The Big Twitch: one man, one continent. a race against time - a true story about birdwatching

Sean Dooley
Published by Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2005. Paperback, 322 pages. ISBN: 1-741114-528-7 AU$26.95

There has a been a recent spate of books which describe the trials and triumphs of individuals on a quest to see as many different bird species as possible within a particular year, or throughout their life. One of the first books in this genre was 'Kingbird Highway' by Kenn Kaufman, a rollicking adventure of a 19 year old who hitchhiked around North America to see 666 species. This was followed by 'Birding on Borrowed Time', Phoebe Snetsinger's amazing memoir of her global adventures in which she saw over 8 000 of the world's birds; 'The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession' which detailed a frantic race between three of the USA's 'big listers' ; and 'To See Every Bird on Earth' by Dan Koeppel, which is a son's account of his father's obsession.

These books (all written by and about American birders, and featured in previous 'wildwatch' reviews) each provided a remarkable insight into the minds of individuals who are determined, crazy, and wealthy enough to dedicate time and energy to the pursuit of birds.

Twitchers comprise a significant proportion of birders in the USA and UK, where listing birds is a competitive outdoor sport akin to golf and fly-fishing. For most of these birders, listing is more important than actually watching the behaviour of birds and this gets up the nose of many purists. Although I'd have to count myself among the latter group, I get a real kick out of seeing a new bird species in its natural habitat, and thoroughly enjoy reading about the adventures of people whose passion has encouraged them to abandon a 'normal life', and set off to test their abilities, nerve, budget and endurance.

Sean Dooley is one such person. In this marvellous new book, Dooley describes his personal goal of seeing over 700 bird species in Australia during 2002. No one had previously accomplished such a feat, partly because Aussie birders are such a laid back lot, and partly because the island-continent is just so vast. With an inheritance from the tragic death of both of his parents, the 33 year old Dooley decided it was time for him to take a year off work and pursue his Holy Grail, even if it might end up as "the most pathetic great achievement in Australian history".

From kookaburras to bowerbirds, and from frogmouths to grasswrens, Australia is home to a magnificently diverse and interesting avifauna. It also has some of the most extreme and beautiful landscapes on Earth. From his less than auspicious start searching for Sooty Owls in a forest east of Melbourne (with New Year's Eve revellers playing electronic dance music in the background), to his relief and elation at finding elusive Blue-faced Parrot-Finches at Mount Lewis in Queensland, Dooley takes us on a phenomenal journey not only of the country and its birds, but of his admittedly troubled mind. In the process, he blows "his inheritance, his career prospects and any chance he has of finding a girlfriend". In a wry, self-depreciating style, the book is virtually impossible to put down once you're into it, and you'll find yourself laughing out loud and constantly egging him on for one more bird. The first half of his birding year was spent in and around his home state of Victoria, but he was eventually to cover the entire country and all of its offshore islands. Wherever he found himself, Dooley was assisted by friendly fellow birders who went out of their way to find localised species, alerted him to vagrants (which have a habit of showing up at the most inopportune times!) or making space for him on pelagic trips.

Having been privileged to watch birds myself in four of Australia's eight states, the book brought back many fond memories and whet my appetite for another visit, even though Dooley is quite cynical in his views of conservation and the paucity of remaining wild habitats.

While the whole business of rushing about to mark birds off a list can easily be dismissed as a ludicrous pursuit (albeit no more ridiculous than most other human pastimes, or careers for that matter) there can be no doubt that any search for birds will take you to interesting, wonderful and bewildering places, and that you'll encounter people of similar dispositions. Silly and odd it may be, but what better way to spend your time? Hold up your head Sean Dooley!


** At the time of writing this review, the book was not readily available in the UK, USA or South Africa, but can be ordered on-line from Dymocks Booksellers (www.dymocks.com) and CSIRO (www.publish.csiro.au) in Australia who can ship the book anywhere in the world. ***

- Duncan Butchart -

Posted: Birds by CC Africa, Date: 22 November 2006