Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder

One of the great pleasures that I have had during Covid, although there are not many, has been visiting my local botanical garden on a regular basis. I love walking through the woods and being in the wetlands as these are places where I hear, and sometimes see, the birds. I recognize only a few but am learning from some of the birdwatchers that I meet, all of whom are happy to share their knowledge. I know robins, cardinals, bluejays, etc. and have now seen a hawk, a red bellied woodpecker and an owl. But enough about me since I did not write or narrate this book.

Field Notes tells a beautiful and interconnected story of a woman’s life and her evolution as a birder. It was not the expected route for an emigre daughter of classical music teachers but the journey has been memorable. Share all that the author has learned and experienced as she connected with nature and herself. The narrator is engaging; I felt as if I was listening to a friend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this audiobook, but because I am a beginner birder, the title caught my eye and I’m glad I listened. The book moved back and forth between birding information and the author’s life very naturally and without seeming strange. I loved the anecdotes about her birding adventures, especially when her husband was involved. I also enjoyed the process the narrator goes through, all of her missteps, and what she really learns about herself in the end. As a person who also gets really excited when I am able to identify a bird that’s new to me, this book was a wonderful listen.

I enjoyed this accounting of Julia Zarankin's venture into birding. I only recently started feeding the birds in my yard but I really find pleasure in watching their antics at the feeders. Zarankin quickly falls down the rabbit hole once she starts to develop an interest in birds and even begins planning vacations around being in locales to spot new to her birds. I love that the goal is to personally see and study the various species and just learn and enjoy. As I listened, I kept googling the various birds mentioned so I could see what she was talking about and discovered a lot of birds I wasn't previously aware of. This was definitely worth the time to listen. Nan McNamara does a great job narrating the audiobook!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder, a Toronto-based writer reveals how a casual bird-watching hobby evolved into a decade long passion.

This memoir was fun to listen to especially as I took walks and started paying more attention to the birds in my own neighborhood. This book was much more than just a woman who starts a birding hobby but how she found a community of people within this hobby, fell in love with her city (Toronto) and discovered the joy of pushing herself outside of her own comfort zone. Although I personally don't have any interest in bird watching (and honestly this book didn't change my mind on that), I love a story on a hobby changing someone's life.

This is so BIZARRE. So many moments I was like "what the hell is this even about?" and other times I was just like "wow, I love this".

I do not care about birds at all but am literally giving this book a 4 star because this author is ironically bizarre.

These kinds of memoirs are my favorite. “Field Notes From An Unintentional Birder” will find a spot on my shelves next to “The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating” and “Prodigal Summer,” two of my favorite books that speak to the interconnectedness of nature and humanity, and what we can learn from the natural world and its inhabitants.

Zen Birder is one of my favorite chapters in the book. What a journey the author goes on in just four years of birding, and a testament to how much can change.

* What I Love *

- Seeing how life-changing birding has been for the author

- The hopefulness and optimism

- The full circle-ness of some things, like practicing piano again

- The open circle-ness of some things, like how the author will always be a perpetual birding student

- Seeing how birding can provide clarity to other aspects of one’s life, like how we perceive ourselves and our relationships

- I love how Zarankin wrote about both feeling like you belong in a group to being comfortable on your own and independent - that chapter had some of my favorite quotes

“Did you tell them everything you know about the woodcock?” made me laugh out loud

* What I Didn’t Love *

- The audiobook could use a bit more differentiation when topics change. There was a pause, but my preference is for a longer pause or sometimes a sound, if it’s not jarring.

* Overall *

- A valuable journey that many of us can relate to. You don’t need to be a birder either, to enjoy and understand the memoir.

- I would like to own this book so I can underline favorite passages and also make it part of my collection of nature books, and I can think of at least two people on my holiday shopping list who would enjoy this book too. Bonus!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. These are my honest thoughts.

Field Notes From an Unintentional Birder by Julia Zarankin was probably written just for me. Birding? Russian culture? Really practical marriage lessons? Nature analogies? Yup, definitely written for me.

I'm an aspiring birder, mostly attending Audubon and local conservation fundraising events, but I so loved following Zarankin's journey into the hobby. She's so encouraging! She never makes it sound like it's easy, but she definitely emphasizes that anyone who wants to can support and watch birds.

She sprinkled personal anecdotes from her childhood and family culture through the book, such as her family's immigration experience in the Soviet Union, as well as her first unsuccessful marriage and current wonderful marriage. She likens the differences between her current husband and herself to the stark contrast between birds of prey and colorful songbirds; that there's so much room within the species for differences and yet they are all necessary and wonderful. How beautiful and right is that?!

It's nonfiction but so approachable. The writing is so well paced, and for the audio, the narration is excellent: clear and easy to listen to even at a high speed.

Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I confess, if it had not been for COVID making me stick close to home, this book would have caught my interest. But now, stuck at home, I have become a backyard birder, and I enjoyed the audiobook. Julia Zarankin’s journey from someone lucky to find a bird in a tree to a full-fledged birder with a scope to see distant birds was interesting. I loved the connections she made to her two marriages and other aspects of her life. But most of all I was struck by her feeling of wonder as she grew to love spending cold, wet days looking at birds. And from her I finally found out how to know a downy woodpecker from a hairy woodpecker if you are unable to to determine the size. The best advice be like a northern flicker. A fashion diva would say NO to the combination of stripes, polka dots, big black slash on the breast, red and orange and black, gray and brown, but the flicker wears it all well. Her book is a definition of life. “Progress is incremental. … We showed up, we paid attention … we listened, we hoped, we imagined, we waited.”