A long-standing interest of mine Erika.
First, what’s this with using a book? Modern Australian watchers rely on digital guidance.
I began birdwatching in Australia when there was only Cayley - not a field guide at all by today’s standards.
Annotating? That’s like asking ‘is it common for people to keep diaries?’ Some do, some do intermittently, I do rarely. I have my old Peterson European guide with its sparse ticks from driving around Europe in a Fiat 850 bought in Naples in 1965 (the Fiat, not the Peterson).
Due to severe field guide deprivation (none in New Guinea then, or some other places visited in the 60s and 70s) I developed a voracious hunger for them and have over a hundred, some deliberately-collected old ones. They reflect changing perceptions of looking at birds. I tapered off when the dam broke about 20 years ago. Like modern cities, they now tend to be much the same. Moreover, the need to have ‘an illustration of every bird species in the world’ is met by the 16-volume Handbook.
If you are sparing with your purchases and considering an Australian guide, wait for the new CSIRO publishing one.
From: Erika Roper [
Sent: Monday, 25 February 2013 1:23 AM
To: canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Field guides
Hello all,
I recently acquired a new field guide (Parrots of the World, by Forshaw) and I began wondering about how others use field guides. Is it common for birders to annotate their field guides (i.e. add additional common names to species entries), and to note in the guide when and where they have seen a species? I was also wondering how many of you "study" before taking a trip to a new place, in order to memorise species that you may encounter.
I love field guides, and if I had the money I'm sure I would be buying new ones all the time. I suppose next on my list should be a current version of an Australian field guide, as my current copy (given to me by my grandma) is as old as I am (Simpson and Day, published in 1986)! Which reminds me, is it actually worth investing in an up-to-date copy? Any recommendations for which guide to get (author-wise)?
