What a perfect gift for anyone who enjoys bird watching, traveling or taking a year off for a purpose. Noah Strycker was determined to spend 2015 traveling the world and seeing as many wild birds as he could, hoping to break the 5,000 record. So begins BIRDING WITHOUT BORDERS by Noah Strycker is remarkable, fun and hopeful. I'd love to do it, but perhaps not at that speed. For those who would like to see them, a gear list and species list are at the end.
Traveling to 41 countries in 2015 with a backpack and
binoculars, Noah Strycker became the first person to see
more than half the worldβs 10,000 species of birds in one
year.
In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty
goal: to become the first person to see half the worldβs
birds in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack,
binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled
across forty-one countries and all seven continents,
eventually spotting 6,042 speciesβby far the biggest birding
year on record.
This is no travelogue or glorified
checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of blood-sucking
leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus,
breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic
devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic
species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the
globe. By pursuing the freest creatures on the planet, Noah
gains a unique perspective on the world they share with
usβand offers a hopeful message that even as many birds face
an uncertain future, more people than ever are working to
protect them.
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