Season at the Point: The Birds and Birders of Cape May by J. Connor (1994)

**This book was recommended to us from a friend, who is active in the FL Audubon Society.

Summary from Amazon:

Cape May Point, New Jersey, is home to a natural phenomenon of stunning proportions. Each autumn millions of migrating birds converge here on their annual flight to wintering grounds as far away as Brazil and Peru. Season at the Point, the rich and telling story of the birds and birders of Cape May, evokes the sense of mystery and excitement that pervades the Cape as birders gather to count owls by the hundreds, hawks by the tens of thousands, and shorebirds and songbirds by the hundreds of thousands.

Al Nicholson: https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/alfred-nicholson-jr-%E2%80%9950; 
http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/8aa/8aa66.htm

Available on Google Books:

https://books.google.com/books?id=OhcajqNmU0MC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Season+at+the+Point:+Birds+and+Birders+by+jack+Connor&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjuu9Ku7oTMAhVBXD4KHeZ3CPEQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=Season%20at%20the%20Point%3A%20Birds%20and%20Birders%20by%20jack%20Connor&f=false

Discussion Questions:
1. Is it possible to really understand migration patterns? What information would be needed to obtain this?
2. What were the some of the different approaches to birding amongst the birders, such as Al Nicholson versus others?
3. What role does banding play? To what degree does banding answer the questions to migration? What are some of its limitations?
4. Discuss the variability and difficulties in counting birds. Why was this type of information not considered to be solid data historically? 
5. Discuss the role of migration, orientation ability and timing and what it takes to successfully migrate.
6. Discuss the different birders, who they are and what perspectives do they bring.
7. How did the radar based data generated by the Clemson researchers change the way the hawk migration was viewed?
8. What impact has the hawk platform, bird counts and other birding events had on Cape May?

A 25th Anniversary of the writing of the book was celebrated on May 21, 2016 at The Grand Hotel in Cape May. The author did a reading and then led a panel discussion including several birding experts, who were highlighted in the book, including Pete Dunn, Paul Kerlinger, Jeff Boulton, and 

Pat and Clay Sutton. 

Settled in the Wild: Notes from the Edge of Town by Susan Shetterly

Summary from Amazon: 
Whether we live in cities, suburbs, or villages, we are encroaching on nature, and it in one way or another perseveres. Naturalist Susan Shetterly looks at how animals, humans, and plants share the land―observing her own neighborhood in rural Maine. She tells tales of the locals (humans, yes, but also snowshoe hares, raccoons, bobcats, turtles, salmon, ravens, hummingbirds, cormorants, sandpipers, and spring peepers). She expertly shows us how they all make their way in an ever-changing habitat. 

Author's website: http://www.susanhandshetterly.com/

Reviews: 
http://www.maineboats.com/print/issue-109/book-review-109-settled-in-the-wild
https://bookpage.com/reviews/6312-susan-hand-shetterly-settled-wild#.VvvOERIrKRs

Discussion questions by Heidi:
1. Discuss the format of the book and writing style. How does she compare to other nature writers such as Annie Dillard and Bernd Heinrich?
2. Shetterly has cared for many injured animals. Have you had any of your own experiences? 
3. Which story did you especially enjoy reading about?
4. Where does the author fit into the community?
5. What changes does she observe in her community and in the environment over time? What have you observed in your own community?

The Nesting Season by Bernd Heinrich

Summary: Bernd Heinrich provides an in-depth study of bird's songs, mating rituals, sex roles, predation, migration, and nesting behaviors in this fascinating and engaging book. He discusses in detail the variety of strategies birds use to reproduce and its complexities. There are some surprising and unexpected twists in bird romancing. It includes beautiful photos and the author's watercolors. It's a great read for Spring.

Harvard Press Book Information including Reviews, Table of Contents and More: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674061934

Saint Paul Audubon - Review:
http://www.saintpaulaudubon.org/education/nesting-season-cuckoos-cuckolds-and-invention-of-monogamy

NPR Interview: "Nesting with a Naturalist":
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127240669

Interview on Science Friday with Ira:
http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/05/28/2010/naturalist-bernd-heinrich.html

Northern Woodlands Site: Great Article and Photos about Nests: "Which Bird Made That Nest?"
http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/which-bird-made-that-nest/

Bernd Henrich's The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration

Book Summary provided by Good Reads:
"Heinrich explores the fascinating science chipping away at the mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory; how scent trails are used by many creatures, from fish to insects to amphibians, to pinpoint their home if they are displaced from it; and how the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. Most movingly, Heinrich chronicles the spring return of a pair of sandhill cranes to their home pond in the Alaska tundra. With his trademark “marvelous, mind-altering” prose (Los Angeles Times), he portrays the unmistakable signs of deep psychological emotion in the newly arrived birds—and reminds us that to discount our own emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself." 

Washington Post Review: "The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration by Bernd Heinrich and The Surprising Lives of Birds and What they reveal about being Human by Noah Stryckern" by David Gessner: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-homing-instinct-meaning-and-mystery-in-animal-migration-by-bernd-heinrich-and-the-surprising-lives-of-birds-and-what-they-reveal-about-being-human-by-noah-stryckern/2014/05/02/290cc28c-ced1-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html

Q & A with Bernd Heinrich on A Way to Garden (also Podcast available)
http://awaytogarden.com/homing-instinct-bernd-heinrich/

"Do Humans have some kind of Homing Instincts . . ," Scientific American, Oct. 21, 1998
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-humans-have-some-kind/

PBS Nature Video: "Extraordinary Cats: Homing Instinct"
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/extraordinary-cats/homing-instinct/2170/

Homing, Migration and Navigation: Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/studying/migration/navigation

Discussion Questions:
1. How are the topics, migration and homing similar and different?
2. Do humans have a homing instinct?
3. What positive and negative lessons can we as humans learn from the herding mentality?
4. How do animal and human home making and it's implications compare?
5. Discuss what you found surprising? Consider the eel, grasshopper, orb weaver spider, passenger pigeon, godwit, moth, etc.
6. Discuss the different means of migration including smell, magnetic, stars and sun.
7. Discuss the interaction of animals in their home territories including the effect of the American Chestnut and also bed bugs and other parasites in nests and homes.
8. Discuss predator and prey relationships as with the spider and passenger pigeon.
9. Discuss the successes and disasters of home building and site choices of animals versus humans including the Suriname trip.

(Pic from: http://4.bp.blogspot.com)