding adventures, his life, and the development of birding from the Audubon's days until now.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews