Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Welcome to part two of the birding reading list. Here are my next four submissions. Oology: Ralph's Talking Eggs by Carrol L. Henderson (2007) I picked this book up somewhere (I don't remember where) and was fascinated by the study and formerly rife practice of oology (the study of bird eggs and to a lesser extent, their nesting habits) which was pursued during the days of "shotgun ornithology" and market hunting, when the idea that such huge numbers of shorebirds, ducks, and pigeons ever running out was thought to be flights of fancy. I'm looking forward to it because it explains the tale of one such oologist named Ralph Handsaker who lived in the Midwest and started a collection of eggs that many other bird experts used to recognize all sorts of birds all over North America. It looks like an interesting read based on a formerly prominent hobby of many nature observers and amateur scientists and how it has had an impact on bird conservation and study in moder...

Having just gotten back from Another Anime Convention (Actual name of the con. No lie.) and not having been able to do anything bird-related this weekend, I thought I'd do a bonus third entry for this week to try and make up for it. Here is my bird book reading list recommendations. Part I: Books I have read previously and would recommend to others. The Verb 'To Bird': Sightings of an Avid Birder by Peter Cashwell (2003) This wonderful yarn is about the birding adventures of Peter Cashwell, an English teacher from Virginia who has a passion for birds and birding as well as the literary arts. I love this book's eloquent style and wording as well as how his explanations of how the word "bird" became a verb with its various forms for past, present, and future use. His own use of language and words is particularly spectacular. An excerpt of his work can be found on the back of the book as he describes his search for an American Avocet ( Recurvirostra ame...