Ryan Goldberg came to birding unexpectedly, but as many first-timers do after seeing their “spark” bird, he fell hard. Enamored with the incredible variety of species that pass through his hometown of New York City, and with the other passionate birders he meets, he embarks on a year of reporting on the natural wonders hiding amidst the skyscrapers. He learns that millions of birds migrate through the city each year—more than four hundred different species have been found in New York, many more than in Yellowstone National Park.

In Bird City, Goldberg takes readers to all five boroughs and all four seasons, through the city’s most famous parks and landmarks. He pursues rare and common species alike, increasing his count and deepening his understanding of how and why birds make their home in this smoggy, noisy, concrete-coated environment. Along the way, he meets many delightful and idiosyncratic characters, both human and feathered.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
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Email us at HannahandErikGoBirding@gmail.com
Website: http://www.gobirdingpodcast.com

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The British Isles are remarkable for their extraordinary seabird life: spectacular gatherings of charismatic Arctic terns, elegant fulmars and stoic eiders, to name just a few. Often found in the most remote and dramatic reaches of our shores, these colonies are landscapes shaped not by us but by the birds.

In 2015, Stephen Rutt escaped his hectic, anxiety-inducing life in London for the bird observatory on North Ronaldsay, the most northerly of the Orkney Islands. In thrall to these windswept havens and the people and birds that inhabit them, he began a journey to the edges of Britain. From Shetland, to the Farnes of Northumberland, down to the Welsh islands off the Pembrokeshire coast, he explores the part seabirds have played in our history and what they continue to mean to Britain today.

The Seafarers is the story of those travels: a love letter, written from the rocks and the edges, for the salt-stained, isolated and ever-changing lives of seabirds. This beguiling book reveals what it feels like to be immersed in a completely wild landscape, examining the allure of the remote in an over-crowded world.

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GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
IG: @Hannahgoesbirding
Facebook: @HannahandErikGoBirding
Email us at HannahandErikGoBirding@gmail.com
Website: http://www.gobirdingpodcast.com

Get a discount at Buteo Books using code: BIRDNERDBOOKCLUB

Throughout a lifetime of biological and seabird research, Michael Brooke has been blessed with the opportunity to visit a huge array of islands dotted across all the oceans of the world. His is an island list fit to make the armchair traveller green with envy – and potentially seasick. Truly no island has been too far: from St Kilda to Spitsbergen, from Hawaii to the furthest reaches of the Southern Ocean, with all manner of destinations in between.

No Island Too Far is deeply knowledgeable and at times humorous book, Brooke shares the experience of stupendous scenery, amazing wildlife and cutting-edge scientific investigation, all blended with idiosyncratic adventures. We discover a great deal about the peculiar ecology and unique species of islands, looking at everything from plants, mammals, reptiles and birds to human aspects, with a splash of history and anecdote.

Check out my GoodReads Review here.

Support the show

Connect with me at...

GoodReads: Hannah Buschert
IG: @Hannahgoesbirding
Facebook: @HannahandErikGoBirding
Email us at HannahandErikGoBirding@gmail.com
Website: http://www.gobirdingpodcast.com

Get a discount at Buteo Books using code: BIRDNERDBOOKCLUB