Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion

Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544135687
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 1066

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Book Description
From the award-winning birder and author of Birds of Prey, an authoritative, information-packed guide to distinguishing North American birds. In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the “Cape May School of Birding.” It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.

Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion

Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 0544135687
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 1066

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the award-winning birder and author of Birds of Prey, an authoritative, information-packed guide to distinguishing North American birds. In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the “Cape May School of Birding.” It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks. After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance. This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.

Golden Wings and Other Stories about Birders and Birding

Golden Wings and Other Stories about Birders and Birding PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 9780292716230
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
Dubbed the "Bard of America's Bird-Watchers" by the Wall Street Journal, Pete Dunne knows birders and birding—instinctively and completely. He understands the compulsion that drives other birders to go out at first light, whatever the weather, for a chance to maybe, just maybe, glimpse that rare migrant that someone might have spotted in a patch of woods the day before yesterday. And yet, he also knows how . . . well . . . strange the birding obsession becomes when viewed through the eyes of a nonbirder. His dual perspective—totally engrossed in birding, yet still aware of the "odd birdness" of some birders—makes reading his essays a pure pleasure whether you pursue "the feather quest" or not. This book collects forty-one of Dunne's recent essays, drawn from his columns in Living Bird, Wild Bird News, the New Jersey Sunday section of the New York Times, Birder's World, and other publications. Written with his signature wit and insight, they cover everything from a moment of awed communion with a Wandering Albatross ("the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen") to Dunne's imagined "perfect bird" ("The Perfect Bird is the size of a turkey, has the wingspan of an eagle, the legs of a crane, the feet of a moorhen, and the talons of a great horned owl. It eats kudzu, surplus zucchini, feral cats, and has been known to predate upon homeowners who fire up their lawn mowers before 7:00 A.M. on the weekend."). The title essay pays whimsical, yet heartfelt tribute to Dunne's mentor, the late birding legend Roger Tory Peterson.

Pete Dunne on Bird Watching

Pete Dunne on Bird Watching PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780395906866
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Pete Dunne has taught birding to beginners for years, but he has never found the right book to help them get started. Now the popular birding author identifies the skills and tools available to people with any amount of interest, great or small, in bird watching. Beginning with backyard birding and moving through a quick but comprehensive survey of tools of the trade, Dunne outlines ten basic, simple steps in bird identification that can make a birder out of the most casual of observers. He goes on to show beginning birders how to use their skills to explore new horizons through birding by ear, birding by telescope, and finding and identifying rare or difficult birds. Written in the lively, authoritative style that has made Dunne one of the most popular writers in this field today, Pete Dunne on Bird Watching will inspire in readers both a growing passion for birding and a lifelong respect for the natural world and its inhabitants.

Tales of a Low-Rent Birder

Tales of a Low-Rent Birder PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 9780292715745
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Tales of a Low-Rent Birder is a collection of nineteen essays and sketches written between 1977 and 1985. It was originally published in 1986.

Pete Dunne on Bird Watching

Pete Dunne on Bird Watching PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811762947
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Birding is one of the most popular and fastest-growing outdoor activities, but it can seem intimidating for beginners who don't know where, when, or how to search for birds. Fortunately, Pete Dunne, one of the most popular and respected writers in the field, has written a guide that will help even the most casual observers identify the skills and tools they need to develop their interest in birding.

Gulls Simplified

Gulls Simplified PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691156948
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
A simpler and more user-friendly visual approach to gull identification This unique photographic field guide to North America’s gulls provides a comparative approach to identification that concentrates on the size, structure, and basic plumage features of gulls—gone are the often-confusing array of plumage details found in traditional guides. Featuring hundreds of color photos throughout, Gulls Simplified illustrates the variations of gull plumages for a variety of ages, giving readers strong visual reference points for each species. Extensive captions accompany the photos, which include comparative photo arrays, digitized photo arrays for each age group, and numerous images of each species—a wealth of visual information at your fingertips. This one-of-a-kind guide includes detailed species accounts and a distribution map for each gull. An essential field companion for North American birders, Gulls Simplified reduces the confusion commonly associated with gull identification, offering a more user-friendly way of observing these marvelous birds. Provides a simpler approach to gull identification Features a wealth of color photos for easy comparison among species Includes detailed captions that explain identification criteria and aging, with direct visual reinforcement above the captions Combines plumage details with a focus on size, body shape, and structural features for easy identification in the field Highlights important field marks and physical features for each gull

A Field Guide to the Southeast Coast & Gulf of Mexico

A Field Guide to the Southeast Coast & Gulf of Mexico PDF Author: Noble S. Proctor
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300113285
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Book Description
DIVA uniquely comprehensive and beautiful guide to more than 600 species of fauna and flora along the coasts of the southeastern United States and the Gulf of Mexico/div

Prairie Spring

Prairie Spring PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547527845
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
A grasslands nature trek that “weaves together spiritual insight, plant biology, geology lessons and American history—and a plethora of bird sightings” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). A nature writer and avid birder offers a portrait of a season in the heartland of North America as he and his wife travel through the country and share stories of all that they encounter: people putting their lives back in place after a tornado, volunteers giving their time to conservation efforts, and the drive of all species to move their genes to the next generation, which manifests itself so abundantly in spring. “Their journey begins in New Jersey and continues to Nebraska, their arrival timed to witness the annual migration of half a million northbound sandhill cranes. Next come Colorado and a primer on how homesteading sodbusters transformed an ocean of vibrant prairie grasses into a devastating dustbowl; New Mexico and the Sixth Annual High Plains Lesser Prairie-Chicken Festival; back through Colorado and the Pawnee National Grasslands for a glimpse of the threatened prairie dog, once (along with bison) among the environmental engineers of the 19th century Western plains; and into South Dakota, home to between 800 and 1,400 free-ranging bison. Dunne’s melodic prose and rhapsodic connection with the natural world brilliantly entice an estranged audience to explore a . . . now alien environment.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Although a theme of humanity’s effects on the prairie runs as an undercurrent throughout the narrative, it never overwhelms the sense of awe and wonder at the natural beauty of the grasslands and their inhabitants.” —Booklist

Hawks in Flight

Hawks in Flight PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher: Mariner Books
ISBN: 9780395709597
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
An indispensable guide for hawk watchers, this is a completely new edition of the seminal book that introduced a holistic method for identifying distant birds in flight.

Before the Echo

Before the Echo PDF Author: Pete Dunne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
"The natural world is a lot like a game of musical chairs," observes Pete Dunne. "Everywhere you turn, everywhere you go, there are places where living things sit down, niches that support their specific needs. But just as in musical chairs, there aren't enough places to go around. Our species keeps removing them--forcing other creatures to leave the game." In these twenty-nine essays, one of America's top nature writers trains his sights on the beauties and the vulnerabilities of the natural world. Writing to infuse others with a sense of the richness and diversity that nature holds, Pete Dunne ranges over topics from the wonder of the year's first snowfall to the lost art of stargazing to the mysterious forces that impel people to hunt--and not to hunt. Running like a thread through all the essays is Dunne's desire to preserve all that is "natural" in nature, to stop our unthinking destruction of wild places and wild creatures before we humans find ourselves with "the last chair, in an empty room" on an impoverished earth.