#Urban Birding

by David Lindo, Anna-Christin Kramer (Übersetzung), Jenny Merling (Übersetzung)

Eins ist klar: Wer dieses Buch gelesen hat, schnappt sich ein Fernglas und geht in den nächsten Park, um Vögel zu beobachten. 115 Städte weltweit hat Urban Birder David Lindo besucht und erzählt erstaunliche und inspirierende Geschichten über die Vögel, die er auf seinen Trips erlebt hat. Auch in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz war er unterwegs, hat Experten vor Ort getroffen oder sich einfach durch den Großstadtdschungel treiben lassen. Denn Vögel beobachten kann man in der Stadt praktisch immer und überall. „Look up!“, lautet das einfache Motto des sympathischen Briten. So öffnet er unsere Augen für die Wildnis in den Städten und nimmt uns mit zu spannenden Abenteuern im urbanen Alltag.

Genres: Birds, Nature, Travel, Nonfiction, Natural History, Animals

367 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2015

Reviews

[Mark Avery]

A book about birds in towns didn’t immediately appeal to me. Birding in built up areas has always seemed to me to be making the best of a bad job rather than a good choice. But I was persuaded by the tales that the Urban Birder tells here.

David Lindo – he of the national bird vote (Robin first place, Hen Harrier ninth place) – styles himself the Urban Birder and this book is his attempt to win over people like me. He is a very winning sort of guy, is David, and so is the book.

This is a collection of accounts, many of them previously published in shorter versions in a popular birdwatching magazine, of David birding in cities and towns around the world. The people he meets are quite interesting and all birders like to hear tales of birding failure and success – there are some of each in here.

I’ve been to only a few of the places where David went in the pages of this book, but his accounts of those we have in common rang true with me and reminded me of my trips. I enjoyed the accounts of urban birding in Britain the most, probably because more of the people and places were familiar but also because the birds were too. It’s easier to share the elation and disappointment when you have a common understanding of the chances of any bird being seen.

Now I must go out and do my BTO House Martin survey in Corby – David Lindo will be proud of me.

This review first appeared on Mark Avery's blog http://markavery.info/2015/06/14/sund...

[Octavia Cade]

I'll say this for Lindo: his enthusiasm for bird-life of all kinds (except, perhaps, the poor little rose-ringed parakeet) is in general a delight. I love that there are people out there who are so excited by birds, or by nature in general. I do think, however, that this is probably a book that is best directed at people who share his enthusiasm to the same level.

Don't get me wrong. I like birds, I do. I like them a lot. But the vast majority of the birds referred to here are unfamiliar to me, living on the other side of the world as I do, and while I looked a lot of them up... there are a lot of them to look up. The chapters of this book are relatively short, with 3-4 pages devoted to each city visited, and there is a tendency, I think, for them to devolve into what are basically lists of the birds that Lindo has seen in each respective city. I suspect that could be quite exciting for birders who live in Hull or Lowestoft or wherever, because they'll be familiar with the species in question, but for people like me who are less familiar, it feels, in the end, like a lot of lists.

It's a great idea for a book, but I can't help but wish that the chapters were longer and more in-depth so that I could learn more about the birds mentioned here than their names.

[Lynn Mann]

This book is a lovely mixture of birding and travelog. Nice short sections about each place so good for a quick bedtime read.

Living in an urban area, I see so many people walking around looking down at their phones, ears plugged in. They don't notice the wildlife. A few years ago I took a group of young girls brigade members and their leaders to the local cemetery. Without binoculars we saw and heard 15 species in half an hour, from flying swifts, red kites and gulls to goldfinches and robins. One mother's comment about the swifts "I thought those were just high-up birds" told it all!

Wherever you are there will be birds to enjoy, notice and make you feel glad to be alive.

[Michael]

Not what I expected - this is about birdwatching in cities, not birdwatching of birds...