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This Birding Life: The Best of the Guardian's Birdwatch Kindle Edition

by Stephen Moss (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings
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This collection of essays “gives bird enthusiasts the next best thing to birdwatching, an eloquent and insightful consideration of birds and birding” (Publishers Weekly).

Stephen Moss’s collection of Guardian “Birdwatch” columns forms a fascinating picture of one man’s birding life: from early coot-watching as a young boy, through teenage cycle trips to Dungeness, to adult travels around the world as a TV producer working everywhere from the Gambia to Antarctica.

Drawing on nearly twenty years of columns for the Guardian, Stephen covers local, national and foreign birding encounters. From the (varying) excitement and peace of his chosen pursuit, to the growing uncertainties posed by climate change, the author brings an enthusiasm and sincerity to the subject that will energise even the most fair-weather of birdwatchers.
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  1. Print length
    236 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Aurum
  5. Publication date
    February 6, 2014
  6. File size
    2517 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This volume, a compendium of Moss's birding columns from a decade and a half of the Manchester Guardian, gives bird enthusiasts the next best thing to birdwatching, an eloquent and insightful consideration of birds and birding. Forming an ornithological autobiography, Moss covers his childhood discovery of birds, his favorite birdwatching haunts in Britain and abroad, his time producing a birdwatching program for BBC television and his own young sons' first encounters with the natural world. Some essays are humorous (his description of geese's propensity to eat and defecate, defecate and eat interminably), others are romantic (on honeymoon in West Africa, Moss finds 60 different species "without leaving the hotel grounds"), while others ponder the impact of individual birders; one haunting essay describes the birdwatching habits of World War II prisoners of war, who kept records of redstarts and goldfinches on toilet paper. Alongside obituaries of pioneering ornithologists Max Nicholson, Guy Mountfort, and Tono Valverde, Moss ruminates on the decline of bird populations worldwide. The importance of family is the vibrant sub-current that propels the narrative; much is made of Moss's late mother, who gamely encouraged her son's interest in birds, and Moss concludes with a loving eulogy to her. In addition to its many pleasures, this book also profiles plenty of great destination ideas for birders planning their next vacation.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Stephen Moss is the author of A Bird in the Bush, Garden Birds, and Remarkable Birds.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00JDK1CC8
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aurum (February 6, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 6, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2517 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 236 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 22 ratings

About the author

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Stephen Moss

Stephen Moss

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I am one of Britain’s leading nature writers, broadcasters and wildlife television producers, specialising in birds and British wildlife. A lifelong naturalist, I am passionate about communicating the wonders of the natural world to the widest possible audience. I have written over 30 books, including Ten Birds that Changed the World (shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing), Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names, Wild Kingdom, and 'bird biographies' of the Robin, Wren, Swallow, Swan and Owl. My TV credits include Springwatch, The Nature of Britain, Birding with Bill Oddie and Birds Britannia. I also teach an MA in Travel & Nature Writing at Bath Spa University.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
22 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

turban birdler
5.0 out of 5 stars Heartily Recommentalled - Always best to Guard Our Wlidlife
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011
Now I enjoy birds as much as the next bloke but this rizzes my knopfler I can tell you. Its grunderfully stragglicious. An exercise in counterpoint, needlepoint and enpointe. I think we should all be guardians of our wonderlus birdlife and, well, the Guardian is one. And who better to be such a guardian than the Guardian? I can thoroughly recommental this book and solely on the basis of its attitude to guardianship. Welk done.

It being 'the best of' should definitely raise your attention-goggles, as this truly is the best of.

I enjoyed pages 18 to 27 in particular.

Turban Birdler
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2016
It was as expected.
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Jill Emmott
5.0 out of 5 stars Bird Life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
Lovely book as are all the books on Bird Life written by Stephen Moss. That is with the exception of his poetry!
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2nimm
3.0 out of 5 stars ouvrage de réflexions intéressant mais sans plus
Reviewed in France on July 23, 2011
Verified Purchase
livre broché souple format poche de 2006 en papier recyclé; rassemblant les chroniques d'un célèbre naturaliste et ornithologue de terrain; texte intéressant, sans illustration hormis quelques rares gravures n&b; à lire à temps perdu
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Spike
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2016
Verified Purchase
Another brilliant book from stephen moss. Loved it.
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Martin Johnson
3.0 out of 5 stars This Birding Life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2013
Verified Purchase
It's OK. It's bitty (reprints of short newspaper articles) and the least of this admired author's works. Presentation is pulp, better than nothing to fill in the time.
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