It’s not often that I find myself presented with the opportunity to write about a new book the subject of which centers upon not only the geographic location in which I’ve spent my entire life (thus far, at least) but also the activity that has defined, and even the very person responsible for putting me on, the strange occupational path I’ve followed these past twenty-five odd years.
Compiled and edited by Alan L. Contreras, Vjera E. Thompson, and Nolan M. Clements, A History of Oregon Ornithology; From Territorial Days to the Rise of Birding recounts – just as its title promises – the history of the earliest days of focused bird study in the Oregon Territory on through the development of the pursuit as a formal academic discipline and its subsequent broadening with the proliferation of the field-glass tribe and their meticulous maintained life lists.
The experience of paging through a book and finding myself thinking such things as “I’ve been there,” Oh it’s been ages since I’ve talked to him,” “Strange that I’ve never seen one of those given how close they’ve long been,” and “I never knew that about her; she’s never mentioned it in any of our conversations” is a curiously pleasant feeling indeed. I very much look forward to delving deeper into it in the weeks to come with high expectations that my understanding of the subject as it has unfolded in my home state shall be greatly expanded indeed.
Oh, and who is the person to whom I refer in the opening paragraph – the one responsible for setting me on the curious road I’ve long followed? That disclosure, dear reader, must await the full review being published.
