Four new books have been published this spring that may be of interest to readers. Three come from a leading nature publisher, Houghton Mifflin, and the other, from a leading birding magazine, Bird Watcher’s Digest. And one of the four is connected with both.
The Young Birder’s Guide to Birds of Eastern North America is a new Peterson Field Guide, published by Houghton Mifflin. The author is Bill Thompson III, editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest.
A real field guide for children is a great idea and, handled by Bill Thompson, excellently executed.
The guide simplifies bird identification, but never talks down to its audience. Elaborately illustrated with photos and with drawings by Julie Zickefoose, Bill’s talented wife, the guide provides all the essentials for identifying 200 different birds, but adds many fascinating natural history facts about each species. There’s even a place to check off birds that have been seen, and where.
Anyone with a kid who is at all interested in the outdoors and nature should get this book. It’s 256 pages, with a flexible hard cover, and costs only $14.95.
Bird Watcher’s Digest has a whole series of “backyard booklets,” each focusing on one species or one aspect of birding (plus a few related subjects like bats and butterflies). The latest is Enjoying Cardinals More by Howard Youth.
While only 33 pages, the full-color booklet offers a wealth of natural history about this popular and populous species, explains how to attract them, tells what their enemies are, and answers many questions — like what’s up with those bald, black-headed males? It tells how the cardinal gets its red color — though it does not tell why cardinals are red, a rare wildlife color, and why they manage to survive so well when they are so brightly colored (questions I’ve wondered about for years).
Anyone who likes cardinals will love this book and all the information it provides. To order it for $4.99 (or others in the series), visit birdwatchersdigest.com.
Kenn Kaufman, an ornithologist and author of field guides and other books about birds, has written a different kind of “bird book” in Flights Against the Sunset. This memoir is about visiting his dying mother, and sharing with her his life through a series of stories and experiences about how the lives of humans and birds intersect around the world. They range from a search for Harpy Eagles in Guyana to rescuing a pair of parakeets in a Mexican mountain town, and meeting up with a birding biker in a chapter called “Hell’s Bikers.” Kaufman is a polished and knowledgeable nature writer whose stories will never bore you. The 225-page hardcover from Houghton Mifflin is $24.
Tim Gallagher’s first book, The Grail Bird, told about the hunt for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. His newest, Falcon Fever, is about his lifelong love of falcons and falconry — starting when he was a boy, training kestrels while trying to escape a sad childhood with a violent father. The book is at once a history of falconry and an in-depth look at the lives of these raptors. But it’s also a lively memoir by a top naturalist who went from spending his 19th birthday in prison on a drug conviction to being editor of Living Bird magazine at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Falcon Fever is hardbound, 326 pages, and costs $25. Alas, like the previous book, it is not illustrated.
By the way, only Bill Thompson’s book is indexed. Why do so many non-fiction authors apparently believe their work is not useful, important or serious enough to warrant an index so readers can use it as a reference?
Gallo walk
Naturalist Frank Gallo of New Canaan will lead the annual Spring Bird Walk in the Weir Preserve on the Wilton-Ridgefield line on Sunday, May 4, beginning at 7:30 a.m. Birders will meet, rain or shine, at the preserve’s main entrance on Nod Hill Road, just north of Granite Drive in Wilton. Children are welcome. It’s free of charge.
This annual outing is timed to see late migrating birds, according to Mr. Gallo, who is director of coastal education at the Connecticut Audubon Society in Milford. Among species you’re apt to see are warblers, flycatchers, tanagers, thrushes and hawks.
Mr. Gallo has led tours in South and Central America, South Africa and New Zealand for the New Canaan Nature Center and Connecticut Audubon. He has led numerous bird walks and owl prowls in Weir Preserve and has the calling skills to attract birds to the walkers.
Bring binoculars, field guides and questions. Limited parking is available along Nod Hill Road at the main entrance.
Questions may be directed to Bruce Beebe, Stewardship Committee program chair, at 203-834-5066.
Coming Up
Dance of the Woodcock, with John Askildsen of Bedford Audubon, Saturday, April 26, 7:15 p.m., Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, register 914- 232-4806, jebecker@bedfordaudubon.org.
Birding Ice Pond, in Putnam County, field trip with Bedford Audubon, Tuesday, April 29, 9 to 11 a.m., meet at Bylane Farm, 35 Todd Road, Katonah, register 914- 232-4806, jebecker@bedfordaudubon.org.
Bird walks with Luke Tiller, mostly Saturdays at 8 a.m.: May 3, Poverty Hollow; May 10, Saugatuck Falls; $10 each; to register, www. sunrisebirding. com/ walks.htm; 203-981-9924, luke.tiller @ gmail.com.
Bird walks, first Saturday at 7:30 a.m., free, meet at Wild Bird Center of Norwalk, 335 Westport Avenue (Route 1), www. wildbird. com/ Norwalk, 203-846-BIRD.
Free Bird Walk, from Allen’s Meadows to Schenck’s Island in Wilton, Sunday, May 4, Friends of Allen’s Meadows in conjunction with Wilton Conservation Commission. To register for the walk contact The Friends of Allen’s Meadow via email: friendsofallens@gmail.com
First Sundays, birding at Greenwich Point with Meredith Sampson of Wild Wings, and other guides, May 4, 9 a.m., meet at the second concession stand, 203-637-9822.
Birding Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Mass. Trip, May 9 to 11, Connecticut Audubon, 1-800-996-8747, ecotravel @ ctaudubon.org.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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