"The evergreen woods had a decidedly sweet and bracing fragrance; the air was a sort of diet drink."
—Henry David Thoreau
Christmas Bird Count 2011
Depending on how you look at it, birding is either a bizarre, old-fogeyish pastime or a transcendent activitity capable of bonding the human soul with the natural world. When I take my binoculars and go outside to watch birds, it's not unusual for me to feel both ways about what I'm doing, with my emotions changing from moment to moment. I'll be feeling sort of silly and self-conscious standing by a roadside while cars of gawking people stream by and I'm looking at, of all things, a chickadee. And then I'll remember that chickadees are actually phenomenal creatures whose brains expand in the fall so they can recall where all the best feeding locations are (scientists have no clue how this happens but are desperate to learn what it means) and that these tiny, hollow-boned, nine-gram fluffballs are actually modern dinosaurs.
The day that always embodies my avian ambivalence happened to be today, when I took part as ever in the annual Chrismas Bird Count. The origins of the count make for an interesting story, especially for someone like me who is both a birdwatcher and a birdhunter. (Many of the best birders I know are both.)
This morning began on the frozen Rockland breakwater in a biting snow squall, stretched over eight hours of counting every crow, gull, and yes, chickadee my comrades and I could find, and ended at nightfall at the edge of a trackless bog where in the far distance a great horned owl was beginning to hoot. It was cold, exhausting, socially awkward at times (lots of people shake their heads when you explain what you're up to although more confess a secret affection for birds)—but also an occasion for good-fellowship, a raw and necessary encounter with nature that too few of us modern Americans allow ourselves to experience, and an unfolding series of revelatory moments that affected me aesthetically and spiritually.
Here was my group's tally for the day, if you're interested:
Weather: Cold, snow showers throughout day, heaviest in morning
Total species for section I: 50
Total species for Count circle: 69
* Species seen ONLY in our section
Red-throated loon 4
Common loon 7
Red-necked grebe 6
Horned grebe 3
Great cormorant 2
Canada goose 164 (the most numerous species in our section)
Black duck 6
Mallard 131
Lesser scaup 1 *
Common eider 9
Long-tailed duck 22
Surf scoter 2
Common goldeneye 4
Bufflehead 4
Red-breasted merganser 4
Hooded merganser 4
Bald eagle 1
Red-tailed hawk 1
Merlin 1
American coot 600 (at least!)
Purple sandpiper 4 *
Bonaparte's gull 15
Ring-billed gull 6
Herring gull 127
Great black-backed gull 2
Black-legged kittiwake 14
Razorbill 2 *
Black guillemot 7
Mourning dove 24
Great horned owl 1 *
Hairy woodpecker 3
Downy woodpecker 4
Red-bellied woodpecker 1
Northern flicker 1
Blue jay 1
American crow 32
Black-capped chickadee 27
Tufted titmouse 3
White-breasted nuthatch 2
American robin 22
Northern mockingbird 1
Starling 90
Yellow-rumped warbler 1 *
on the whole count!)
Northern cardinal 7
American tree sparrow 16
Song sparrow 2
White-throated sparrow 2
House finch 11
American goldfinch 26
House sparrow 3
* Species seen ONLY in our section
All in all, it was both a frivolous and deeply meaningful day.
BookMania 2012
BookMania! On January 21, 2012 I'm appearing with Nevada Barr, Gregg Hurwitz and Jeff Lindsay at a gala book festival in Martin's County, Florida (north of Palm Beach). It's a high-powered line-up, and I was flattered to be invited. Let's just say that Jim Lehrer and I haven't shared many stages (yet). I'll post more details as the event takes shape, but if you're on the east coast of Florida and looking for a weekend literary outing, I'd buy a ticket now while they're still available. I've been told that BookMania sells out each year, and I can see why from the other panelists they have on the roster.
Thoreau: The Maine Woods
"What a place to live, what a place to die and be buried in! There certainly men would live forever, and laugh at death and the grave."
—Henry David Thoreau
Creating a Book Club Guide
So one of my projects for the winter is to create a guide for book clubs that want to talk about The Poacher's Son. (I've heard from a number of readers who brought the novel to their group and wished they'd had a resource to help focus the conversation.) Can you suggest questions for discussion? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has read the novel as part of a book club. What sorts of topics did you cover?
When I have a list of questions, I'll post the reading guide at pauldoiron.com. Thanks in advance for your help!