Birding Without Borders (An Obsession, A Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World) - Noah Strycker

One of the Guardian''s Best Paperbacks of November ''Astonishing ... If by chance you can''t meet these 6,042 species yourself, this book is a close second'' Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds''Even readers who wouldn''t know a marvellous spatuletail from a southern ground hornbill will be awed'' Publishers WeeklyNoah Strycker set himself a goal: to become the first person to see half the world''s 10,000 species of bird in one year. With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colourful cast of fellow birders - and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation and conservation triumphs. Vivid, charming and full of wonder, Birding Without Borders is a celebration of passion, exploration and the birders'' ethos that, if you keep your eyes and mind open, you never know what you might see.