Looking for new ways to appreciate nature? 2 new birding books may help
Just as spring begins to show its annual gifts of rejuvenation — and as we celebrate Earth Day — two new books offer reflections on ways that watching birds can renew our joy in nature, and maybe even transform our lives.
In Birding to Change the World, environmental justice educator Trish O'Kane recounts lessons from birds that have galvanized her teaching and activism in Wisconsin and Vermont. And, hitting shelves Tuesday, novelist Amy Tan in The Backyard Bird Chronicles tightens the focus in describing and drawing the array of birds that visit her yard in California.
The author of, and other novels, Tan makes a glorious success of her first venture into non-fiction. The book consists of journal entries from 2017 through 2022 that recount her observations of the behavior of oak titmice, golden crowned sparrows, California scrub jays, Anna's hummingbirds and other birds, coupled with her drawings of them. The entire package is enchanting, all the more so because Tan peppers the pages with questions about what she is seeing.
