Birding Babylon: A Soldier's Journal from Iraq

Online journals by soldiers in Iraq often get a lot of readers, and one about bird watching proved just as appealing. Trouern-Trend's book is an edited selection of journal entries he posted while serving in Iraq with the 118th Area Support Medical Battalion in 2004. A birder since age 12, Trouern-Trend saw an opportunity in his deployment and recorded his discoveries. As he makes a defensive perimeter around a humvee with a flat tire, the contrast between his activities during his deployment is striking: ""I'm lying on the ground with my eye on some guy racing around in a pickup truck, wondering if he's going to take a potshot at us (which would have been suicidal), while a pair of crested larks were not even 10 feet from me, the male displaying and dancing around."" As Trouern-Trend finds comfort in familiar species and an appreciation for Iraq's unique specimens, readers will enjoy a fresh perspective on a place and an experience that continues to impact many.