The Biggest Twitch by Alan Davis and Ruth Miller is a big book but it’s just so entertaining to read. It’s not the easiest book on the eye, my edition had pages up on pages of small close type with the occasional page of photographic plates. But if you can get past that then you’ll enjoy this book.
The Biggest Twitch tells the story of two people, Davis and Miller, who decide to take a year out and try and bag as many species of birds from around the world as possible. There aim was to set a world record for the number of species that they could spot in a year.
The book is wrote very much like a diary of their travels in 2008 as they start out in January from Arizona in the US and travel through Europe, Africa, Australia and South America. It’s not just a straight forward circum-navigation of the world though. They have to zig-zag back and forth between continents and countries to get the best chances of spotting birds.
Despite their globe trotting adventures they were only able to spot less than half the known species of birds – but it was still an impressive 4,300+ species in the year and easily broke the previous world record of 3,662 set by Jim Clements in 1989.
From the first bird recorded on the birdwatching expedition – a cactus wren in Arizona – all the way through to the finally recording – a Brownish Flycatcher in Ecuador - you are very much part of the travel. Sometimes though it’s a little bit too detailed, do we really need to know how the author stalled a hire car at Madrid Airport?
The book really is a great travelogue and if you are looking for places to go on a birding holiday then this book could give you some great ideas in inspiration. Birdwatching in something like 29 countries is covered. Obviously some countries and locations are more successful than others.
Because the book is wrote as a diary you get to read about the highs of the trip with some days producing hundred or more bird species but you also get to read about the lows when the rain keeps the birds out of sight.
For armchair birders the book also opens up some of the antics that serious birdwatchers get up to like very early morning hikes at high altitude in the cold and rain just to catch site of a sought after species. There’s also the disappointment of heading off around the world to wetlands only to find them dried up through drought and devoid of bird life. Then there’s the excitement of escaping a wild fire in a cafe as the flames race past the building.
The Biggest Twitch is a book that will please and wildlife or birdwatcher and will also provide excellent reading material for any avid traveller.
Buy the Biggest Twitch book at Amazon.
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The Biggest Twitch
An excellent read that will please birdwatchers and travel fans alike.
Follow the exploits of two birdwatchers as they give up their jobs and sell their house to bag as many bird species in a year as possible. This travelogue and birdwatching diary takes you through the highs and lows of this attempt to set a new world record. From escaping wild fires to seeing the aftermath of earthquakes this book will show that serious birding is not just about watching your garden bird feeder.
Rating by Kevin Heath: stars
