Mariton: Another Approach

One of our members donates a book to the Mariton library at Christmas.  This year I discovered the Crossley ID Guide for Eastern Birds  left by our Santa and his wife.

I had read the hype about this book, and was unmoved.  I am pretty happy with my Peterson’s.  But now that I have a copy in my hands, I am truly amazed.  Richard Crossley uses multiple photographs for each species:  in flight, perching, close/far, above/below, young/mature.  I’m hooked, and I have only perused the book briefly.  This is a really exciting book.

I don’t care for the size.  Nature Guides have become super-sized in recent years.  It is a trend that I hate.  Gone are the days of sticking a field guide comfortably into a back pocket.  It is because everything is digital now.  You can carry a field guide on your phone.  I get it; I just don’t care for it.  I love having someone with a songbird app when I am on a bird walk; but I still want to have a bird book that I can drop, or fall on, or check in the rain.  Still, I love this book and will be spending a lot of time with it.  (I will be bringing a backpack on bird walks.)

Sorry.  Wait, if you were planning to run over to check out our copy.  It is in my office right now, and probably won’t make it to the bookshelf for a few weeks.  This was a wonderful gift.  Thanks Santa!