The Feather Quest

Dunne is a good writer rather than a great one. But this book is very nearly great, because of the passion and the sensitivity that he brings to the subject. What's most impressive to me is how Dunne avoids reveling in the (often) competitive nature of birding. In one memorable chapter, he writes at length about a competition between teams of birders to spot (or hear) the most species in one 24-hour period. We're caught up in the competition, and we think we're about to find out who won this good-spirited contest when . . . the chapter simply ends. And we never do find out who "won." Dunne's point, I think, is that everybody won, and while the real winners certainly did enjoy finding a few more birds than the runners-up, ideally birding is about something bigger than winning and losing and the number on your life list. THE FEATHER QUEST also functions as a sort of travelogue for birders, and I'm sure I'll be referring to it for years when deciding where to take my annual trip.

This is a supurb overview of birding in North America.Pete and his wife Linda spent a year on the road and came up with this excellent book that covers every aspect of birding and does it with a passion that he makes you feel you are right there beside him.Birding means something different to each person who engages in this pursuit;but Pete makes a pretty good observation when he states "the coin of tribute in birding's realm is not skill,it is shared intrest.With it an individual buys passage into the ranks of North American birders.Skill is just something birders acquire over time.But the intrest, and the pleasure people derive from watching birds,ah,those things are constants;those things are a priority.Those are the qualities that distinguish birders from society,s rank and file." I ran across and recognized Pete one day in Portal, Arizona and struck up a conversation with him.I felt he had as much intrest in me as I had in meeting him.He hit the nail on the head;generally it's the interest one shows,not the knowledge onehas that counts. I am sure that anyone with any interest in birding will find this book by one of the top,in every way,birders in North America an excellent book;that I guarantee ! ! !

A great read for the crazy birder crowd. Take it with you when you hit the important birding places, read it to learn more about the high-end of the birding subculture, and read it when you need a laugh. The short stories on Attu and the World Series of Birding are worth the price alone.

A superbly written, thoroughly enjoyable account of birding in the United States. Birders will recognize many of the places which they have visited, and will learn of new spots to see in their own "feather quests". A must read!

Pete Dunne and his wife Linda are lucky enough to take a whole year off to go birding. And we are lucky enough to come along with them in this part travel book, part bird life list. They start in his boyhood home of Whippany, New Jersey, and criss-cross North America in search of birds. They travel from the tip of the USA at the Everglades to the top of the continent at the Artic Refuge in Alaska. Not only do they write about the birds they see and hear but they also take a look at the many differnent types of people who bird. And it is all done in a comic style but with serious overtones concerning the environment, pollution, and urban sprawl. It makes you want to dust off your binos, find your bird book, and head out into the fields and forests. There is nothing more stirring then seeing a new bird for the first time. In reading this book, all the birds seem to be your first one.