United States
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The bestselling birdwatching classic, now in a 20th anniversary edition
Look out the window. See a bird. Enjoy it. Congratulations! You are now a bad birdwatcher.
Anyone who has ever gazed up at the sky or stared out of the window knows something about birds. In this fun, eye-opening and inspiring book, award-winning nature writer Simon Barnes paints a riveting picture of how birdwatching has framed his life and can help us all to a better understanding of our place on this planet.
How To Be a Bad Birdwatcher shows why birdwatching is not the preserve of twitchers, but one of the simplest, cheapest and most rewarding pastimes around.
Simon Barnes is the author of many wild volumes, including the bestselling Bad Birdwatcher trilogy, Rewild Yourself, On the Marsh, The History of the World in 100 Animals, and The History of the World in 100 Plants. He is a council member of World Land Trust, trustee of Conservation South Luangwa and patron of Save the Rhino. In 2014, he was awarded the Rothschild Medal for services to conservation. He lives in Norfolk with his family and horses, where he manages several acres for wildlife. He was the Chief Sports Writer for The Times until 2014, having worked for the paper for 30 years.
"A delightful ode to the wild world outside the kitchen window – leaves you with the warm feeling that a shared love conquers all."
– The Daily Telegraph
"A witty, perceptive book; thoughtful, instructive and full of simple wisdom."
– The Daily Mail
""Do you have any binoculars?" "No." "Waterproofs?" "No." "Wellingtons?" "No." It is an inauspicious start to my plan of spending a day birdwatching with Simon Barnes, but – I hasten to point out – it will at least give him the chance to test out the thesis of his new book: How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher. In it he claims that everybody has the capacity to recognise their local feathered friends and that by learning simply to look out of the window from time to time, we can all have our lives enriched by a little avian appreciation."
- Lucy Mangan, The Guardian, 27/09/2004
