LETTER NUMBER 2
Greetings Tweets---

This is Bill Erickson again, and here is a copy of the email
that I sent to the Associated Press---which I wrote about in
Letter No. 1.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Greetings---

Today, I saw a photograph on the Internet attributed to AP,
that was apparently taken a few days ago, and that was
identified as a "European goldfinch" sitting on a snow-covered
tree branch in a Bucharest park on January 30th. It is a lovely
photograph of a beautiful, small, song bird; but it is not a
goldfinch. In fact it doesn't look anything like a European
goldfinch (sci: Carduelis carduelis). In fact, it is not a
finch of any kind.

My wife and I are birdwatchers, and we lived in Europe for
several years awhile back, and we saw quite a bit of Western
Europe while on numerous birdwatching trips. The bird in the
photograph was the first bird that we got a good look at right
after we arrived in Bamberg (Germany). They are quite common,
and they soon became one of our three or four most favorite
garden and park variety bird friends. This bird belongs to the
Tit family, and its English name is "Great Tit." Its German
name is "Kohlmeise." Its French name is "Msange charbonnire,"
and its scientific name is "Parus major."

There are several good bird watching guide books, available
in English, on European birds. The top three of them currently
available at most large booksellers are:

1. "Birds of Europe" by Killian Mullarney, et al; published
by Princeton University Press.
2. "Birds of Britain and Europe" by Roger Tory Peterson, et
al; published by Houghton Mifflin Co.
3. "The Complete Guide to the Birds of Europe" by Lars
Svensson, et al; published by Princeton University Press.

Numbers 1 & 2 are Field Guides, i.e. soft cover, "pocket
books," used out in the field while birdwatching. Number 3 is a
large, hard-cover book, used primarily in the home (or the
office) for reference, or intensive, detailed familiarization.

I hope I have been some help to you (i.e. AP).

---William J. Erickson
806 64th Ave E
Tacoma, WA 98424
USA
253-922-0627
253-922-8554
Please reply to: ericocontrols at qwest.net





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