A twitch in time

I'm really disappointed to report that this was one of the very few books that I just couldn’t relate to – and that’s not because it wasn’t any good per se. It’s just that bird watching does nothing for me. However, after reading the book I do hold “twitchers” in high esteem. To me they are amazing, so patient, passionate, intelligent and well in the case of Sean, pretty damn crazy! This is of course the premise of the story and the reason why Sean Dooley, most dramatic “twitcher” I have ever heard about, decided to write a book about his bird watching escapades.

“One man, one continent, a race against time – a true story about bird watching.” Birdwatchers will thoroughly enjoy this hilarious book about an extremely obsessed young man determined to break the Australian twitching record and see more than 700 birds in twelve months. Dooley stops at nothing in his search for this, the bird watching “holy grail”, blowing his inheritance, his career prospects and any chance he has of finding a girlfriend. The Big Twitch takes the reader on a wild goose or let’s say Superb Fruit-dove chase around Australia through the Seaford Swamp of Victoria, the Yaningurie Waterhold in South Australia, Mount Carbine in Queensland and Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. “Part confessional, part travelogue, this is a true story about obsession.”(And let’s be honest, who doesn’t have some obsession in this form, at least Dooley can be commended on ‘following his desire.’)

For the non-birdwatchers, “twitchers” are the hard-core birdwatchers of the world. “If you were likening bird watching to extreme sports, your kindly little old lady who puts out a few crumbs for the pigeons would rate at about the same level as a game of coits, whereas twitching would be more akin to parasailing off a Himalayan cliff-face whilst blindfolded, drunk and wrestling a shark. Put simply, twitching is actively chasing after birds to add to your list.”

"more that just a book about birdwatching"

So overall this book is about following your dreams, doing what you love doing and to hell with whatever anyone thinks. Well, in the case of Dooley he still thinks it’s important that his “girlfriends” do not find out too early on about his passion for birds (of the flying kind). Dooley even understands that there will be two types of readers and he has tried to accommodate his language style and plot to suit both. For example, the first page is a “foreword for Birders.” This paragraph starts with a long list of bird names and… “There, now that the non-birdwatchers have lost interest and skipped to the first page containing a description of an outback sunset.”

On the other page is a “forward for Non-birders” which states “Feelings, relationships, social interaction. Now that the birdwatchers have lost interest and have skipped to the first page containing a description of an immature Zitting Cisticola…”

The main point is, The Big Twitch is more that just a book about birdwatching. In amongst all the bird names (which are interesting for some to learn) there are many funny stories about his travels, his companions, his struggles and his triumphs. Besides, you’ll learn much about birds and where to find them in Austalia. If you're up for a change of genre, a remarkably different storyline and are feeling a little crazy yourself, join Dooley and seek out a Blue-faced Parrot-finch and 699 more feathery friends.

Michelle Perry

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The Big Twitch

Author: Sean Dooley
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Price: $14.50