Birduder 344

The brutal continuation of winter and delay of the classic early spring arrivals was the perfect time for Birduder 344 and me to meet. The title may sound more like a forum username than a page-turner, but fortunately author Rob Sawyer does the reader the favour of explaining the semantics early on.

Not one for boosting his own birding prowess (an amiably humble attitude is omnipresent in the book), Sawyer doesn’t even regard himself a ‘birder’ as such, as he would sooner be sipping on a Budweiser after a short wander around Farlington Marshes than getting up before sunrise morning after morning or hurtling across the country for a rare Hippolais warbler. That said, nor does he fully identify with the ‘dude’ sector of the fraternity, his distinguishing features being his competence in identifying most birds he’s likely to come face to face with and not being a user of received pronunciation.

So, he’s seemingly about half way along a cline; Sawyer is a casual but able bird enthusiast. The ‘344’ is Sawyer’s life list and marries comfortably with his self-assessed status in the birding world. The only other birding book that I’ve read with a life list total in the title is UK500: Birding in the Fast Lane by James Hanlon, which unambiguously identifies the intensity of his pursuit from the very start, so I was intrigued to delve into someone’s experiences of amateur ornithology based on a slightly less ardent perspective.

As I navigated from cover to cover at a faster rate than I’ve genuinely ever done with a book before, while April snow fell outside, I found myself smiling regularly at this cosy read, mostly thanks to Sawyer’s self-deprecating humour (refreshing for a birding biography), the closeness to which I related to some of his ‘birduding’ adventures (perhaps I’m part ‘birduder’?) and often the intriguing and thrilling episodes that I wish I was blessed enough to have been there for.

Somewhat different in the way the story is set out, taking the reader on a year-by-year summary of the author’s birding life and including a large section of extracts from his original diary, flicking through the pages might give the impression of a long-winded and slow-paced narrative, but it actually reads quickly and this way of presenting his experiences enhances the personal feel of the book.

There’s nothing pretentious about Birduder 344 and it’s written lucidly without being overly embellished with flowery language; it reads very much as if you are enjoying a pint with Sawyer in his favourite establishment, the pub, and makes for fun, warm and often enlightening reading after a day out in the field, however intense. I’m pretty sure that reading the book or sharing post-birding chat and beverages with Sawyer is something that anyone would come out feeling all the better for, be they a birder, ‘birduder’, dude or anything in between.