On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 7:25 PM, Mark Clayton <> wrote:
> Good evening all,
> There is a strong possibility that in August I will manage to get to the
> west of the USA – California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah – so I am looking for
> what people would recommend as the best field guide.
The full sized (national) Sibley has the best plates but is pretty
large - like Pizzey. The National Geographic is quite good and a bit
smaller. It's common for birders to have both but leave the Sibley in
the car. When I go up to the US, I generally bring whatever I have
space for...the Nat Geo more often then not.
That's some great (and big) country you're potentially getting to,
with some great birds and more. The inland and desert parts will be
incredibly hot in August! If you stay on the west side of the Sierras
and aim for higher altitudes elsewhere, you'll be better off. If you
don't need to drive from point to point, a good way to get from
California to Utah is to fly to Las Vegas and rent a car from there,
which puts south-east Utah within easy driving range. (The drive out
to Las Vegas crosses some of the world's least interesting desert,
IMO.)
Depending on where you're going to be, there are some very good bird
clubs around that would be happy meet someone from overseas. As an
example, if you're planning to drive up the coast through Big Sur (a
chance at Condors and fabulous scenery) and Monterey (great birding),
the next county north is Santa Cruz - a location with wonderful
scenery, great birds and a very great bird club:
http://santacruzbirdclub.org/Home_Page.html
Have a great trip and feel free to write for suggestions once you have
a more specific itinerary.
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