Some things about birds and bees we can figure out on our own. Other things- like what is the name of that enchantress at the bird feeder, we need help with. Use a standard field guide, and we are going to be flipping through pages long after Miss Scrub Jay has flown away.
Three cheers! Heydey Books has published the book perfect to ID the species of bird which has us mesmerized- Sheila Kee's Backyard Birds of the Inland Empire. This is THE bird manual we have craved. The one not organized with Dewey Decimal complexity. The birds are organized by like a well arranged closet. By color. By size. By season.
Not only is the book a joy to use- it avoided the popular culture temptation to name it something like "Birding for Idiots". Don't you hate those titles?
My copy found me at the Border's Books in Chino Hills.
This title is available through the publisher at http://www.heydaybooks.com/guides-and-reference/backyard-birds-of-the-inland-e.html
Scrub Jay photo by Gene Sasse. Used with permission.
Lydia,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great sounding book! John and I watch all the birds in and around our yard with such pleasure. Especially since we installed our water fountain the birds love our back yard.
Funny you talked about this subject just now. This afternoon John heard crows and opened the shutters and sure enough our back lawn was covered with big black crows! One was sitting on the fountain drinking water. We do not like the crows! They are pests! For years they drove my mother nuts because they would sit on the sky light in her bedroom and peck at the rubber gasket around the window.
So to my surprise John disappeared for a bit then I spied him in the back yard with his rifle. I didn't hear any shots but it is my guess that he shot AT them to scare them off. He then came inside and showed me the .22 "no gun powder inside" bullets. OK then!
It must have done the trick because for the rest of the afternoon/evening, no more crows on the lawn!
Hugs, Trisha
Understand. We have a scope on something which looks lethal- but is more like a pop gun with no cork.
ReplyDeleteWhen the crows come, we pull in bird feeder for a week.
Pigeon's are much cuter on vacation than when exhibiting a weeklong guton-fest.
A neighbor- When the hawk took the pet from child- good thing there were no guns in the house.
But the only wildlife which make me want to get out the night vision goggles are coyotes. Not that I ever have. But anyone who doesn't understand the concerns of encouraging carnivores to roam in the suburbs either has no experience or is nuts.