Not long after The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds was first published, enthusiastic early adopters of its revolutionary new visual learning method for mastering the art of field identification began asking “When is the next volume going to be published?”
As is now taught in special courses designed to aide military personnel in the event of their being captured, one of the greatest dangers to the psychological health, and thus the physical endurance and well-being, of a person held in captivity is that of boredom.
What if there was a different approach to learning how to identify species in the field? One that relied not on formal logic but rather some of the more recent discoveries from the field of cognitive science? One that built its foundation on an understanding of how we think and process information rather than on the simple amassing and proof testing of that information itself?
Long before there were digital cameras in every mobile phone – or for that matter long before there were digital cameras or mobile phones – many bird watchers considered a pencil suitable for drawing and a small sketch pad essential elements of their field kit.