May 30, 2007 Feeling Gull Ible

My hike around the summit was uneventful. It is warm and hazy today. I could not see downtown through the haze and would put the actual visibility at about 8 miles. Hooded warblers were the obvious species singing, but I did hear a single Black-throated Green Warbler.

I received my Peterson Guide to the Gulls of the Americas today. I feel so gullible for having purchased it without first looking it over. Well at least I got it for 33% off and didn’t pay for shipping.

The Book is a Petersen *Reference* Guide and covers all the gulls found in north and south America. What don’t I like? It is a photo guide, no illustrations and is full of dense technical prose. If you like word pictures in dry technical language reminiscent of geo chemistry texts and photos, this is the book for you. Everyone else is better off sticking with Grant or Harrison, for obscure stuff, and Sibley for the expected.

When it comes to guides, illustrations a preferable to photos in all circumstances. This is because an illustration is a composite of many individuals, while photos depict only one individual. The brilliance of Roger Tory Peterson was to distill each species down to its essentials. Prior to Peterson, descriptions were overly complex, technical and based on bird in hand. Peterson changed that with simple elegant prose and concise illustrations that gave the field observer the essential elements or field marks needed to identify a bird. Howell and Dunn abandon all of these principals in Gulls of the Americas. It is a book based upon a formula that will make money for the publisher. While there is probably useful information to be found, little is aimed at people interesting in field identification of gulls. Rodger Tory Peterson, is rolling in his grave.