The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record
by Arjan Dwarshuis
From Chelsea Green Publishing:
An epic tale of one passionate birder’s record-breaking adventure through 40 countries over 6 continents―in just one year―to see 6,852 bird species, rare and common, before many go extinct.
When Arjan Dwarshuis first heard of the “Big Year”―the legendary record for birdwatching―he was twenty years old, it was midnight, and he was sitting on the roof of a truck in the Andean Mountains. In that moment he promised himself that, someday, somehow, he would become a world-record-holding birder.
Ten years later, he embarked on an incredible, arduous, and perilous journey that took him around the globe; over uninhabited islands, through dense unforgiving rainforests, across snowy mountain peaks and unrelenting deserts―in just a single year. Would he survive? Would he be able to break the “Big Year” record, navigating through a world filled with shifting climate and geopolitical challenges?
The (Big) Year that Flew By is an unforgettable, personal exploration of the limits of human potential when engaging with the natural world. It is a book about birds and birding and Arjan’s attempts to raise awareness for critically endangered species, but it is also a book about overcoming mental challenges, extreme physical danger, and human competition and fully realizing your passions through nature, adventure, and conservation.
If you enjoy big year tales, then you’ll want to read this one.
The (Big) Year that Flew By: Twelve Months, Six Continents, and the Ultimate Birding Record
by Arjan Dwarshuis
Paperback; 256 pages
Chelsea Green Publishing; May 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781645021919
$22.95
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Posted by Grant McCreary on April 16th, 2023.
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