Subject: [Tweeters] first bird book
Date: Sep 11 14:06:31 2006
From: Douglas Canning - dcanning at zhonka.net


On 9 Sep 2006 at 10:57, Ian Paulsen wrote:

> HI:
> I was wondering what bird book you first used as a beginning birder?

My first bird book wasn't so much a bird book but Storer & Usinger's
"Sierra Nevada Natural History." At the time (late 1960s) I was more
interested in botany - easier to examine than those fickle birds that
kept moving around. But its Birds chapter did serve me well enough.

It was only after moving to Olympia to attend The Evergreen State
College (1973) and falling under the influence of Steve Herman that I
was converted and shown the True Path. My first bird guide was an early
hardcover version of Peterson's Western Birds given me by a friend and
fellow TESC student - the version that had the plates scattered at
random throughout the book. I soon replaced that with a tattered copy
of the Golden guide. It wasn't until 1976 that I finally bought a brand
new guidebook, Peterson's, now at least with the plates all in one
section.

Doug
*******************
Douglas Canning
Olympia, Washington
dcanning at zhonka.net
*******************