Book Review: Low Carbon Birding

The cover is iconic! Gary Redford’s artwork depicting of a lady lolling about in sand dunes, terns overhead, is frankly stunning.

Mike Clarke’s forward is a sound opening for the book; ‘The evidence is increasingly compelling that future environmental conditions will be far more dangerous than is currently believed by mainstream opinion’.

Or as one of my favourite bands puts it:

The ability to sustain life on earth is shrinking

In perfect unison with rising population

Soon, half of all species will be lost to climate change

And ecological collapse due to human activity

Thus we either reduce our race voluntarily

Or nature will do it for us

And she will be fucking brutal

Cradle of Filth - Suffer Our Dominion

Javier’s preface builds on Mike’s forward as he recalls the British Birds article and website that spawned Low Carbon Birding (LCB) and the introduction establishes long-haul flight carbon production in terms of 20kg suitcases, which is pretty intense!

Javier’s introduction also makes an important distinction; ‘People enjoying high-carbon lifestyles that depend on frequent flying and long-distance driving are making a disproportionate contribution to climate change…’

Full disclosure here; I’d love to make a disproportionate contribution! I’ve only managed three long haul flights with a fourth in the offing - across almost four decades of existence! With that as an average, depending on how much longer Mother Nature puts up with humanity, I am half way through my global travel. Optimistically assuming I live until I am 80.

The first couple of Chapters ask if we’re addicted to High Carbon Birding and pose questions of Climate Responsibility.

The book then goes into 29 contributor chapters. Some of which are superb. It’s difficult to take seriously the chapters where individuals renounce their former carbon heavy lifestyles, having visited much of the globe and amassed huge UK bird lists. Similarly, those fortunate enough to align work, family and other circumstance so they live on patch are privileged for sure, but not inspiring.

If you’re going to steal a copy of LCB or read just 5 chapters in Waterstones. I would go for these…

Chapter 4. Understanding our local birds - Angela Turner. 30 years of charming observation in Scotland.

Chapter 6. Perpetual Patch - Roger Emmens. Over 60 years of study by the Rye Meads Ringing Group (RMRG).

Chapter 8. A Life of Local Birding - Matt Phelps. A brilliant chapter, celebrating the local and foot-based birding, cumulating in seeing a monster rare from the bedroom window!

Chapter 15. Eleventh-Hour Birding - Simon Gillings. The joys of nocmig in suburbia, recording 23k individual birds of 85 species! Righteous!

Chapter 24. Island Holidays by Train - Amy Robjohns. My favourite chapter. Scottish Islands by train/ boat. Even twitching a King Eider from London via train! This chapter jolted memories of public-transporting it to Dorset, Cornwall and Scilly and in particular getting the Caledonian Sleeper to the Cairngorms. If you read one chapter of the book make it this one.

I’d love to see a LCB II. A celebratory book highlighting more LCB proponents. There must be lifers out there? People who have never twitched or flown, those organised in communal living, learnings from other sub-cultures - even the heavy metal scene and running scenes I am aware of have their own climate consciousness.

Do I believe humanity has the ability to change, to turn the ship before chaos ensues? No. Not at all. I do think we should all be considered and comfortable in our actions though. As another of my favourite bands puts it…

We deserve everything that's coming

We took this world to our graves... we made its creatures our slaves

Shattered the hourglass... an unreasonable past...

Humans: Demons, deranged and depraved

And I count the days 'til we expire our ways

And I count the days 'til we expire for always

Cattle Decapitation - Death Atlas