This section of the Caloosa Bird Club web page is intended to keep you abreast of some of the current literature available for birders. Members are encouraged to send reviews of any books or articles to the webmaster Beverly Saltonstall. Obviously, books or articles covering birds of our area are preferred. All reviews are to be signed by the reviewer and all pertinent information regarding the book (title, author, publisher and price) as well as other information such as where one can purchase the book locally is required.
THE BIG YEAR
A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession *
by
Mark Obmascik
Free Press,
New York, 2004
Here in Cape Coral, Florida the Muscovy Duck is considered a nuisance, but if you are a birder, that duck can be VERY important!
The Big Year was written by Mark Obmascik. While working as a cub newspaper reporter searching for any kind of news, he met up with one of the world’s foremost experts on birds. He quickly learned about the quirky nature of birders and tried to understand why someone would spend thousands of dollars to go to some god-forsaken remote area, get up before the crack of dawn, in cold, rainy, miserable weather just to look at a bird.
The more Mark learned the more he was smitten with birding.
This book is about the Big Year of 3 passionate birders. Enduring the cold, sea sickness, financial burdens and bugs, these three men traipsed all over North America to record an amazing 745, 715 and 711 birds in one year. The adventures they had and the hardships they endured were nothing short of amazing.
TA book for birders and non-birders alike, "it dispels the dusty image of birdwatchers as tweed-skirted Miss Marple types enthralled by a flittering Titmouse[1], and tells a “fabulous story about persistence”.[2] Enjoyable reading that keeps you rooting to see if you favorite birders wins!
One of the funniest statements in the book is when Obmascik is telling about his passion for birding. He says, “ …Me, I watch birds. Today I stroll in the park and I no longer see plain birds. I see gadwalls and buffleheads and, if I’m really on a hot streak, a single old squaw. A road trip finds me watching the sky as much as the pavement. It gets harder to pass a sewage treatment pond, that notorious bird magnet, without pulling out my binoculars. When somebody cries, “Duck!” I look up.”
*This book can be purchased locally as a signed copy in the Visitor’s Center Gift Shop of Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, One Wildlife Drive, Sanibel FL 33957, and Barnes and Noble Book Store in Fort Myers, 13751 Tamiami Trail, Ft. Myers, FL 33912.
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HOOT*
by
Carl Hiaasen
©2002
Random House Books
New York, NY
“Since 1985 Hiaasen has been writing a regular column, which at one time or another has pissed off just about everybody in South Florida, including his own bosses. Somehow he has managed to remain employed, and today his column appears on most Sundays in The Herald’s opinion-and-editorial section.” (Quoted from his website http://www.carlhiaasen.com.) Carl was born and raised in Florida and his writings reflect his usual indignation over the exploitation of his native Florida.
A far departure from is usual weird, twisted writings, Hoot is an environmental mystery and Hiaasen’s first novel geared towards the younger audience. It would make a perfect gift for your 10-15 year old children or grandchildren.
Hoot centers around a teenage boy, Roy Eberhardt, whose family moves frequently, and recently moved to South Florida and the fictional town of Coconut Grove. Typical for the new kid on the block, Roy is lonesome, has no real friends and longs for his home in Montana. While riding the bus to school, two things happen that change his life forever. First has his face smashed against the school bus window by the local bully, Dana Matherson, and during the face smashing he sees an unusual looking boy running through the streets. These two events precipitate the meeting of tall, tough, bully-beating Beatrice and the eventual discovery of the Burrowing Owls living in the lot on the corner of East Oriole Avenue.
The adults seem to be ignoring the burrows of tiny owls that will be buried by the bulldozing equipment for the planned building of Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House. Roy's parents explain that it surely is a shame about the owls, but the company must have filed all of the papers and received all of the necessary permits. But the owls have unlikely allies bent on saving them--three middle school kids, determined to beat the screwed-up adult system. This book is sure to be a hoot, er hit with middle school mystery fans. (Plus it is a quick, fun read for adults too!)
*This book may be purchased locally at: One For the
Books,
Beverly Saltonstall, (June 2005)
Note: The movie, Hoot will premier on April 7, 2006. The movie was filmed in Punta Gorda and CBC member Carol Keifer plays the part of a lawyer in the film.
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A Photographic Guide to Birds of Southern Florida including the Everglades, the Keys, Sanibel and Captiva Islands* |
This is a recent book of 144 pages in length, illustrating over 250 species of birds in 335 full color photographs one might likely see in South Florida . This area is defined by the authors as an area "extending south of route 70, broadly from a line drawn from Fort Pierce to Sarasota, and also includes the Keys and the Dry Tortugas". This book is a handy compendium meant to aid birders, and especially visiting birders, who may not want to carry several field guides or larger tomes while traveling, for use in bird identification.
As a "pocket book" (4" by 7.5"), the authors state that this book is not a complete guide and that other works are needed to compliment it. They proffer other more well known field guides such as the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, (3rd edition) and the ABA/Lane Guide: A Birder's Guide to Florida by Bill Pranty as supplemental reading. Further, the authors realize the limitations of a single photograph of a single species for the use of bird identification. (Cf. the pictures of Northern Rough-winged Swallow or Chimney Swift as examples!) Given the fact that the authors are not resident Florida birders, I feel that they did a very good job of organizing the material as well as making it available in an easy-to-read format. The latter is accomplished through the use of colored corner tabs representing the various avian families. Noted East Coast Florida birder Wally George is credited as having supplied the range and distributional data for the birds of Southern Florida.
Chapters of the book include: Introduction, How to use this book, Birding habitats in southern Florida, Key to corner tabs, Where to find birds in southern Florida, Species descriptions, Glossary, Further reading, Useful addresses and Index. The most useful aspect of this book, in my opinion, is the chapter on birding habitats and the species one may encounter in them. Knowing what can be expected to be seen in a given habitat makes it easier for the birder to maximize one's time birding and the species to be seen, especially in unfamiliar locations.
Another useful aspect of this book is the photographs of several of the "exotics" including psittiscids and mynas one might encounter in South Florida. Rose-ringed Parakeet, Budgerigar and Yellow-headed Parrot are illustrated as well as Common and Hill Mynas. My only wish would be for more psitticid photos such as White-winged and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, as well as Black-hooded Parakeet and perhaps Monk. Still, some photos of exotics are better than nothing.
The glossary is another useful section of this book, but one can understand its limitations given the books size.
In short, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to add to their library of local bird books covering our area of South Florida. In the field, it is an easy book to put in one's shirt pocket when carrying other larger books is impractical. I would also recommend it to visiting and casual birders with the admonition to supplement it with a more thorough avian treatment such as National Audubon's The Sibley Guide to Birds.
Vincent Lucas (November 2001)
* Available locally in the Fort Myers area from The Book Collection, 15271-28 McGregor Blvd. (McGregor Point Shopping Center), Fort Myers, FL 33908. Phone: (239) 481-3112.
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Ivory Hunters by
Greg Lewbart ©1996 Krieger Publishing Company Malabar, Florida This work of fiction was written by Greg Lewbart, veterinarian and assistant professor of aquatic medicine at North Carolina State University. It is his first novel and centers around the Big Cypress National Preserve, and Everglades City, of south-west Florida.
The plot revolves around Malcolm Grimes, a red-neck ex-poacher, now working for the Florida Fish and Game Commission as a panther tracker in the Florida Panther Project. The story begins with an accurate description of an outing to capture and tag a panther after which Grimes has a sighting of a rare, and thought to be extinct, Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
With his dreams of a get-rich quick scheme, he involves three other parties, all of whom have different motives or finding and capturing this rare bird, or birds. However, in his cunningness, Grimes is opposed by Hal Noble, an expert marksman and wildlife officer with the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. So, the story is one of greed vs. duty.
The book is an easy read. It is an informative story of intrigue and double-cross, set in an accurately detailed description of life and conditions among the flora and fauna in the forests, swamps, and bogs of the Big Cypress Preserve right here in our own backyard. This book will be of interest to anyone who is concerned about conservation and preservation of wildlife in Florida. It is an eye-opener as to how far-reaching the exploitation of wildlife can be carried out.
John Barber (January 2002)
For another review of this book, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturepotpourri/message/1227
To read about an actual i.e. non-fictitious account of the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker that occurred in (January 2002), go to: http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/IBW.html
4/05 The Ivory-billed Woodpecker has been spotted!! For the latest information on the sighting of this rare woodpecker click here.
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