Lost Among the Birds

Posted on 17 May 2017 by Neil Hayward

Early in 2013 Neil Hayward was at a crossroads He didn t want to open a bakery or whatever else executives do when they quit a lucrative but unfulfilling job He didn t want to think about his failed relationship with the one or his potential for ruining a new relationship with the next one And he almost certainly didn t want to think about turning forty And so instead he went birding.Birding was a lifelong passion It was only among the birds that Neil found a calm that had eluded him in the confusing world of humans But this time he also found competition His growing list of species reluctantly catapulted him into a Big Year a race to find the most birds in one year His peregrinations across twenty eight states and six provinces in search of exotic species took him to a hoarfrost covered forest in Massachusetts to find a Fieldfare to Lake Havasu, Arizona, to see a rare Nutting s Flycatcher and to Vancouver for the Red flanked Bluetail Neil s Big Year was as unplanned as it was accidental It was the perfect distraction to life.Neil shocked the birding world by finding 749 species of bird and breaking the long standing Big Year record He also surprised himself During his time among the hummingbirds, tanagers, and boobies, he found a renewed sense of confidence and hope about the world and his place in it. New Read [ Lost Among the Birds ] By [ Neil Hayward ] – kino-fada.fr I loved it Being a birder myself it was fun to relive some of the places I ve been and seen the exact same bird s Neil saw I m not too sure how much a non birder would like this book but it was very entertaining and I m glad Neil Hayward wrote about this adventures in his Big Year.Following a Big Year is a special kind of thrill for birders like me Hayward s sharp observations, British humor and lively writing style earn this book a place in the pantheon of Wild America, Kingbird Highway and The Big Year However, the last hundred pages, which cover the last three months and the last 30 birds, drags His anxieties about failed relationships, abandoned job and The Meaning of Life feel repetitive, and the crazy obsessiveness of seeking brief views of new birds all seem mor Following a Big Year is a special kind of thrill for birders like me Hayward s sharp observations, British humor and lively writing style earn this book a place in the pantheon of Wild America, Kingbird Highway and The Big Year However, the last hundred pages, which cover the last three months and the last 30 birds, drags His anxieties about failed relationships, abandoned job and The Meaning of Lif...Loved the intertwining of birding and personal growth Well written Very human Also loved zooming or walking around the country.Neil Hayward s book about his accidental Big Year is delightful if you are a birder but is so muchIf you suffer from depression,are facing a milestone birthday when you realize you aren t exactly where you want to be in life,if you are afraid of commitment or if you feel disconnected to normal people Neil s book will give you hope and inspiration Neil is funny and self deprecating and so relatable Like Cheryl Strayed in Wild and Chris McCandless in Jon Krakauer s Into the Wild Nei Neil Hayward s book about his accidental Big Year is delightful if you are a birder but is so muchIf you suffer from depression,are facing a milestone birthday when you ...Not a quick read but the reader does get a sense of the excitement and frustration of chasing and waiting for birds, weather, luck It took a long time for me to finish this book as I looked up every single bird Mr Hayward talked about So now I am hooked on looking at bird pictures, sort...I abandoned this book I think you need to be a birder to enjoy it I thought the relationship and personal parts of the story were interesting, but there was too little of that and too much about the birding for my taste And the relationship part was even a little boring bc we didn t actually seem to learn anything about Gerri as a person or character in the story I just was not interested in all the birding But I still gave it two stars because it s not lik...I wanted to like this SO muchthan I did I think it would have benefited from being about half its current length Some have commented that the relationship aspects of the book were a distraction, but I thought they might have been an interesting way to flesh out the Big Year had he offered any actual insight Gerri doesn t come across as anything but an incredibly patient person obviously a nice quality, but there s nothing to make you root for their relationship to succeed She barely r I wanted to like this SO muchthan I did I think it would have benefited from being about half its current length Some have commented that the relationship aspects of the book were a distraction, but I thought they might have been an interesting way to fl...If you re a birder, you ll enjoy this Guess I m glad I m not at that level yetThis book was an absolute pleasure to read Not only is it about some of my favorite subjects birding, travel, epic personal quests , but the author deftly delivers the story, complete with drama, humor and tutelage Hayward just knows how to write and I do believe birders and normals alike would enjoy reading about his experiences during 2013, when he accidentally broke the record for most species of wild birds seen in North America in a calendar year He does a nice job of describing each This bo...Overall, an interesting read if you re a birder The actual stories of tracking down birds were very interesting And, I always love reading about birding way out in remote parts of Alaska I d love to do that one of these days Although, I still feel like books like this should have enhanced versions which include the photos of the birds he s finding But, maybe that s just because I m a birder I couldn t quite get this up to 4 or 5 stars though because I found the author s additions of hi Overall, an interesting read if you re a birder The actual stories of tracking down birds were very interesting And, I always love reading about birding way out in remote parts of Alaska I d love to do that one of these days Although, I still feel like books like this should have enhanced versions which include the photos of the birds he s findin...

English
17 May 2017

Neil Hayward