I'm looking for some advice on bird finding guides for Queensland and New
South Wales. Hopefully, this isn't one of those routine questions that
drives everyone wild with irritation. If it is, please, no jihads! Just let
me know and I'll behave.
I've spent hours doing searches with Google, checking the list archives, and
reviewing various Web pages. So far, I haven't been able to sort out the top
birding sites or bird finding guides. Any advice will be most welcome.
Only a handful of guides are available directly here in the USA, although
everything appears to be available for overseas shipping. I've identified
these gooks:
Birdwatching in Australia and New Zealand
Simpson & Wilson
The Complete Guide to Finding the Birds of Australia
Thomas & Thomas
Where to Watch Birds in Australia and Oceania
Wheatley
Birds of Queensland's Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef
Birds of Lamington National Park
Daintree
All by Nielsen
I guess I should give a bit of background. My wife and I finally made it
down to Australia for about 10 days last year and spent out time around
Sydney and points south. Amazing. It was quite a revelation for us coming
from Hawaii. Our native birds and plants bear no real relationship with the
mainland...but would look right at home down your way. Give the sad and
degraded state of the Hawaiian ecosystem, it was a bit overwhelming to
encounter hundreds of birds and vast forests. I hope none of you ever take
your magnificent land for granted.
We've carved out the month of September for a return visit and plan to spend
about 10 days in the Cairns area, 10 days in the Brisbane area, and 10 days
south of Sydney. (We have friends in Bega.) I have to limit myself to
reading about the subject to the morning hours or else I can't sleep...
We're not aiming at picking up any specific birds, really. (Note: I'm
obviously lying ;-) Mostly, we're hoping to visit locations with a good
variety of habitats, birds, and animals. Given our limited time in the
country, virtually everything is new and wonderful for us. Still, we'll
probably try to track down at least a few specific birds, so a guide that
includes species accounts would be helpful.
P.S. I did not understand until our first visit why a country with such a
relatively small population had so many field guides. Last trip we used the
"new Pizzey" and were quite content. It's a bit heavy, of course. We also
have the "old Pizzey" around as it seems to have somewhat better notes. I
think we'll do fine with what we have in the field guide department. I
suspect 'which guide is best' is a subject you're all tired of. (See "no
jihads" above.)
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David Adams
Kailua, HI 96734
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