Hobnobbing With the Birds: A historical account of birdwatching and feathered friendship in Prince Edward County

Part historical artifact and part whimsical field guide to Prince Edward County’s birds, for readers who enjoyed Amy Tan’s The Backyard Bird Chronicles.

First drafted over a hundred years ago, Hobnobbing with the Birds is a series of written sketches by Anna May Stone of the nesting birds observed visiting her garden on Schoharie Road, just north of Bloomfield, Ontario.

Brimming with enthusiasm and creativity and wit—we meet Mr. and Mrs. Robin, Sir Christopher the wren, and gossipy Mrs. Goldy (the goldfinch), among almost thirty others—the pieces are arranged according to the birds’ seasonal arrival times in Ann’s yard, demonstrating her keen eye for detail and marking this as a historically accurate contribution to birding literature at turn of the twentieth century.

Punctuated by poetic epigraphs from the likes of Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Sylvia Lynd, Archibald Lampman, Alexander Pope, and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and gorgeous pen-and-ink illustrations by PEC-based mixed-media artist Tim Snyder, Hobnobbing with the Birds is a beautiful gift from one past bird lover to future enthusiasts.