When it comes to field guides pertinent to the United States and Canada, while the massive full country editions are often very helpful for study and reference, the breath-taking variety of eco-regions to be found within the continent’s temperate zone renders such volumes often far too large and cumbersome for field use.
At the recently concluded BirdFair, should you have popped in at the Princeton University Press stand you would have noticed two new additions to the Britain’s Wildlife series prominently featured: Britain’s Spiders and Britain’s Mammals. While the spider guide has yet to reach my desk, a copy of the one for mammals appeared just this past week.
To those of us who are natural history museum enthusiasts, curators are the veritable high priestesses and priests of the temple. The opportunity to meet and chat with one during a visit, even if for only a few minutes, makes the day a red letter one indeed.
A printed field guide to bird vocalizations? It’s an interesting idea, to be sure. Indeed, at first glance I thought it was a bit… well, daft. However after spending a little more time looking through an advance copy…