Howdy,

This past February a group of us from Vancouver Island did a 7 day tour
through southern California, including two days at the Salton Sea. One of
the many books in our severely overloaded van was "Guide To The Birds Of The
Salton Sea", by Massey and Zembal. This is an interesting book from a
scientific point of view, and I enjoyed reading it. It's usefulness as a
guidebook to the area is questionable though. A good reference as to which
species to expect seasonally, and perhaps as a general planning tool as to
when to schedule your trip, but not a guide book by any stretch of the
imagination. In many cases it actually left us more confused as to the best
locations to visit during our severely constricted time there.
Far more useful in this respect, was "A Birders Guide To Southern
California", by Brad Schram. This was by far the most useful tool available
to us, and by the time we headed back north I think every person on the trip
had purchased one. Time and again we followed the clear directions to new
and exciting birds. In Brawley we drove to the exact spot reccomended for
Gila Woodpecker, stepped out of the car, and were treated to three lovely
individuals immediately. This book is also excellent for the rest of
southern California too.
Another big help in planning the trip, as well as a tool while we were
there, were the great number of Yahoo groups dedicated to birding in
southern California. We regularly stopped in at internet cafes for updates
and it probably added 25 species to our trip list.
good luck,
Guy L. Monty
Parksville, BC

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tina Klein-Lebbink" <tina at di.org>
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 11:35 PM
Subject: guide books for the salton sea