BIRDING WITHOUT BORDERS: An Obsession, A Quest

We hear wonderful stories that penguins are afraid of the dark because leopard seals wait in black waters to gobble them up, and that albatrosses truly love one another for life, using each other's breasts as pillows; this writer thinks like a biologist but writes like poet. Noah Strycker set himself a goal: to become the first person to see half the world's 10,000 species of bird in one year. With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colourful cast of fellow birders - and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation and conservation triumphs. Vivid, charming and full of wonder, the book is a celebration of passion, exploration and the birders' ethos that, if you keep your eyes and mind open, you never know what you might see. 'Even readers who wouldn't know a marvellous spatuletail from a southern ground hornbill will be awed.' - Publishers Weekly. With a selection of colour photos, and other black and white illustrations, we end with birds in paradise and a new world record. 326 page paperback.