Other

In my review of Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion I state that it belongs in the library of every North American birder. I just want to share a quick scenario that illustrates just how essential this guide really is.

Suppose you’re in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas in late fall, and you hear of a vagrant Dusky-capped Flycatcher that was found at a nearby refuge. Having never seen one, you decide to head down and try for it. Naturally, you prepare by checking out what the bird looks like in your field guide and listen to its vocalizations on your mp3 player of choice.

When you arrive, you hear a sound that you’ve never heard before – a long, pure, slightly descending whistle. It doesn’t really sound like the recordings of your target, so you spend a little time trying to pish out the hidden bird, but when it doesn’t cooperate, you move on.

A few minutes later you run into another birder who has just heard the flycatcher. You follow them back to the spot you heard that weird sound, and quickly realize that it had been your intended quarry all along. Naturally, it stops calling at this point, so you start looking around trying to find the bird visually. Knowing that its relative, the Great-crested Flycatcher, hawks insects from mid-to-high up in trees, that’s where you look. But of course you see nothing.

At this point, the birder has made two mistakes that could have been prevented by reading the flycatcher’s account in Pete Dunne’s book. First, one couldn’t help but seeing the very first statement in the vocalization section: “Most commonly heard vocalization is a plaintive, smoothly descending, whistled ‘wheeer?'”. That perfectly describes the sound you heard, and certainly would have been nice to know before hearing it.

It would also have been helpful to know where to look for the bird. Pete writes:

Likes to hunt in confines that are tight – places so tight that only a tiny Myiarchus can weave a path – and low – lower than the canopy-haunting Brown-crested Flycatcher. As a rule, does not sit conspicuously high and does not forage above the canopy.

In other words, in the exact opposite place that you were looking.

By now you should have guessed that our hypothetical birder isn’t really hypothetical at all. Yep, it was me. In my defense, I should say that I didn’t have room in my baggage to bring much reference material, so I wasn’t able to read this beforehand. Thankfully, the visitor’s center at the Audubon Sabal Palm Sanctuary, where the bird was found, had a good selection of books for sale. This book was the first I turned to, and it was then that I found out I had been looking in the wrong places.

I have since checked many sources, and Dunne’s book is the only one I’ve found that mentions this bird’s preferred foraging location.

I did not see the dusky-capped on that first attempt, but I was able to return the next morning for another attempt. This time I arrived even earlier, and I knew what I was looking and listening for. When it finally started calling, another birder and I set out to track it down. After a search that seemed like it took much longer than it actually did, we finally laid eyes on our hard-earned lifer.

It was in some low, dense vegetation. Right where Dunne’s guide said it would be.

Awesome. There’s no better word to describe a birder’s experience at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. Of course the birds are great – where else can you see White-collared Seedeater, Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Green Parakeet, Green Jay, and many, many others? But there was also the Birder’s Bazaar, a huge area where dealers, organizations, optics companies, and others could show their wares. I was very pleased to find many books among them! And of course there were the seminars, workshops, and keynote speakers (including a wonderful one on warblers by none other than Kenn Kaufman).

But one of the best things about my week in Texas was meeting many fellow birders. It’s been said many times, but it bears repeating: birders are a wonderful group of people! It was truly great to meet and bird with all of you.

I’m not much of a photographer, so I don’t have many pictures to share. But here are a few places where you can get your fill:

• Birdchick
• Round Robin
• Born Again Birdwatcher
• Flying Mullet
• Wildbird on the Fly
• 10,000 Birds
• Bill of the Birds
• Birding to the EDG
• Eagle Optics

I need to specifically mention one exhibitor – Burning Hawk Wine. Earlier this year, a hawk in California was killed by some power lines and sparked a fire in a vineyard. This event inspired Nick Papadopoulos to do something about it. In just a short while, a multitude of individuals and groups rallied behind the cause. They are now marketing special bottles of wine to raise money to combat this problem. The story, and what they are trying to accomplish, is truly inspiring. Check them out to find out more about them, and how you can help.

Between my time in Texas and some work-related training this week, I haven’t had much time to work on reviews or anything else. Hopefully I can start to make a dent in the ever-growing stack of books that need reviewing…

I am honored and excited to be one of the 12 finalists for WildBird’s 2008 Birder of the Year contest. Every reader of the magazine has an opportunity to be considered by responding to one of two questions in every issue. The magazine’s staff then chooses one respondent for each of the questions and awards them some nice prizes. Even better, they are then in the running to be crowned the Birder of the Year. The winner receives a pair of Swarovski binoculars and a trip for two to Costa Rica!

Magazine subscribers can vote for the BOTY by mailing in the ballot on page 35 of the current November/December issue. If there are any subscribers out there reading this, I would, of course, appreciate your vote for me, Grant McCreary.

Sorry for this shameless request, but naturally I am excited about this! I promise to get some real content posted soon, including an interview with the one and only Pete Dunne.

If anyone’s wondering, the question I responded to dealt with travel-related bird books. Big surprise there, huh?

This weekend is the Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival on the Georgia coast. Every year I eagerly look forward to a few days of intense birding, especially on the barrier islands. And this year there’s another reason – Pete Dunne is the keynote speaker! Dunne has long been one of my favorite authors, and I’m really looking forward to meeting and birding with him.

And then next month is the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, based in Harlingen, Texas. I’ve heard great things about this festival, and I can’t wait to bird the valley again. Of course the birds will be great, and to top it off, Kenn Kaufman will be speaking. Dunne and Kaufman less than a month apart – does it get any better for a bird book geek…er, enthusiast?

I recently reviewed Hummingbirds: Marvels of Mother Nature, the first DVD in the Connecting People with Nature video series from the National Audubon Society. It was a great program, but I had some questions on how the video series would work. After talking to the company, I have a few answers.

It seems this effort is still in its trial period. As such, the only way to join right now is to have the introductory Hummingbird program sent to you. You can then either send it back in the prepaid envelope, or keep it and send $12.95. If you do the latter, they will send you more DVDs, one about every 2-3 months. These will operate under the same deal. You only pay if you’d like to keep the DVD. If you don’t want it, you just send it back. You can cancel at any time. If you don’t like a particular release, you can send it back but still stay with the program and get future releases. Future releases will be $27.44, which includes the shipping and handling.

Since the program is still just getting started, future titles are unknown at this time. I was told that it was “likely” that the other half of the hummingbird program will be included later, but they couldn’t guarantee it (see the review for more info on this).

If you’re interested in this program, call 1-877-359-9297, and ask if you can be added to their list.

As for me, I’m not sure what I’ll do. The first release on hummingbirds is absolutely worth the $12.95. But the steep increase in price for future releases might scare me away from remaining a member. I’ll probably join, and then end up canceling with the next disc unless it just blows me away.

Today, August 28, is the 100th anniversary of Roger Tory Peterson’s birth. He was a writer, painter, photographer, conservationist, speaker, and probably many other things. But he will always be known primarily for his field guide to birds. Innovative and groundbreaking, it was worthy of the honor bestowed upon it. Peterson’s legacy is forever intertwined with his field guide, but not necessarily with the book itself. Instead, it has more to do with the effect the guide has had. Peterson provided a greater intimacy with nature, and the more people know nature, the more they love it.

Jared Mizanin, the winner of the new Peterson guide, gives this example of Peterson’s legacy:

I still remember, some twenty-plus years ago, when I visited a local bookstore with my mother at the age of six. As any mother would, she encouraged me to have an interest in books, and would buy me any title that caught my interest if it meant “reading and cranial stimulation.” Browsing through the aisles, I found myself in the natural history section, and although I don’t remember all details, I do know I pulled from the shelf a Peterson First Guides to Birds covering 188 common and widespread species. Not surprisingly for a child of my age, it was the beautiful color illustrations painted by Roger Tory Peterson that really caught my eye. I recognized a few of the birds in the guide, but most were very much unfamiliar. Instantly I “had” to have this book, to gawk at the colorful birds and learn their names. Mother gladly obliged.

I really feel this was a crucial point in my life. My interest in birds and other wildlife grew wildly, and this newfound appreciate in nature resulted in frequent trips to the library with my parents to check out various guides to wildlife, mostly birds. Had I not been awed by Peterson’s First Guide in the first place, would I have ever truly enjoyed reading at an age where learning is so vital? Instead of faring well in elementary school, would I have followed a family tradition of remedial reading classes? Probably not, as my parents did very well in treating education as a priority, but nonetheless Peterson played an important role in getting me to read voluntarily at such a young age.

Sometimes I wonder how my life would be different if I hadn’t pulled out that Peterson guide all those years back. Some may think this to be far-fetched, but it’s not! Had I developed an interest in something else, I’d be a completely different person. Throughout my life I’ve been known as “the bird-boy” or “birdman” and have enjoyed phone calls and inquiries from others with questions concerning their feeder birds or whatnot. Among my proudest moments was discovering a state first Common Ground-Dove here in Ohio, which certainly wouldn’t have been accomplished if I’d have reached for a Freight Train book instead!

I should add that it wasn’t this guide only that has impacted my life. Back in 1995, our family enjoyed a week in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Another life-changing moment occurred here, and again Peterson had much to do with it. We visited another bookshop, and I instantly headed for the aisles on wildlife. I perused a few guides to birds, but then something else caught my eye: Peterson Field Guides: Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern/Central North America. I opened this guide, viewed the wonderful color plates, amazingly-detailed text descriptions, and large and wonderfully produced distribution maps. Again, same initial impression as I had years before: “My God, all these interesting reptiles and amphibians…and I know so little about them. I must have this field guide!” Haha…I clearly remember my parents having to rip the book away from me in our hotel bedroom so I would eat dinner. Okay…so maybe “stuffing my face as quickly as possible to clear my plate so I could get back to reading” is a little more accurate! But the point is that Peterson again played a part in redirecting my interests, this time widening my interests, which nowadays includes mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, wildflowers, and more. Not surprisingly, I have at least one Peterson guide to each of these categories.

I cannot say that I’ve chosen a career in the park systems or biology labs…yet. But it certainly is no stretch to say Peterson has had the greatest impact on my life for anybody I haven’t even met in person. Just before I found this “Win a Peterson Guide” contest, I was editing wildlife photos and searching for new lenses for my camera equipment. Would I be interested in photography if I wasn’t also enamored by wildlife? I doubt it. Thus, would I have enjoyed photographing for a regional guide to local reptiles and amphibians (that I’m pretty proud of, too!)? No. Heck…all day I’ve been designing new snake study spots (placing out tin and wooden boards to attract local snakes to survey which species occur and how commonly)…and this activity obviously has its roots in Peterson himself. Without Peterson, I wouldn’t be the Jared Ray Mizanin we know today!

Happy birthday, Roger, your legacy is alive and well.

Just as I was with blogs, I’m a bit slow on the whole podcast thing. But that has now changed. I’ve just discovered Birdwatch Radio. Well, I use the word “discover” pretty loosely. I had been aware of it for a while due to the host, Steve Moore, posting about it on our state’s listserv. But I finally took the time to listen, and now I wonder what took me so long.

I particularly enjoyed programs 4 and 5 where Steve talks with Douglas Carlson, author of Roger Tory Peterson: A Biography, and episode 8 which includes an interview with the other Peterson biographer, Elizabeth J. Rosenthal (Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson). If you haven’t yet checked out one of these biographies, then these interviews are an excellent way to learn more about the Great Man, his life, and his work.

Anyways, check it out!

Congratulations to Jared Mizanin, who won a copy of the new Peterson guide with his story of how Roger Tory Peterson has impacted his life.

However, it doesn’t appear that anyone took a crack at the second copy, which is a shame since it was the easiest way to enter. You didn’t even need your own site, you could have used the “ShareThis” link at the bottom of the post to submit the post to a ton of different sites (digg, facebook, etc).

Anyways, congrats again to Jared, and I hope the guide will be useful to you!

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin, I have two copies of the new Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America to giveaway. There are two ways that you can win a copy:

1. Tell how Roger Tory Peterson has impacted you as a person or birder. This may have been in person, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be through one of his field guides, something else that he wrote, or anything else (feel free to be creative). Peterson was one of the most influential people of the last century, and his legacy certainly touches every single birder alive today.
2. Promote this giveaway. I need help getting the word out about this. You can mention it on your blog or website, post in a forum, submit this to a social networking site…pretty much anything. For every method you use, you’ll get one entry toward winning this copy.

How to enter: You may enter via both methods to increase your chances. For either method, you can either send an email to mail@birderslibrary.com, or submit a comment to this post. If entering for the promotion portion, make sure you include a link to your effort(s).

This contest ends on Tuesday, August 19, so make sure all of your entries are submitted before the end of that day.

The fine print: due to the nature of this book, this contest is open to anyone in the US or Canada. Shipping in the US is free. However, depending on the costs, I may need a Canadian winner to chip in some toward shipping costs.

Good luck!!

For more information on this guide, including a review, see its featured page.

The Birdchaser blog has posted a fantastic analysis of the Evolution of the Bird Photo Field Guide. It puts my recent effort to shame!