Play Book Tag discussion

Backyard Bird Chronicles - Tan
5 stars

I’m a birder. I’ve been actively bird watching with bird guides and binoculars for more than 30 years. I keep lists. I’ve rarely traveled specifically to look for birds, but I fit my bird walks in where I can. Southern California is a great place for birding. There’s always my backyard.

Amy Tan lives in the San Francisco Bay area. I’m sure her backyard is in a higher rent zone than mine. We look out on different habitats. Still, I recognized all of the species that she reported seeing in her backyard. She has some that don’t visit my feeders, and I have a few that will never grace her yard. I propped her book in my kitchen table book stand, drank my coffee, and interspersed my own backyard identification with pages of her nature journal. I shared her backyard observations and it felt like I was sharing mine.

Her observations delighted and inspired me. I added hot pepper suet to discourage marauding squirrels on her recommendation. (It works!). I added another bird bath and varied the food a bit. I do give the birds dried mealworms sometimes, but I haven't quite the dedication that Tan has. I haven’t bought live mealworms for the backyard buffet. Yet.

I keep lists. I note species, numbers of birds, weather and occasionally interesting behavior. I cannot draw. Amy Tan isn’t only a writer, she’s an artist. This book is derived from her nature journal. She draws her backyard bird activity. Her sketches are annotated. Her drawings have speech captions as she imagines exactly what might be going on in those little bird brains. Her drawings are both comical and informative. Her finished portraits are beautiful. This is a book that needs to be read in its paperbound edition. The e-book doesn’t reproduce the drawings adequately and the audiobook misses out on them altogether.

I enjoy bird-watching also. Right now, the birders in my area are excited about a snowy owl that has been seen near Lake Erie. It's a beautiful bird - Some snowy owls visit us every year from Canada during the winter.

Amy Tan is a favorite author of mine. Some years ago, I started following her Facebook posts. At the time, Tan had joined a local (San Francisco) nature journaling group and was learning to draw birds. I enjoyed her early drawings so much and noted her progress.

I see her book as the natural outcome of this. She's so talented! I've picked up the book myself and also recommended it to my birder friend, Laura. Laura loved it. So glad that you did too.

Laura and I are hoping to see some snow buntings this winter. They're beautiful birds - I've never seen one. They come every year and we're on the alert.

Good luck with the snow buntings! I've never seen one. My life list is limited to my own region, but even that has amazing variety.

I love birds!!! Unfortunately, living in the city, the opportunities for viewing them (other than sea birds because I live by the harbor) are few and far between. I really, really want to get to this book!!! It sounds so good.