Armchair Birding

Armchair Birding: The Place of Tides, by James Rebanks ~ Anne Kilgannon I have often used this space to recommend nature-related and bird-specific books for holiday giving, but I know that this won’t be on your screen until rather late in the day unless you are truly a last-minute shopper! I leave that to you! My own feeling while reading this powerful story was more one of a call to re-examine...

Armchair Birding: Saving the Nisqually Delta, by Janine Gates ~ Anne Kilgannon This is a much-needed history of the long struggle to save one of the last unspoiled river deltas on the west coast. First, though, before engaging in this epic story, take a moment to gaze at the image of the delta that graces the book’s cover. In the hazy distance are the Cascades, crowned by Mount Rainier, the birthplace...

Armchair Birding: “Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi Bay” by Merilyn Simonds ~ Anne Kilgannon As the days soften into earlier evenings and the birds prepare for the change of season—the nuthatches at my feeder are diligently intent at stashing all their morsels of suet in every hideaway possible—take time to absorb the scene, the light and colors as green...

Armchair Birding: The Light Eaters, by Zoe Schlanger ~ Anne Kilgannon This is a book about the exciting new discoveries reimagining the science of botany; should I begin with an apology that it’s not about birds, that birds are not even mentioned? Stay with me and you’ll have a fascinating journey reading about all the break-through reports describing what botanists are learning about plants, their...

~ Anne Kilgannon I’m reading the long anticipated new book by Robert Macfarlane wherein he poses the thought-provoking question, “Is a river alive?” He swiftly plunges us first into the Los Cedros Cloud Forest of Ecuador in his quest for an answer and I gingerly follow him, but I’ve also been reading river stories closer to home. I’ve been searching out the work of marine biologist Harry Branch as...

~ Anne Kilgannon Greetings South Sounders! We have successfully navigated this transformational moment in our society history, though it will take some time to tidy up all the loose ends and get used to our new name. But names do matter; they tell the story of identity and what we value, what we have learned about our organizational history and what we want for our future. Recently I came across...

Armchair Birding: Where Do Camels Belong? Why Invasive Species Aren’t All Bad, by Ken Thompson ~ Anne Kilgannon Ken Thompson knows how to grab a reader’s attention with challenging questions, ones you may never have thought of posing before and are startled when he thrusts them into your view. So where do camels come from? I won’t give him away, but it’s not from where you’d expect. He briskly...

Armchair Birding: The House of Owls, by Tony Angell ~Anne Kilgannon It seems I can’t get enough of owls; they have me enthralled by their variety and mystery. This wonderfully illustrated book by Tony Angell filled with his close-up portraits of owl faces, owls in high perches, owls flying, catching prey, courting, quarreling with jays and other nuisances, and just “being owls” has delighted me...

Armchair Birding: The Wise Hours:  A Journey Into The Wild and Secret World of Owls, by Miriam Darlington ~ Anne Kilgannon One of the most magical moments is awakening in the night to the sound—sometimes tantalizingly near but mostly distantly faint, from no discernible direction at all—to an owl hooting into the darkness. Calling to a mate or just expressing—what? I have never seen an owl...

Armchair Birding: 100 Flying Birds: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight, by Peter Cavanagh ~ Anne Kilgannon This is a BIG book in so many ways: its large and commodious size displays stunningly beautiful photographs, yes, of one hundred birds in flight, some with wingspans that might grace a small airplane. Cavanagh doesn’t neglect smaller birds though: the collection of hummingbirds in close-up...