Bill Oddie

My earliest memories of Bill Oddie is of a vertically challenged hairy bloke in the Goodies doing a variety of daft things and riding a trandem with Tim and Graeme. He has also been an avid birder and wildlife nut for decades too, presenting Springwatch and being involved with various NGOs to highlight and promote their causes. This book is a collection of the original text of his various articles and columns that he has written for a variety of magazines and websites.

He starts with an apology though. He was dropped from Springwatch, after having presented it for a while. It turns out that he was bipolar, and suffer the dramatic mood swings that this illness brings. After a period in hospital and a large dose of the correct drugs he is back to his normal chirpy self. The collection of articles in this book show him at his belligerent and grumpy best. His articles are to the point, occasionally fairly blunt, but this is softened but wit and humour, often at his own expense, but also life in general. A pretty good read overall, light-hearted and informative.… (meer)

First, a warning - although if you've seen the cover you probably don't need it - this is not a book to read if you want to learn about birds. On the other hand, if you want an amusing book about the habits and idiosyncrasies of birders, it certainly would be a good choice. It's less facetious than Oddie's contribution to "The Goodies File" about the subject, but it's still quite funny. From the ethical question of when you can count a bird as a "tick" (eg you can't count dead birds) to practical jokes you can play on other birders, there's a lot of good fun here if you find the subject at all interesting - and possibly even if you don't.… (meer)