Birding tips from those who know

Good Birders Don't Wear White
edited by Lisa White

It was exceedingly fun to read essays from the legendary birders, people whose books I've read or field guides I've purchased. That experience alone is worth the price of the book. They weren't all so very enlightening, or even amusing--I'd expected a lot of humor, but didn't get it. A couple were funny. But mostly they were too darn serious--why to clean your optics; don't forget to listen; play fair when sharing a scope; why bird names seldom describe the bird; how to take notes....

But I guess the point of the book wasn't to be amusing, but to share tips. And they were good tips, almost universally. The ones near the end, on the subject of sharing your birding obsession, were the most thoughtful. And even if you only get a few useful tips out of it, 250 pages of people writing about birdwatching is worth the reading. So I enjoyed, and I recommend, but I have to admit I'm probably not going to treasure it or re-read any of the essays. So if you want to read it, visit the Plano Public Library's next book sale and you can have my copy.