I've been "birding" since my mother started me on the hobby, back when I was about 7 or so, so I wasn't sure if this book would be too elementary or too advanced for me. It was neither, just a good balance of humor and tips that most bird watchers/birders should appreciate. One story about observing a Snowy Owl struck home with me, as I had a similar experience recently (no spoilers!). Definitely recommended even if you only have a casual interest in birds. ( )

I mined a few helpful pointers from this collection of very short essays. However, while I appreciated the authors' probable reasoning for injecting frequent humor into their pieces (hoping to expand the readership beyond just people already obsessed with birds, I guess), the humor mostly fell short for me and I would've preferred a more straightforward approach. The illustrations were kind of corny, too. I did like that a lot of these "all-star" birders emphasized the ultimate importance of just enjoying the birds, rather than obsessively id'ing, listing, and moving on to the next sighting like some kind of assembly line. There is certainly a wealth of information in here, with enough diversity to appeal to birders of various experience levels. ( )

I enjoyed this book quite a lot! It's a series of essays by various people involved in the world of birding, many of whom I am familiar with by name, and a few I've met. Good advice for beginning birders, and also fun for people with experience in the field. ( )

If you're a beginning birder who just "got bitten" by the birding obsession, here's your 5-star book. 50 short essays by the top names in birding. Most essays are corny, quaint, comic and cute. Others have valuable bits of sage advice that are well-explained. These topics include Prepare for comfort, choose quality tools, be courteous, slow down, watch the weather, go out in all kinds of weather, learn distribution, take field notes, conserve where you can, take sketches, question authority, enjoy birds wherever you go. A short book and a fast read great for situations where you have snippets of reading time. ( )

This is a very entertainingand somewhat helpful compilation of stories and tips for birders. The tips are contributed by many individuals. Most of the tips are meant to be constructive, but some are just humor. Both make the book worth reading.

There is a common thread in this book that I've seen in many books on bird watching that are not field guides. Several authors suggest that most birdwatchers go through an evolution their approach to birds. The authors point out that new bird watchers are heavily concentrated in bird identification. Then more advanced birders usually progress to listing and are called "birders" or "tickers". A later stage often follows in which the observer actually observes the bird behavior, no longer trying to cover a lot of ground and see what is around the next bend or next habitat. Alternatively, some advanced birders turn more to concentrating on range distribution or changes in range distribution and abundance. Some of the contributors in this book recommend that birders who are becoming less interested in their passtime take up these next levels of bird observation; behavior study and distribution. These are good suggestions as are many of the others. I recommend this book for bird watchers of all levels. ( )