Hi Tweets,

Someone asked about field guides, so here goes.

I had a Golden Guide for years and years (about 10 now), and I was very
satisfied with it. Someimes the thumbnail sized pictures are not quite
adequate, but they usually suffice. Also, this field guide covers all of
North America, not just east or west.

Then one day, I decided I wanted to get something else as well. I looked
at both the Peterson Field Guide, and the National Geographic. The
plates in both are MUCH clearer than in the Golden Guide. This can
easily be seen by comparing two pictures of the same thing. The Peterson
Guide does lack the thumbnail sized picture in the margin though. This
is kind of inconvenient for quick checks. It does have larger, more
detailed pictures in the back, which tell you a lot and you do get used
to flipping back and forth. The Golden Guide maps actually show
migration patterns, but Peterson usually just describes them, like
"mainly east of the Rockies." Peterson also shows vagrants and things
which aren't in the other.

In short, both of them have their advantages and disadvantages. I use
the two in conjunction with each other quite a lot. I have found that
one is generally a good supplement to the other. Their are somethings
which the Golden Guide shows that Peterson's doesn't, and visa versa. I
have gotten to the point where if I only have enough pockets or pack
space to carry one field guide, I take the Peterson, but then I always
look at the Golden Guide when I get home.

Hope this helps.

Michael Dossett
Bothell, Washington
mpdossett at juno.com

P.S. I forgot to mention that the Peterson is more recent than the Golden
Guide, so it shows all three of the split solitary vireos, and the
Western Flycatcher split, and the Lesser Golden Plover split, and. . .you
get my point.


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