A-Z of birds - A birder's tales from around the world

In these entertaining birding anecdotes from around the world, Bo Beolens, alias the 'Fatbirder', traverses many of the planet's wild places, along with his wife Maggie, looking at birds - some familiar, others exotic, a few beyond a person's most extravagant expectations. On the way, he meets up with a wide variety of human, animal and bird characters and experiences a plenitude of amusing and sometimes bizarre happenstances, all told with the author's wellknown flair and panache. Certainly, his travels are a credit to his courage and fortitude in coming to terms with wild birds of different plume, hue and voice. The book, with a prelude by celebrity naturalist and broadcaster Mike Dilger, comprises twenty-six alphabetical 'chapters' - starting with A for Anhinga, the Snake-bird, and ending with Z for Zebra Finch - each being accompanied by a humorous drawing by cartoonist and illustrator Des Campbell.

The author Bo Beolens, to many likeminded birders and twitchers also known as the 'Fat Birder' or the 'Grumpy Old Birder', was born in Brighton, UK, in 1949. He grew up in Kent in the south-east corner of England and was introduced to birding by his late father. He has lived in Scotland, Lancashire, Buckinghamshire and London pursuing a career as the Director of various charities before moving back to Kent in 1995. His interest in birds led Bo to travel the world, either under his own direction or accompanied by his wife Maggie. Bo is known worldwide for his various informative websites, such as www.fatbirder.com, an attempt to put as many birders in touch with each other throughout the world as possible to encourage friendship and conservation.