Learning the birds A midlife adventure

"When I bird, life is bigger, more vibrant," asserts Rogers (My Reach), an editor and teacher at Bard College, in these quietly arresting essays. Her story begins in 2009 when, at age 49, a "hollow and holy" birdcall "converted" her "to the tribe of binocular-toting people in hats and practical pants." From here, she recounts the next three years she spent birding, transporting readers with lush prose from her home in New York to Florida, Alaska, and a snowy Paris. In "Don't Move," she admires the "red underpants" of a great spotted woodpecker in the Bois de Vincennes, while "Good Bird" captures her joy at hearing the "cascading song" of a ruby-crowned kinglet in the Arizona desert. Meanwhile, a search for flamingos in the Everglades prompts her to consider how the proliferation of plume hunters diminished Florida's once thriving "perfect cloud of birds." Deepening these sparkling meditations on life, nature, and "the spirit of exploration" are Rogers's musings on the writings of naturalists John Burroughs, Roger Tory Peterson, and pioneering ornithologist Florence Merriam Bailey, whose "life flowed with birds and with an intimacy with the natural world." With its whimsy and discerning intellect, this radiates beauty. (Apr.)

This book is an exploration of midlife told through the author's introduction to birding. Bard College writer in residence Rogers (My Reach) skillfully brings listeners along on her birding explorations., from the Catskills to Arizona and Alaska. As her relationship with a birding mentor grows, so does her understanding of the birding world and the related seminal figures and events around birding. She introduces Frank M. Chapman, originator of the "Christmas Bird Count," who transformed the grisly practice of killing as many birds as possible on Christmas Day to counting as many; and Nathan Leopold, of "Leopold and Loeb" infamy, who was also an accomplished birder and expert on the Kirtland's Warbler. Rosemary Benson narrates with a soothing and lyrical voice, evoking the quiet and calm of the natural world where the birds and birders converge. VERDICT This book is a delight, melding birding lore and the perils of transitioning to midlife. Recommended for medium and large public libraries or others where nature books are popular.--Gretchen Pruett