abundance no 1: birding

In the past few months I've realized how much I enjoy watching birds. I like to watch them in flight most of all. The movement of wings is so surprising, not nearly as effortless as it looks on first glance. I've become pretty serious about wanting to identify what I see and hear in the trees around me. I think it must answer some anal niche in my personality to understand my surroundings.

Birds are perhaps the wild animal we humans interact with and see the very most. Even the most dedicated urban dweller can identify the pigeon or the swallow. I love the way birds are always in our sight line but never within in our reach. I think that is what grabbed me about Andrew Zuckerman's latest photo book called Birds. He photographs each bird subject with an entirely blank white background. The resulting shot is so pure BIRD that you get to see each and every detail of the beak, the feathers, the eye with extreme clarity, something those quick little buggers never afford us when they are out on the branch or flapping high above our heads. I found the details on each bird ridiculously beautiful. And a great manifestation of the perfection of every creature on the planet. Take a minute and scroll through the photos featured on birdbook.org. It will make you want to don a pair of binoculars and check out the robin or sparrrow in your own backyard.