The Big Year - A brief book review

I have never been interested in 'birding' or bird identification, but when my father recommended the book 'The Big Year' and sent me a copy I was curious. The book tells the story of 3 obsessed birders who spent 1998 pursuing a 'big year' of bird identification in North America. They spent 10's of thousands of dollars, countless air miles and the majority of their waking time in this pursuit. At the end they each had identified over 700 birds by flying to the remote Attu Island of Alaska during a peak year for birds, flying repeatedly to southwest texas for the migration from Mexico and South America, Florida and Minnesota are also prime bird locations for identifying exotics. The book provides a good historical outline of the creation of the Audobon society and scientific information regarding the factors which influence birding. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly.