The Big Year

So last year when I was chasing round after birds a friend told me about this film - The Big Year, about some Americans chasing round after birds. It was a comedy starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson & Steve Martin, three excellent actors, but I cringed at the thought of the jokes they'd pull at the expense of those of us daft enough to chase round after birds.

Finally got round to watching it a few weeks back and much to my surprise it was rather good. In fact I watched it again a couple of days later. Then got on Amazon and picked up this ex-library book for 1p which tells the true story upon which the film was based of the 1998 Big Years of three birders, Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, chasing Komito's prior record of 721 birds in a year.

The film starts with the words ,"This is a true story, only the facts have been changed" - a fairly good summation of the relationship of the book to the film. They each tell their own version of the same story and I'd certainly recommend both formats, especially if you're one of those daft enough to enjoy chasing round birds.

For those that don't know, and I was one of them, a Big Year is an informal competition among American birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area. A big year may be done within a single US state, a Canadian province, within the lower 48 continental U.S. states, or within the official American Birding Association Area - defined as the 49 continental U.S. states, Canada, and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, plus adjacent waters to a distance of 200 miles from land or half the distance to a neighbouring country, whichever distance is less. It's this later area that is covered by the book & film - a lot of miles, a lot of expense and a lot of fun.