Learning the Birds

This book is the story of how encounters with birds recharged the author's adventurous spirit. When the birds first called, the author was in a slack season of her life. The woods and rivers that enthralled her younger self had lost some of their luster. It was the song of a thrush that reawakened the author, sparking a long-held desire to know the birds that accompanied her as she rock climbed and paddled, to know the world around her with greater depth. Energized by her curiosity, the author followed the birds as they drew her deeper into her authentic self, and ultimately into love. In this book, we join the author as she becomes a birder and joins the community of passionate and quirky bird people. We meet her birding companions close to home in New York State's Hudson Valley as well as in the desert of Arizona and awash in the midnight sunlight of Alaska. Along on the journey are birders and estimable ornithologists of past generations whose writings inspire the author's adventures and discoveries. The book will remind you of our passionate need for wonder and our connection to the wild creatures with whom we share the land.