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Thumbnail maps help you determine at a glance if a bird is likely to be in your region.
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Large maps in back give detailed range information.
Customer reviews great by!  by .. Corey Stall (hampton roads, VA)
This is the best field i.d. book i have seen. It has many different views for each species of bird and all the info needed about each. Couldn't ask for a better field guide.
Peterson Field Guide by .. Harold M. Quinque (Green Lane, Pennsylvania United States)
Exceptional guide. Link to pod cast is easy to access. Maps easy to follow.
The new Peterson guide is a winner by .. Robert A. Vanderkamp ()
Over many years I have prefered the Peterson field guides to birds over all the other authors. What I like best are the arrows that simplify identification. The arrows are especially useful for beginners. I also believe that Peterson's illustrations are superior to any other guide. In this new edition the illustrations are bigger and better than ever. I also appreciate the larger range maps that are included on each page (in addition to bigger maps in the back). Now too, one will no longer have to consult two books when birding in central and southwestern United States. The new guide will be especially useful when birding in Texas.
However, the new north American guide is quite heavy, although not as heavy as the Sibley. Time will tell if I will carry it into the field wherever I go. Also, I will probably continue to keep my Sibley in the car to reference even more illustrations.
A fitting tribute to America's most popular Birdwatcher. by .. J. Guild (Toronto,Canada)
There is no disputing the fact that Roger Tory Peterson did more than any other person in bringing Birdwatching to the attention,passion and popularity of so many people during his lifetime.
It was by using his skills as an artist, and marrying it with his great love of birds and searching for and identifying birds that led him to creating his "Field Guide to the Birds" in 1934, at the young age of 26.What he did was to use his skills to produce a book that took the difficult job of identifying birds in the field (wild),from the domain of textbooks and museums to a simple,easy to use and understand,pocket- sized field guide;that was the "tool" needed to advance the interest in birds, from a few people, into the most popular sport and hobby in America that it is today.
He used these same skills in creating a whole series of "Peterson Field Guides" on other fields of Natural History.For this,he became world famous and was awarded numerous awards and honors.
While this latest edition is a far cry from the original,180 page, black & white guide; the 1934 guide was a major breakthrough that set the standard and direction that field guides would follow ,resulting the numerous wonderful guides we have today.
To really become familiar with America's favorite Birdwatcher;I suggest one get hold of "The World of Roger Tory Peterson" ,An Authorized Biography by John Devlin and Grace Naismith,published in 1977. (Available on the Used Market) or the more recent biography ,"Birdwatcher-The Life of Roger Tory Pterson" by Elizabeth Rosenthal ,and the Amazon Reviews. Roger Tory Peterson also wrote a wonderful book with James Fisher,"Wild America"in 1955 .Fisher,Britain's most famous Birdwatcher,joined his friend Peterson in a 100 day adventurous experience of "seeing"600 birds in North America.
In spite of his reknowned prominence and huge work output;Peterson was always extremely generous with his time. Anyone who ever met him commented on his friendlness and had a story to tell. I had the honor to meet him in Soccoro,New Mexico.He was the keynote speaker at the first, of what would become the annual "Festival of Cranes" at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.Dr.Peterson also spent the afternoon in a tiny Bookstore in Soccoro meeting Birders,swapping stories and signing copies of his Field Guides.I was flabbergasted when I noticed a lady with a whole box of her field guides for signature. I thought Dr.Peterson would "blow his top";but to everybody's suprise, he welcomed her with a big smile and signed every last one of them and commented on many that were obviously old and well worn from much use. When he signed a copy of his "Eastern Birds" for me;we talked about some Birders he had met in Toronto many before and was pleased to hear that they were still active. When I commented on how carefully he signed my book,rather than just a quick scribble;he said "If people care enough to wait for me to sign their book ;I feel I should be honored and do it properly".When I returned home,I compared his signature with one I had in his "Wild America";I found it to have been just as carefully done,way back in 1955.
Several years ago,I used to draw a sketch of a rare or new bird I was looking to add to my "list" I would get out several of my books to use in my drawings. Without exception,I would always end up using Peterson's illustration because it always gave the best representation of the fine distinctions to look for,especially when trying to differentiate one bird from a similar species.Little wonder,as that was this great Artist's and Birder's talent.
As great as Dr. Peterson was;nobody's perfect.Birders can tend to be a pretty discriminating bunch when it comes to field guides and bird books.
When Peterson's first Field Guide came out in 1934 ,there were only 2000 copies at the first printing. It is a greatly sought copy by birders who have large bird book collections. If you think you have found one;be careful!! The way to confirm a first printing of the First Edition is to check the index.A tyopgraphical error resulted with Bog-pumper being shown as Bob-pumper.Now, how about this booboo by "The Great One" He once did a plate of Woodpeckers showing the Black-backed Woodpecker (3-toes) with four toes. This plate appeared in several publications including "The Birds of Newfoundland" by Peters and Burleigh.Even modern Field Guides are not without slip-ups.The First Edition of the National Geographic "Field Guide to the Birds of North America ",showed the Connecticut Warbler with huge, oversized feet. A check of the Third Edition,showed this corrected corrected somewhat, by covering the feet with leaves;and later, corrected in later Editions.Oh well,something for birders to look for when they can't go birding.
A wonderful book that should be in every Birder's library.
Peterson Field Guide by .. Lorraine Dobson ()
The book was just what I was looking for. The beautifully detailed pictures help me pick out the birds I'm looking at.
Related Search : guide birds , peterson field , peterson field  | 
Author : Jay M. Pasachoff
Edition : 4th,Updated
Number of Pages : 592
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
Company : Houghton Mifflin Company
List Price : $19.00
Amazon Price : $11.90
Used Price : $1.29 |
Product Description The fourth edition of this best-selling field guide has been completely revised and updated to include the latest information from leading astronomical sources. All the time-sensitive material is new and valid through 2010: solar eclipses, phases of the moon, positions of the planets, and more. Twenty-four Monthly Sky Maps, all newly revised and in color, show exactly what you'll see when facing north or south in the night sky. Fifty-two Atlas Charts, also revised and in color, cover the entire sky, including close-ups of areas of special interest such as the Pleiades and the Orion Nebula. The hundreds of thousands of devoted users of the previous editions of this guide have been eagerly awaiting this new volume so they can continue to enjoy their hobby in the coming decades. Customer reviews Superlative reference by .. Squaretrader ()
I had planned to list this book (1964 HB edition) but as I examined it to make sure there were no flaws, I realized it stands above most reference books on this subject so I'm saving it to give to an amateur astronomist. This is absolutely packed with photos, charts, tables, camera tips, and so much more. Anyone with any interest in astronomy would love this.
A must have book by .. oldwolf (Cary, NC)
This book is the foundation of my astronomy books. Until now, I have been using an earlier (around 1980 I think) edition that I bought in college. The newer color sky maps are much easier to read in my opinion. Each sky map had a summary section that tells you all about the section of sky on the map. This is a great help to me for planning my observation schedule. I would say this is probably my most valuable and useful observational astronomy reference book.
I am sorry I bought this book  by .. Allen Smalling (Chicago, IL United States)
and I wish I'd paid more attention to three-star reviews. The good news is that A FIELD GUIDE TO STARS AND PLANETS is a dynamo of facts, figures and photos and an amazing value at less than fifteen dollars. Just about everything you'd expect a beginning-to-established amateur astronomer to know, or have access to, is found here. But that's part of the problem.
This is a field guide in the Peterson's traditional trim size, 7.2 x 4.6 inches. I got the distinct impression, many times, that a really knockout book with great design and photography was dying to break free of the unfortunate standard field-guide format. In Peterson's more mainstream guides, photos of scarlet tanagers or coral snakes look quite good; in fact, they're a point of pride. In this book, with the same sized page, the crab nebula looks disappointingly dim and incomplete, as do many other inter-stellar objects.
Perhaps the disappointing quality of many photos kept the book's editors from including more of them, because you will also encounter in this book pages and pages devoted to such technical information as sidereal rotation time, or comprehensive sky charts for all latitudes, for all year. The tenor of STARS AND PLANETS is heroic but ultimately disenchanting, especially factoring in its unforgiving soft cover. Ironically, these hurdles are redoubled in practical use since "in the field" for the amateur astronomer generally means in the dark. Don't crack that spine! Very frustrating.
Don't get me wrong: Peterson's guides on the whole are top-notch and I don't mind a little line extention: twelve years ago they did a very credible job on a field guide of railroad locomotives using standardized line drawings and specs for each entry. Obviously there are lots of reviewers here who love the book as it is; but there are lots of other books in the $12 to $25 range that IMHO may serve better.
Everyone seems to love that perennial (and newly updated) favorite, NIGHTWATCH: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO VIEWING THE UNIVERSE by Terence Dickinson. Dedicated stargazers will probably find THE NIGHT SKY COMPANION: A YEARLY GUIDE TO SKY-WATCHING 2008-2009 easier to reference. For a little more money the whiz-bang factor is extraordinarily high in the stouter and much thicker 300 ASTRONOMICAL OBJECTS: A VISUAL REFERENCE TO THE UNIVERSE by Jamie Wilkins and Robert Dunn. Although a mini by coffee-table standards, those photos look great in the more squarish shape, and there's a lot of state-of-the-art talk about how astronomers know the galaxy and what they are looking for next. Even ASTRONOMY FOR DUMMIES, while sorely in need of more color plating, shows what it shows well and is a good and patient guide, especially for the rookie. Very reasonably priced at Amazon, too. Try one of these instead, based on your starting point and intended goal. It's no great trick these days to call up online such eventual and vital technicalities as times of sunrise and sunset, declination, and sideral rotation.
Great Reference!  by .. Arcturus70 (In the Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy)
This is a great, little reference book for stargazers. It contains nice images and lots of information. My only complaints about this product are 1) the font / text is very small, and 2) some elements appear crammed in the book, which makes it hard for some who have certain eye issues to read. Otherwise, this is a nice, approachable guide.
perfect by .. A. Pacheco (USA)
This guide was used, but it looked brand spanking new to me. Arrived on time & worked great for my Astronomy class. Great color pics & good price. thanks!
Related Search : field guide , peterson field , guides r  |
Edition : 1
Number of Pages : 352
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $19.00
Amazon Price : $11.66
Used Price : $7.60 |
Product Description More than 370 edible wild plants, plus 37 poisonous look-alikes, are described here, with 400 drawings and 78 color photographs showing precisely how to recognize each species. Also included are habitat descriptions, lists of plants by season, and preparation instructions for 22 different food uses. Customer reviews Almost Useless  by .. Sun Shi (Ma.)
This book has very few color illustrations. Most plants are shown in black and white. The uses and descriptions often times leave you scratching your head. I would NOT feel confident using this book to identify and consume wild plants.
field guide by .. David Olshan (USA)
I purchased this for a friend and they were delighted to receive it and as far as i know they are enjoying the book.
Awesome book by .. Derek A. Gould (Stroudsburg, PA)
Very informative. Going to have to go out this summer and put it to the test.
Would be good if not for the printing error by .. Dana Seilhan (Columbus, OH)
This is an awesome book, but there was obviously a printing error in the copy I bought. An entire chunk of pages has been repeated and a whole 'nother chunk is missing.
My only other complaint is that it'd be nice if these field guides had color photos all the way through. I know that makes the book more expensive but it also makes it more *useful*. Black-and-white drawings only convey so much.
Up to the usual Peterson Field Guides standards by .. David A. Naess (Rochester, NY United States)
Although this book is well written and organized, I have one minor complaint...
If you are going to depend on a book to decide whether or not you can eat something without poisoning yourself, the pictures next to the plant descriptions ought to be in color rather than black and white sketches.
Related Search : central north , field guide , edible wild  |
Author : Fiona Reid
Edition : 4
Number of Pages : 608
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $20.00
Amazon Price : $12.14
Used Price : $8.40 |
Product Description The Peterson Field Guide Series (R) Sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute America's Best-Selling Field Guides THE PETERSON IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM Roger Tory Peterson's unique system shows exactly what features to look for to tell one species from another. EASE OF USE Peterson Field Guides are designed to work in the field, and every illustration, every word, is directed to that end. THE AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS For each Field Guide, an author with expertise in the subject and an experienced artist work closely with the editors to ensure that both text and illustrations are accurate. A Field Guide to Mammals of North America The most comprehensive, in-depth, and current guide to North American mammals, this book covers all the mammals found in North America north of Mexico, including those that live in near-shore waters. The only guide to include paintings and photographs of the animals as well as photographs of mammal skulls, it has 80 color plates, plus 46 additional color illustrations and black-and-white drawings, nearly 400 range maps, and more than 100 color photographs. Customer reviews A wonderful guide by .. Boschiero Nicola ()
A really complete,exact and interesting guide to the observation of the North American Mammals.Very nice.
Great Guide by .. GuitarPlayer (WI, USA)
A thorough guide to North American animals. Lot's of color plates and informative. It even covers animals in their stages like a fox in winter and midsummer and how their coats change color.
To put it simply you won't be disappointed.
Top notch mammal guide by .. Mark (San Gregorio, CA United States)
This new guide is hands down the best mammal guide for North America currently available. An impressive volume and effort by the author. The artwork is superb, the photography crisp, and the phylogeny and other science accurate and up to date.
The Best Holiday Present in Thirty Years by .. P. O. Thomas (Washington, D.C. USA)
Fiona Reid has created a tour-de-force in The new Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America, the first update of the Peterson series on mammals in thirty years. This is the best Peterson Field guide ever, the ideal gift or stocking stuffer and a must have for anyone who loves environment, natural history, the outdoors and wildlife, from your budding naturalist eight-year old to your birder grandmother in Wisconsin.
The new guide combines all the best features of recent ground-breaking field guides in a completely new book. It is both encyclopeadic and accessible, beautiful to hold in the hand and, as has always been the case with the Peterson series, the perfect size to take to the field. It will also look very good on your window sill and be handy next time that bear or ermine comes to the feeder.
A revision was of Peterson's Mammal Guide was long overdue and Fiona Reid has gone about it masterfully. In comparing the new and the old guide, one need only look at the new paintings to realize how much we needed this brand new treatment of North American mammals and to see how beautiful a book this is. Our knowledge has advanced tremendously, even for better known groups such as the carnivores; but it is when you spend some time with groups such as the bats and the chipmunks that you begin to realize just how far we have come since the last edition in our understanding of the mammalian diversity we see around us. Brilliant author-biologist-artist Fiona Reid has captured the traditional basics of a field guide with astounding plates and just the right amount of detail on ranges, biology, morphology, and even environmental threats.
This is the new gold-standard of field guides.
A vast improvement over 3rd edition! by .. Leia A. Tyndall (So. Jordan, UT USA)
As someone majoring in Wildlife Science, I needed to have a field guide for my studies. I bought the previous edition about 3 yrs ago, but found it lacking. For example, it showed the historic range of raccoons, but not the current (expanded) range. It also used older genera (plural for genus) names & had very few bat species depicted. These & other factors made it impractical for me to use the book in my studies.
However, this new edition appears to be much more applicable for someone like me. It has color maps (the 3rd edition's maps were black & white) which are included in the species accounts (rather than at the end). Introduced species & their populations are shown in blue; historic ranges are shown using dashed lines; & sea mammals' ranges are included (no ranges were given for them in the 3rd ed.). Select maps are even shown with county lines drawn in in large states like CA & TX so residents can easily determine whether a species is in their county or not.
The color plates are better too. Animals are depicted in more natural body positions & appear more lifelike. There are many many more bat species depicted than in the 3rd ed. Sea mammals are included in the color plates; in the third edition, they were only depicted in black & white drawings. Introduced species (like the Blackbuck) are also depicted in this section. Select black & white animal tracks are included in the color plate section, rather than on the inside cover.
Skull identification is very important to biologists, since skulls are often all you'll find of an animal. This book has color photos of various skulls. The 3rd ed. had only black & white photos, which wasn't so bad, but I like the color photos better. Also, the dental formulae are given in this section for the respective genera. I will say, however, that I did like the dental formulae chart in the 3rd ed. because it summarized them all in 1 place, rather than spreading them out over several pages.
Immediately following these plates is a section of illustrated shrew teeth & molars of sm mammals. On the page just before the Species Accounts section is a depiction of pocket gophers with grooves on their incisors, a feature often used to distinguish between them.
Although most color photos are found in the skull section, there are more throughout the species accounts.
Species' names have been updated too. In the 3rd ed, the author chose to stick w/ some of the older names. In this edition, the accepted names (like Spermophilus) are used & even Bison bison was updated to Bos bison.
In the species accounts, common names other than the one Reid used are written in sm uppercase letters below the line w/ the common & scientific names. For example:
COYPU Myocastor coypus (introduced)
NUTRIA
The species accounts describe the animal, sounds it makes, similar species, habits, habitat, range, & even its status (whether it's common or endangered, & which organization lists them as such, such as the USFWS & the CITES appendix #). The previous edition included eyeshine colors (which are included in some entries in this new edition), number of mammae, & economic impacts, but for the most part these features were left out of this edition. However, I doubt many people will miss them.
I think this edition is excellent. I only had my book for a day & yet I found all the improvements mentioned above. I recommend putting a self-adhesive plastic book cover on your book because the plasticized coating wears a bit quickly. (Note: I've had my book just over a year now and am slightly editing my comments to fix minor typos & improve the flow a bit :})
Related Search : fourth edition , guides r , guide mammals  |
Author : Roger Conant
Edition : 4
Number of Pages : 640
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $21.00
Amazon Price : $11.79
Used Price : $8.82 |
Product Description This newly designed field guides features detailed descriptions of 595 species and subspecies. The 656 full-color illustrations and 384 drawings show key details for accurate identification. More than 100 color photographs and 333 color photographs and 333 color distribution maps accompany the species descriptions. Customer reviews herper's bible by .. Chattooga Herper (Chattooga River, SC)
By far the best guide for the amateur or professional. No other guide can come close to this one. No fluff, no wasted space. It's been around since 1958 - frequently updated and appended. I can't count how many copies I've acquired over the years.
Excellent for identification of reptiles and amphibians by .. Barry Gaskins ()
I live in North Carolina and I have been able to identify all the snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs that I have found using this book. Good descriptions and photos to help you tell the difference between different species.
Clear plates with good, yet badly printed pictures, and too little information on the species' biology by .. Ghuoargh (Saxony < Germany < Europe)
This book features clear plates with apparently well painted views of probably all the species of amphibians and reptiles occuring in Canada and the USA east of the Rocky Mountains, apparently also including those of Puerto Rico and introduced ones. Unfortunately, the plates of the third edition from 1998 are printed badly, with the colour dots not completely blurring in front of the reader's eye, and the pictures are a little tiny anyway. On the page opposing the plates are the common and scientific names given, as well as some important details of their appearance. Many species are represented with several images (e.g. from the side, from below; adults, juveniles), but this would probably be warranted for even more species.
The species accounts are, however, usually much too short, giving almost no detail about biology and life history of the species. Among them are, however, some colour photographs, whose printing resolution is usually also somewhat too bad, though.
The range maps are in colour and show the different subspecies in different shades, yet they are also somewhat confusing, because water bodies like the sea or the great lakes are not shaded differently from the land, so that their borders look like the state borders, and because the range borders have also be drawn in black (maybe for copying?).
Laudable is the existence of a general section about amphibians and reptiles and their catching, handling and captive care. This section would be worth expanding, though.
The third printing (1998) is/was, as already stated, not very good because of its low colour resolution and its maybe somewhat too small size, and it is/was bind only as paperback with relatively thick pages throughout.
Excellent gift for a friend by .. Stephen E. Labuda, Jr. (Cd. Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico)
Thank you for your timely shipping of this brand new book. I ordered it for a friend who is looking forward to getting it soon.
Great guide by .. B. Fuller ()
I have had this book for several years and absolutly love it. Not only is it nicely informative, it holds up well in the feild. I can not begin to count the number of times I have slipped (I generally keep it tucked in my waist band) in creeks on outings. After years of abuse, my cover is a worn, spine wrinkled and paged stained, but it's still solidly bound.
Related Search : eastern central , peterson field , field guide  |
Edition : 2
Number of Pages : 464
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $19.00
Amazon Price : $8.17
Used Price : $5.00 |
Product Description All the wild trees, shrubs, and woody vines in the area north to Newfoundland, south to North Carolina and Tennessee, and west to the Dakotas and Kansas are described in detail. Accounts of 646 species include shape and arrangement of leaves, height, color, bark texture, flowering season, and fruit. Clear, accurate drawings illustrate leaves, flowers, buds, tree silhouettes, and other characteristics. Customer reviews A Field Guide to trees and shrubs: NE and North-central US (Peterson Filed Guides)  by .. E. Jacobson (Tomahawk, WI, USA)
This book would be a lot better if it had more pictures. It's hard to compare a real specimen to a written paragraph.
Good reference to have in on hand by .. Matthew Land (Lancaster, PA)
This is a good basic book to have on hand for identification. I like how it covers shrubs and some vines in addition to trees. I use this book often as a reference, along with other similar guides I have. I always prefer to use more than one reference for IDs to make sure I have the correct plant.
Learn to love trees! Or learn about the trees you love. by .. E. Havstad ()
This is an wonderful guide to trees and one of the few that also includes shrubs. The format of keys and plates is very clear and an excellent introduction to the use of taxonomic keys.
the one by .. ()
No mere Peterson field guide, this scholarly work is a concise encyclopedia of all the trees native to the northeastern United States, with descriptions that can truly be used to tell them apart (a unique feat). Belongs in the backpack of any hiker who wants to learn trees. Fits in a half-gallon Ziploc. Remember you need a magnifying glass and a sharp knife to use the book properly.
Best for field work by .. Jamie R. Storey (Pittsburgh, PA United States)
As a wetland delineator in PA, this book proves invaluable for field identification of trees, shrubs, and vines. Especially useful is are the keys for identification of these plants in winter when leaves and fruiting bodies are non-existant. I have several other tree books for reference, but they rarely are worth carting along in the field now that I have this book. I highly recommend it.
Related Search : states southeastern , peterson field , field guide  |
Author : James A. Duke
Edition : 1
Number of Pages : 432
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $19.00
Amazon Price : $11.66
Used Price : $7.60 |
Product Description With more than 300 photos, this new edition shows how to identify more than 500 healing plants. Descriptive text includes information on where the plants are found, as well as their known medicinal uses. An index to medical topics, symbols next to plant descriptions, and organization of plants by colors all make this an essential guide to understanding the traditional medicinal uses of the plants around us. At a time when interest in herbs and natural medicine has never been higher, the second edition of this essential guide shows how to identify more than five hundred kinds of healing plants. More than three hundred new color photos illustrate their flowers, leaves, and fruits. The updated descriptive text includes information on where the plants are found as well as their known medicinal uses. An index to medical topics is helpful for quickly locating information on specific ailments, from asthma and headaches to colds and stomachaches. Symbols next to plant descriptions give readers a quick visual alert to plants that are poisonous or may cause allergic reactions. Organized by plant color for fast identification, this guide is an indispensable tool for understanding the traditional medicinal uses of the plants and herbs around us. Customer reviews An Herbalists Opinion by .. Barbara Duro Mark Duro (Sandwich, Illinois)
Inorder to relieve stress I like to wildcraft (find and collect my own herbs in the wild) this book has quickly become one of my favorites, its easy to use, and for some odd reason it has identified more herbs in the area that I live than any two of my other guides. I attribute this to Steven Foster, as I own numerous of his books, a great herbalist and author.
It's a great book by .. Mei Zhen Cao (mc)
This book is very nice, even if you just buy it for reading and understanding of plants rather than for class!
Awesome book by .. Derek A. Gould (Stroudsburg, PA)
Very informative book. I like that it has pictures also, not just pencil sketches like some other books.
A must have for any aspiring or seasoned herbalist! by .. Leanne Holcomb (Flat Rock, AL United States)
This book is an invaluable source of information and a very handy plant identification companion. It is a beautiful, compact guide with fantastic photos of individual plants and a ton of useful information.
MUST HAVE in yoru library by .. Kristena Roder (Arkansas, USA)
This is another book I am constantly referencing. It is small enough to pack in your backpack or coat pocket if you want to identify plants in the wild.
Steven Foster also provides clear photographs to make it far easier to determine the plants.
The descriptions are good and have helped me several times identify plants in my region.
Related Search : herbs eastern , america peterson , r  |
Author : John A. Day
Number of Pages : 384
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $22.00
Amazon Price : $5.88
Used Price : $0.01 |
Product Description More than 400 photographs and line drawings illustrate every kind of atmospheric phenomenon: clouds of every type; storms, from cloudbursts to hurricanes; and sky colors. Customer reviews Worthwhile for the "Everyday" cloud-watcher by .. (Picnic Point, NSW Australia)
This is a useful weather field guide because it spends most time illustrating regular weather phenomena. By that, I mean it spends most time on the various types of clouds, "garden-variety" thunderstorms, and ordinary optical phenomena like rainbows, irridescence, halo(e)s, and the like - the kind of stuff you're most likely to see if you glance out your bedroom window of a morning, or . . . whatever. (It's hard not to sound corny there!)Also, the text goes into how such phenomena comes about, which is useful. There are also useful appendices like the Beaufort scale, and tornado safety rules in the back. The only drawbacks are, the fact that this isn't a full-color guide: the color plates have been segregated to an insert around the middle of the book, which makes up perhaps an eighth of the book - if that (all other photos - the majority of the book - are in much less detailed and descriptive black and white); also, the illustration of severe weather is rather limited. We don't see features of a severe thunderstorm, or satellite images of a hurricane at its various stages of intensity (or an illustrated discussion of satellite pictures in general - this guide may be from 1981, but satellites existed then!), or the forms a tornado can take, or where one can form - we only have photos of distant, non-severe looking cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) clouds, a view of clouds around a hurricane taken from a plane (which isn't the perspective either a satellite or someone on the groud is going to have), and one photo of a tornado chosen for its historical merit only (it being the "first photo taken of a tornado," near Howard, SD on 8/28/1884 - an older photo, taken near either Garnett or Westphalia, KS on 4/26/1884, has since been found). [Regarding the thunderstorm/tornado images, I realize this isn't supposed to be a NOAA spotter's guide, therefore gospel, but a variety of images helps.] But if a lack of color doesn't bother you, and you know your severe storms (or they don't bother you, either), this is a good field guide to have.
Related Search : r , field guide , field guides  |
Edition : 3
Number of Pages : 432
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $27.00
Amazon Price : $16.51
Used Price : $14.90 |
Product Description "The Birder"s Bible" for more than 60 years, Roger Tory Peterson"s classic Field Guide to Western Birds includes all species found in North America west of the 100th meridian and north of Mexico. Featuring the unique Peterson Identification System, Western Birds contains 165 full-color paintings that show more than 1,000 birds from 700 species. Summer and winter ranges, breeding grounds, and other special range data are shown on easy-to-read range maps. Customer reviews good book by .. K. Kingery (Aberdeen, WA USA)
this is a great book to help anyone learn about western birds and has great photos to help you find different bird species
The gold standard of birding field guides by .. A. Bedard (Seattle, WA USA)
If you start with this guide, you probably will never need another. Color illustrations, rather than photos, accurately illustrate the ideal image of the various birds, making specific note of the pertinent details. Birds are grouped by type for easy identification, and indexed in the back by common and Latin names.
not useful in the field by .. hollow man (America)
Not very useful in the field and in fact there are many species that aren't listed. The worst part of this book is the cross reference indexes.
The best just got better! by .. Panchovilla (New Mexico USA)
This has always been the reliable and preferred reference for my wife and I. We have worn out two of the paperback version over many years of use. Now, with the revised arrangement of the book it is even easier to use and may cause it to wear out prematurely due to overuse. I might have to buy another so we can both refer to our own copy at the same time.
Field Guide To Western Birds by .. Tony L. Cothern (Tucson, Az)
The book is excellent in most respect. But like all of these types it doesn't provide much help in actually identifying a bird. You can't go from "small-brown-stripes on side-purple head-green feet-S. Az area to Pages xxx & xxx for the types.
Related Search : western birds , guide field , found north  |
Author : Kent H. McKnight
Edition : 1
Number of Pages : 448
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin
List Price : $21.00
Amazon Price : $12.84
Used Price : $5.93 |
Product Description More than 1,000 species of mushrooms described in detail. Over 700 paintings and drawings reveal subtle field marks that cannot be captured into photographs. Customer reviews If you are beginning, start with this one. by .. J. Rapp (Columbia, MO)
We own several different guides. Each has it's own strength. I recommend this as the first guide for those beginning to identify MR/Fungi. It covers most of the basic MR/Fungi family, but is not encylopedic as Arora's 'Mushrooms Demystified' attempts to be, nor does it have the number of color photographs that either the Falcon Guide 'North American Mushrooms' or Audubon's Field Guide. But it's one of the easiest to use beginning with 48 (mostly color) plates, then branching off into related species.
A Field Guide to Mushrooms: North America by .. J. P. Shaver ()
Good up to date material. Good illustrations
2nd best mushroom book by .. C. B. Main (vermont)
The pictures in this guide are not quite as nice as in the audubon version but is still easy to use and a nice handy size for carrying in a pocket
Still a standard field guide to fungi by .. Christopher J. Sharpe (Caracas, Venezuela)
This field guide is nearly twenty years old, but there are so few field guides to fungi that it still remains a standard reference. Like all Peterson field guides, it is handy and compact and can easily be taken into the field and pored over with the mushrooms in their wild habitat. The text is detailed and accurate and a "similar species" section is very useful. However, this guide uses painted plates whereas amateurs generally find it easier to identify fungi by photographs. I personally find photographs more accurate, but enjoy paintings in their own right. In this case the paintings are pleasing and quite faithful.
Although this guide should be on every mushroom enthusiast's shelves, a better beginners guide might be Roger Phillips' photographic book which has now appeared in a revised edition (on Amazon.com: ISBN 1554071151). Phillips provides 1000 photographs compared to this guide's 700 illustrations. However, Phillips is rather large to take into the field except in a backpack. Bear in mind that no fungus guide is comprehensive - each treats a selection of species - so it is wise to have a good selection in order to be in with a chance of correct identification.
So, until a compact photographic guide to fungi appears, this tried and tested Peterson guide will continue to fill a niche in the mushroom hunter's library.
mushroom field guide by .. michael t. fleming (pocatello, id United States)
I found this book to be well illustrated. And although not as comprehensive as i'd hoped, it is still the most complete guide I have found. Overall, I feel it is well above average--and I'm quite hard to please!
Related Search : america peterson , field guides , field guide |
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