[.ca] BirdTalk: Conversations with Birds (ISBN 1583940650)

A strange and wonderful book:
It really is about talking to birds--and how! Powers, in perfectly paced prose, writes a series of engaging and delightfully idiosyncratic essays about what it means to 'talk' to birds; ultimately, though, this is a book about listening, watching, appreciating the world around us. Let me sum up the power of my reaction by saying that this is a birder I'd like to bird with.

A musical score of nature:
Birdtalk is really an amazing book--literate, amusing, and indispensible to bird lovers. But it is more than a bird book. Alan Powers, along with possessing an affinity for words, is a master whistler, an accomplished pianist, and a patient listener--and, oh yeah, a very early riser. Powers uses his keen ear and musical ability to "translate" the songs of bird into notes on his piano, a musical score of nature, if you will. More than that, he translates these notes into a narrative language that humans can (hope to) understand. This is a nature book and a bird book, but it is also a human book, and a very astute one to boot.