Review by D. Donovan
Editor & Senior Reviewer
California Bookwatch
A Bird-Lover in the West
Olive Thorne Miller
Idle Winter Press
9780692371916
$14.99
www.idlewinter.com
A Bird-Lover in the West reviews the natural history of birds in Ohio, Colorado and Utah; and while the foothills of the Rocky Mountains may not be what a reader might expect from the 'West' (i.e. no California, Oregon or Washington observations), it's a celebration of nature that is designed to capture a sense of place, not provide a definition of either 'the West' or even the bird.
Chapters combine the first person observational attitude of a memoir with the natural history insights of an amateur birder who shares her observations of bird habits and oddities: "After tea, as I was congratulating myself that they were all safely out in the world, without accident, suddenly there arose a terrible outcry, robin and blue jay voices in chorus. I looked over to the scene of the fray, and saw a young jay on the ground, and the parents frantic with anxiety."
Avid birders likely know many of these observations, but it's the reader relatively new to the fine art of birding who will appreciate Miller's celebration of their lives and habits, and who will relish the delicate winding of human and natural history, poetic observation, and natural wonders that comprises her celebration of life.
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