Customer Reviews

Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A slim volume of essays on the author's experiences with various common bird species.

Personable writing and a surprising amount of information, some of which is saddening (people lynch owls??) but most of which is intriguing and perhaps of more interest to readers, at least in North America, because it focuses on common species that many people encounter regularly. The essays are generally personal memoirs, and the type and amount of information on the birds varies -- this isn't a scientific study or a guide to identification but an engaging nature writing read.

This book is formatted in a way that each chapter focuses on one North American bird species. The first several chapters are written in a easy, personal memoir style, about the author's experiences with the featured bird. Included were also interesting scientific facts about the featured birds. The book was great while the story was written in this vane. These chapters were heartwarming, as well as, educational. It started as one of those books you start to think is going to be fabulous and one you'll always cherish.

Halfway through the chapters started to read more and more like a scientific textbook of ornithology. With hardly any personal experiences in these chapters it just lacked the easy & heartwarming style that the previous chapters did. It quickly disappointed me written in this style.

By the last few chapters the author picked up where she left off in the first chapters. By this time I was too bored to really be too excited about this book, again. The book ended on a happy and fun note. These last chapters were educational and personable too, tho, a bit too late for me.

Overall, a 3 star read for me.

This was a fast & enjoyable read riddled with insights and facts told in a witty point of view. The author is easy to like with her down-to-earth prose & her obvious love for the natural world. I especially enjoyed her account of raising Chimney Swift babies. What was a little distracting was that a good portion of the birds she talks about live on the West Coast, so for an East Coast reader I felt a little left out since many of these birds like the Steller's Jay & the Spotted Owl are not birds I will see unless I travel. Although this was told from a first person narrative, it still felt a little text bookish to me. I enjoyed Suzie Gilbert's "Flyaway" better since it felt more personal & tender hearted.

What a wondrous book! My husband loved it, and passed it on to me, even though I'm not a birder as he is. Rare Encounters is a seamless blend of biology, memoir, humor, and truly elegant writing, a book that awakens and deepens your relationship to the natural world (not just birds!) in everyday life. I bought several copies to keep on hand as gifts. This is a book to keep on your bedside table, to read and re-read.

i may be biased because i live in the northwest and the majority of the bird encounters happen in close proximity to my backyard. this book offers storybook tales of encounters with birds (grouse, cormorants, etc) with earnest, factual, and knowing detail. great!