Our Life with Birds: A Nature Trails Book (Wardlaw Books)

For nearly a quarter of a century, John and Gloria Tveten wrote a weekly column, called “Nature Trails,” for the Houston Chronicle. Wide ranging in both subject matter and geography, their writings reflected a rewarding life of travel, study, and observation in nature, including many memorable encounters with birds. Through the Tvetens’ engaging accounts, readers travel vicariously to canoe a Minnesota lake alongside common loons, experience the rare thrill of sighting a snowy owl on a boat dock in Louisiana, count a record number of birds on the Texas coast, or spot tropical tanagers in a Brazilian rainforest.

Now gathered together in Our Life with Birds, these writings let us sit back and enjoy the best of John and Gloria Tveten as they tell about the fun of listing, banding, and other games birders play; about the behavior, variety, and beauty of birds; about the imperiled as well as the favored species; and about the simple joy to be had in living with birds.