The San Saba Bird and Nature Club are very pleased to bring Lynn Barber to the San Saba Civic Center on Tuesday, May 17, at 7PM. She’ll be speaking about the experiences that went into writing her new book, Extreme Birder: One Woman’s Big Year. Everyone is welcome and refreshments will be served. Lynn was the speaker for our first meeting last August and we’re so happy that she is returning after the publication of her book. There will be a book signing after the program.

We’ll also have a birding field trip on Saturday morning May 14, 2011 to a ranch just north of Richland Springs and adjoining the Colorado River. Since we’re still in spring migration, we should see some birds that are not here all the time. It will also be a chance to learn from Terry Fischer about bird photography.

For more information about both events call 325-372-3107 and check out www.lynnbarber.com.

Below is a review of Lynn’s book from Buteo Sales.

One woman . . . one year . . . 723 species of birds . . .

In 2008, Lynn Barber’s passion for birding led her to drive, fly, sail, walk, stalk, and sit in search of birds in twenty-five states and three provinces. Traveling more than 175,000 miles, she set a twenty-first century record at the time, second to only one other person in history.

Over 272 days, Barber observed 723 species of birds in North America north of Mexico, recording a remarkable 333 new species in January but, with the dwindling returns typical to Big Year birding, only eight in December, a month that found her crisscrossing the continent from Texas to Newfoundland, from Washington to Ontario. In the months between, she felt every extreme of climate, well-being, and emotion. But, whether finally spotting an elusive Blue Bunting or seeing three species of eiders in a single day, she was also challenged, inspired, and rewarded by nearly every experience.

Barber’s journal from her American Birding Association-sanctioned Big Year covers the highlights of her treks to forests, canyons, mountain ranges, deserts, oceans, lakes, and numerous spots in between. Written in the informal style of a diary, it captures the detail, humor, challenges, and fun of a good adventure travelogue and also conveys the remarkable diversity of North American birds and habitat. For actual or would-be "travel birders," Lynn Barber’s Extreme Birder provides a fascinating, binoculars-eye view of one of the best-loved pastimes of nature lovers everywhere.

"Lynn Barber challenges a traditionally male-dominated pursuit—the birding big year—and is successful beyond her wildest dreams. She is an inspiration for all who love adventure, nature, and birds." —Lynn Hassler, author, Birds of the American Southwest

LYNN E. BARBER of Fort Worth is a board member of the American Birding Association and president of the Texas Ornithological Society. A past president of the Fort Worth Audubon Society, she writes regularly for the chapter’s newsletter and lectures across the nation about her life as a "traveling birder."