Field Guides

[Zach Matthews]

Hey guys –

I recently decided that I’d been missing out on a lot of what my time in the woods and rivers could offer me.

[Morsie]

Zach Birds are a great passion of mine and I have a few field guides. I took this shot a week or so ago up in the Northern Territory. It was late in the day, we’d finished fishing and were sitting back having a beer and at the time watching a pair of white breasted sea eagles battling a pair of whistling kits for a a catfish carcass – the light was too low to get any images of them but I had the camera out and shot this pic of a bunch of birds. There’s seven different species in this one little gathering ( we have a lot of birds in Australia).

Minutes later this guy surfaced and started stalking them. The spoonbill fed all around him but especially stayed behind – the croc is around 8 feet long and the other birds kept a very respectful distance. It was really after the geese.

Morsie

[anonymous]

Hey Zach:

I’ve used several of the audubon guides. There are some better bird guides however. Check out both the Stokes and Sibley guidebooks–Sibley’s guide to bird behavior is especially helpful if you are looking for behavioral information that is not in a standard guide. These were recommended to me by a lady who is an active birder and has participated in numerous annual bird counts. I especially like the Stokes guide. My copy has disappeared somewhere on a trip. Time to buy another.

A general guide I use a lot is the Audubon Society’s _Field Guide to the Southeastern States_. It’s handy and covers a lot of flora and fauna.

Scott

[mike gee]

My Audubon bird guide sits in the glove box of my car with a cheap pair of binoculars.

[Author]

Posts