I’ll be honest; I’m not particularly keen on bird racing. I find it troubling on a number of levels – most prominent among them economic and environmental. However I am also willing to acknowledge when a bird racer goes above and beyond the traditional big year in pursuit of their goal.

In 2015, Noah Stryker visited forty-one countries, all seven continents, and set the world bird racing record by seeing 6,042 species. I have to say, that qualifies as both “above” and “beyond.”

On 10 October, Houghton Mifflin will publish Birding Without Borders; An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World, Stryker’s recounting of the adventures he had in pursuit of this accomplishment. Early impressions indicate it will likely be quite a rollicking read – particularly for enthusiastic birders.