One of the books I was given for my birthday, Better Living Through Birding: Notes From A Black Man In The Natural World, is well worth reading. Christian Cooper, the author, gained fame when he was falsely accused of threatening a white woman in New York's Central Park. When his recording of their encounter went viral it made national news. He was in the Park to observe birds and admonished her for allowing her dog to run off leash. She threatened to call the police to tell them that an African American man was threatening her, all of which he recorded.
While birding is an important aspect of the book it is really a memoir. He is candid about his experience as a black, gay person. With his dedication to birding there is a travelogue aspect to the book as he travels far and wide to see birds. Places he visits include Nepal, Africa, South and Central America and Australia. A graduate of Harvard, he has a definite gift as a writer.
It always makes me feel superior when I find an inaccuracy in a book 😇 and I did find one. He writes, "Right now you may be thinking, 'I've seen a Red-Headed Woodpecker! They're pretty!' No you haven't . You've seen a Red-Bellied Woodpecker, the red-head's close cousin." PP 83-84. He's wrong, Red-Headeds were common when I was a boy. Now they are less common but I've seen two in the last couple of years. Dramatic as they are colored there is no mistaking them.
Read on!
Takk for alt,
Al
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