98-02-11, Mary Schlarbaum writes:

<< Now for some newbie questions:-) What kinds of birds do you report? What
books do you recommend as good resources? I have a Petersons, and acquired
an Audubon Western Field guide. >>

Oh, well... we just sort of chat about most anything. You can just read along
for a week or two to kind of get an idea what goes on. Some things are simple
and short, other discussion threads can get quite long term and educational.
And sometimes there are even some short-lived flame-outs (rare). Everyone is
usually very polite and apologetic when a mistake has been committed -- like
me for example for attaching your loon photo to the whole list. Mercy! If
you take a look at the posting by accessing the tweeters email digest website,
you'll see what I mean!! Private attachments are fine, public ones to the
entire list is definitely a mistake.

As for books and field guides. Peterson is fine of course. A favorite of all
birders and one which I most highly recommend is the National Geographic
"Guide to North American Birds". Also, as a Washingtonian, I'd also recommend
T.R. Wahl and D.R. Paulson, 1991, "A Guide to Bird Finding in Washington".
With this as a finding guide, you'll get more bang and enjoyment out of
birding if you know where some traditionally good areas are when you may be
traveling around the state. So those two are a start. Now, if you *really*
start to get into this, sometime when you're in Seattle, check out "Flora &
Fauna Books" in Pioneer Square (121 First Avenue South). This place will blow
you away and could possibly drain your pocketbook :-). Also, the DeLorme
"Washington Atlas and Gazeteer" is indespensible when it comes to a good
detailed map source for the whole state. Oregon, Idaho, California, and other
states have them too if and when you might even be going further afield.

So Mary, welcome to the group, have fun, and enjoy. --Richard

Richard Rowlett (Pagodroma at aol.com)
47.56N, 122.13W
(Seattle/Bellevue, WA USA)