Report from the "birding beat"

The other day I heard from a publicist who referred to me as someone who covers the "birding beat" and I was delighted by the reference. (She was talking about books I've reviewed at Bookslut and it was a pretty apt description.) I'm not the best sort of birdwatcher; I don't count and I'm lousy at identifying plumage or song. But I do love a good field guide and in fact we have several of them around the windows and we are constantly looking outside and using the binoculars. (The bird feeders bring them in by the tons in our backyard.)

Some of my favorite field guides are from Peterson's (I am a bit of a Roger Tory Peterson fangirl, thus the pic for this blog post). They have a new one coming out, Bird Homes and Habitats, that is kind of an anti-guide. It's not about identification of birds but rather of habitat and how to build homes to attract them. The editors visit with a ton of bird lovers who share their backyards. It's kind of an indepth guide version of a decor magazine, if that makes any sense. Not a how-to, not a crafty book, rather a very pretty, full color more informative backyard version of House & Garden.

Am I explaining this well?

The publisher refers to it as an inspiration guide and I think that's the ticket but it's not glossy, impossible, unattainable inspiration (not that there's anything wrong with that). This is inspiration for the rest of us, kind of like field guides make bird watching or rock hunting, informed star gazing possible for everyone.

Dare I say it - this is an empowering outdoor design book (!).

We should all have a stack of field guides in our houses and we should refer to them everyday. Maybe if we cared more about what was all around us, then we would work harder at taking care of it.

Consider that your public service message of the day. :)