Reading the book, Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Back Yard was a pleasure. I loved learning lots of detailed behavioral details of birds I thought I knew pretty well. I didn’t know that House Sparrows are a species of concern in parts of Europe, and that their maximum numbers in many areas here was in the days of horse and carraige travel, though it certainly makes sense.
Talking with Joan was fun too. Hearing her talk about how her teaching led her to write this book was cool. Her new publication due out soon, The Slow Birding Journal: A Field Diary for Watching Birds Whereever You Are should be a good exercise in observation and note taking.
There have been a lot of interest in birding closer to home. The 5-mile radius list interest has become very popular. Here is a link to a resource on how to keep a 5-mile radius list on eBird.
I enjoyed the layout of the book too. Joan writes about several local birding spots she birds regularly, and then goes into detail about several of the species seen in each of these spots. She gives suggestions for questions about each species a birder may want to investigate for themselves.
To see other podcast episodes on topics related to birding and the benefits of slowing down and really seeing the birds, along with other benefits, check out these episodes:


Thanks for listening. Until next time, good birding and good day!