[wisb] Re: Field Guides...
- From: "Richard Wilson" <wilson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <wsrohde@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:51:07 -0500
We usually use the Peterson and/or Geographic or sometimes the Sibley
(smaller) while in the field; the others are often in the car; the new
Stokes will be a nice addition to the ones in the car.
We were sort of embarrassed into buying the Stokes - although we are happy
to have it. We were at Ding Darling in February and saw lots of immature
Night-Herons, but couldn't figure out which (Yellow-crowned or
Black-crowned). Then we ran into the Stokeses; we asked what they'd seen
and told them what we'd seen, and admitted we couldn't tell which species of
immature Night-heron we were seeing. They said that both were present, and
while Lillian went through the photos on her camera to show us examples and
explain what to look for, Don made drawings with the water still on the
boardwalk to show how to distinguish between the two immatures. After
spending about 5 minutes teaching us the difference, Don asked "Do you have
our new field guide? This is all in there." Guess what we bought that
afternoon. Yes, the detail is in there and yes, we were able to figure out
which immature Night-herons were which. The Stokeses know that their guide
is bigger and heavier and that for many of us it will be in the car, not in
a pocket with us in the field.
--Richard & Emily Wilson,
Allouez, Brown County
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne & Susie" <wsrohde@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Mike Duchek" <mikeduchek@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 3:10 PM
Subject: [wisb] Re: Field Guides...
>I concur with your assessment, Mike.
>
> The back cover advertises the new Stokes guide as "the ultimate field
> guide
> for today's birder - the biggest, most colorful, most USEFUL [italicized
> in
> the book] identification guide to birds ever published."
>
> That's quite a claim. It is colorful, to be sure (it does has very good
> photos). As for biggest, it's big ... but Sibley (and Crossley) certainly
> take the cake - size-wise and weight-wise. More importantly, the claim to
> be the most useful ID guide ever published made me wonder if the words
> ("most"/"ever") would be backed-up by the text...
>
> The preface contains these words about one of the goals of this guide:
> "...
> to produce the most USEFUL [italicized] guide to identifying the birds of
> North America ever published..." Later, in the "how to section," with
> respect to the perennial debate between advocates of photos and advocates
> of
> drawings, the following appears: "Excellent, well-chosen photographs are
> ALWAYS [italicized] more detailed and more accurate than a drawing."
>
> Really?
>
> One thing's for sure: the authors certainly have a high regard for their
> field guide!
>
> I do like this Stokes better (much better) than the first one. But for
> quite a variety of reasons (as you mentioned: all the space devoted to
> rare
> species, subspecies, etc. - even hybrids!) plus the corresponding lack of
> other and more significant and detailed and (yes) useful information, at
> least on on a consistent basis (e.g., more specifics re: habitat,
> differentiation from similar species, etc.), I'm led to the conclusion
> that
> this guide does have a prominent position among photos guides ... but NOT
> among ID guides as a whole.
>
> The bottom line, in my opinion, is that the new Stokes guide doesn't come
> close to displacing (dare I say?) the real ID guides like Geo and Sibley.
>
> I'll have it on my shelf; maybe even in my van. But I won't lug it into
> the
> field while birding.
>
> That's my two cents!
>
> Wayne Rohde
> Walworth/Walworth/Walworth, WI
>
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