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Behind the Binoculars
How and why did our most acclaimed birdwatchers take up birding? What were their early experiences of nature? How have their professional birding careers developed? What motivates them and drives their passion for wildlife? How many birds have they seen?
Mark Avery and Keith Betton, passionate birdwatchers and conservationists, interview members of the birdwatching community to answer these and many other questions about the lives of famous birdwatchers. They take you behind the scenes, and behind the binoculars, of a diverse range of birding and wildlife personalities.
Behind the Binoculars includes interviews with: Chris Packham, Phil Hollom, Stuart Winter, Lee Evans, Steve Gantlett, Mark Cocker, Ian Wallace, Andy Clements, Mike Clarke, Debbie Pain, Keith Betton, Roger Riddington, Ian Newton, Stephanie Tyler, Mark Avery, Stephen Moss, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller, Rebecca Nason and Robert Gillmor.
Mark Avery and Keith Betton, passionate birdwatchers and conservationists, interview members of the birdwatching community to answer these and many other questions about the lives of famous birdwatchers. They take you behind the scenes, and behind the binoculars, of a diverse range of birding and wildlife personalities.
Behind the Binoculars includes interviews with: Chris Packham, Phil Hollom, Stuart Winter, Lee Evans, Steve Gantlett, Mark Cocker, Ian Wallace, Andy Clements, Mike Clarke, Debbie Pain, Keith Betton, Roger Riddington, Ian Newton, Stephanie Tyler, Mark Avery, Stephen Moss, Alan Davies and Ruth Miller, Rebecca Nason and Robert Gillmor.
290 pages, Hardcover
First published July 20, 2015
2 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Mark Avery
17 books13 followersMark Avery is an English scientist and naturalist. He writes about and comments on environmental issues. He worked for the RSPB for 25 years until standing down in April 2011 to go freelance. He was the RSPB’s Conservation Director for nearly 13 years.
Avery lives in rural Northamptonshire and is a member of the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, the BTO and the National Trust for Scotland. He is a trustee of the World Land Trust.
Avery lives in rural Northamptonshire and is a member of the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, the BTO and the National Trust for Scotland. He is a trustee of the World Land Trust.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 16, 2016
I am a bit disappointed with this. I'm no birdwatcher - far from it - but I am a nature lover who's keenly aware of the big gaps in her knowledge, and I'd hoped this book would go some way to addressing this. What I hoped for was a really in-depth exploration of why the birdwatchers interviewed were so passionate about their calling, and even snippets about the craft of birdwatching (more detailed, rich ones than minutiae like "these are my favourite binoculars"). And I was keen for proper anecdotes, funny or tragic or bursting with awe and wonder, about encounters with particular species or individual birds. Perhaps recently reading "H is for Hawk" has left me spoiled. But there are really no anecdotes in any of the interviews. Most of the time we barely seem to touch the surface of these people and their birdy worlds.
Debbie Pain - Conservation Director of WWT - is the best interview by far. We get a proper insight into her lead poisoning research and conservation work to save the spoon-billed sandpiper. Chris Packham's was the most disappointing for me, because I expected more - his rebellious streak certainly comes through, but there's no exploration of how he applies this to his infamously vigorous defence of the natural world. Other interviews were plain dull, with no memorable features, although much of the blame lies with the interviewers, apparently both in the conducting of the interviews themselves and editing - do we really need lines like Q: "When were you born?" A:"1954".
Overall, this is a VERY niche book for established birdwatchers, and certainly not one to give to anyone in the hope of sparking a lifelong interest in birdwatching. Personally, I would've much preferred a mixture of interviews and contributed essays. More than one interviewee in the book is a writer, so it would've been feasible.
Debbie Pain - Conservation Director of WWT - is the best interview by far. We get a proper insight into her lead poisoning research and conservation work to save the spoon-billed sandpiper. Chris Packham's was the most disappointing for me, because I expected more - his rebellious streak certainly comes through, but there's no exploration of how he applies this to his infamously vigorous defence of the natural world. Other interviews were plain dull, with no memorable features, although much of the blame lies with the interviewers, apparently both in the conducting of the interviews themselves and editing - do we really need lines like Q: "When were you born?" A:"1954".
Overall, this is a VERY niche book for established birdwatchers, and certainly not one to give to anyone in the hope of sparking a lifelong interest in birdwatching. Personally, I would've much preferred a mixture of interviews and contributed essays. More than one interviewee in the book is a writer, so it would've been feasible.
January 8, 2018
An interesting book and not always in a good way, this was shortlisted for the Oddest Book Title Award. It didn't seem at all odd to me at the time to have a book of interviews with 'acclaimed birdwatchers' and anyway I enjoy peeking into alien worlds and jargon (Bill Oddie's book was a linguistic delight which prepared me well for this volume). From Behind the Binoculars, I learned the derogatory term 'robin-stroker' and established that I am probably closer to that than birder, birdwatcher and certainly twitcher.
There's some element of consistent structure to the interviews but there are two interviewers and a fair few years over which they were conducted and you get a sense of them feeling their way in over that time. Two of the interviews are of one another! Some have been superseded in some ways by other books, later interviews but I still found things I didn't know even when I was reading about someone whose autobiography I'd already read. It was a bit weird and clunky to have the questions about favourite films, books and music at the end of many of the interviews - a bit like a teen magazine but oddly compelling for all that (and with a few revealing and graceless non-answers)
It was disturbing in a way how little an impression of making the world a better place there was from a book about people interested in wild birds (despite, undoubtedly, a good number of the interviewees actually doing so with their academic and conservation endeavours) Indeed there was a sense that some of them had probably had an overall negative impact on the world, apart from perhaps being good company on a twitch or down the pub (though possibly at the 'grumpy old man' end of the entertainment spectrum) and various activities furthering the 'sport'.
There's some element of consistent structure to the interviews but there are two interviewers and a fair few years over which they were conducted and you get a sense of them feeling their way in over that time. Two of the interviews are of one another! Some have been superseded in some ways by other books, later interviews but I still found things I didn't know even when I was reading about someone whose autobiography I'd already read. It was a bit weird and clunky to have the questions about favourite films, books and music at the end of many of the interviews - a bit like a teen magazine but oddly compelling for all that (and with a few revealing and graceless non-answers)
It was disturbing in a way how little an impression of making the world a better place there was from a book about people interested in wild birds (despite, undoubtedly, a good number of the interviewees actually doing so with their academic and conservation endeavours) Indeed there was a sense that some of them had probably had an overall negative impact on the world, apart from perhaps being good company on a twitch or down the pub (though possibly at the 'grumpy old man' end of the entertainment spectrum) and various activities furthering the 'sport'.
August 11, 2015
Behind the Binoculars: Interviews with Acclaimed Birdwatchers interviews many well-known personalities and wildlife experts with a simple purpose in mind: to find out why birdwatchers took up birding as a hobby. The authors, themselves avid birdwatchers and conservationists, gather many startling answers in the course of considering the birdwatching community's members and motivations, examining birdwatching methods, organizations, challenges, and conservation issues alike.
There are many how-to books about birding on the market; but Behind the Binoculars adopts a much wider-ranging approach to the subject with such queries as the best birding locations in the world, the worst places, birders' first bird books and binoculars, rare bird sightings, and personal lives.
These queries draw readers not only into the art and science of birding, but its political, ecological and personal aspects, as well, making for a lively set of insights especially recommended for any reader with a prior avian affinity.
There are many how-to books about birding on the market; but Behind the Binoculars adopts a much wider-ranging approach to the subject with such queries as the best birding locations in the world, the worst places, birders' first bird books and binoculars, rare bird sightings, and personal lives.
These queries draw readers not only into the art and science of birding, but its political, ecological and personal aspects, as well, making for a lively set of insights especially recommended for any reader with a prior avian affinity.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews