FIELD NOTES FROM AN UNINTENTIONAL BIRDER

A Toronto-based writer reveals how a casual bird-watching hobby evolved into an abiding passion.

Zarankin discovered birds after her first marriage and teaching career fell apart and she had begun a new relationship she did not believe she “had the force to sustain.” Her transformation from a bird-watching hobbyist into a dedicated birder who drove hundreds of miles to see a single bird happened slowly. Her adventure began “with a few innocuous Internet searches” for amateur bird-watching clubs in Toronto. After joining a club, Zarankin immediately marveled at the beauty of birds as well as their ancientness: “as close as I’d ever stand to dinosaurs.” She knew then that she wanted to acquire the new language of bird names that her club associates spoke so fluently. Over the next decade, Zarankin immersed herself in the bird-watching books that slowly overtook her bookshelves. The more involved she became with her hobby, the more she began to see herself and her life in them. Observation of the white-breasted nuthatch and black-capped chickadee, two similar-looking birds with different behaviors, helped her appreciate a second marriage to a man who had little in common with her apart from their shared Jewishness and a love of ballet. The author’s study of migratory birds led her to a more nuanced understanding of the “line of [geopolitical] migrants” from which she had descended. After four years of volunteering at a bird research station, she was finally ready to touch a live bird. At the same time, she began dance classes to rectify her earlier, disastrous efforts at ballet. “ ‘I’m here to reclaim my childhood,’ I told my teacher when he asked about our reasons for signing up for the class.” Life-affirming, thoughtful, and thoroughly delightful, this book celebrates self-acceptance and the joy of living an unexpected life.

An uplifting memoir for birders and nature enthusiasts.