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Subject:

The new Crossley guide

From:

Frank Boyle

Reply-To:

Frank Boyle

Date:

Sat, 5 Feb 2011 00:19:05 -0500

Back in the days (I'm talking way back) of my first birding
experiences in the Army and later in the Navy onboard the USS
Halyburton, I used two field guides.  Peterson's eastern guide and
Robbins and Irving's Golden Guide.  That was it.  My library now
contains a bewildering array of guides for eastern and all of North
America, Central America and Europe with most of them collecting some
dust, although I actually re-read a lot of them again in bed or while
eating supper.  I don't read fiction, so I am very entertained by, and
am addicted to natural history and scientific books of all sorts.  One
of my first books at the library when I was a kid, card fresh in hand,
was the Peterson eastern birds.  1964 was the year.

There were always one or two features (rarely more) of subsequent
books that just made me cringe after I became a "serious" birder (gee
that ALWAYS sounds so pretentious to me) so I began to take a friend's
advice and not use them in the field much.  Sure, I kept them in my
backpack or coat pocket.  After all, we are talking American birding
here.

Coe's excellent little Golden Guide of some years back took a stab at
truly illustrating the birds in habitat – but there were species
missing.  "All the Birds" by the ABC and multiple contributors went
much further with the excellent in-habitat illustrations, but the book
lacked something.

I am now eagerly awaiting the Richard Crossley ID guide that will be
out next month.  I may never leave my home office/library... just
kidding.  Wow is all I can say… you absolutely have to check it out.
There are good reviews, and some fairly nitpicking ones, on the web
right now.  Sample plates and pages are easy to find – I by a lot of
books from Princeton University Press (remember? OCD Frank doesn't
read fiction) and they have a great video by Mr. Crossley explaining
his new guide.


Good Birding,

********************************
Frank Boyle
Rohrersville, MD

********************************


-- 
"The most powerful weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of
the oppressed" - Stephen Biko