Hi all -

My first bird book was given to me when I was about 10 - the gigantic Birds
of America, editor in chief T. Gilbert Pearson. I used to pore over the
plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. For whatever reason, birding didn't take at
that time and was dropped for many years. Finally in 1972 I got interested
as a result of a job with an environmental consulting firm and used the
Golden A Guide to Field Identification - Birds of North America. Eventually
I got a Peterson Western Guide, but preferred the Golden Guide.

Like many people I put my first sightings in the Golden Guide, and like many
I suspect didn't write them down anyplace else. That is, until I was
visiting a friend back in Massachusetts (the friend who two years before had
tried to get me interested in birding). We were out birding and after
leaving one spot I found I didn't have my guide. Panic! We stopped and
reconstructed where we had been, went back to one place and did our best to
retrace our steps. You can imagine my relief when I found the book on the
log we had been sitting on while watching for birds.

A long progression of field guides since then, and am now using Sibley and
the National Geo guides. Well, and my own book Birds of Washington State
published by Lone Pine Press.

Brian H. Bell
WOS President (for 19 more days)
Birding & Natural History Guide
Woodinville WA
mailto bellasoc at isomedia dot com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Guy McWethy" <lguy_mcw at yahoo.com>
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] first bird book


>> On 9 Sep 2006 at 10:57, Ian Paulsen wrote:
>>
>> > HI:
>> > I was wondering what bird book you first used as
>> a beginning birder?
>
> National Geographic Guide, 2nd edition.
>
> My girlfriend got me started in birding in 1984, and I
> got this guide as a present. I still have it, almost
> 3 editions later, and it is by far the most dog-eared
> of the lot! It went a lot of places with me. And I
> still prefer the Geographic format to the others.
> Guy
>
> Guy McWethy
> Renton, WA
> mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com
>
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