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Title: A Guide to Bird Finding in New Jersey by William J., Jr. Boyle, David A. Sibley, Shawneen Finnegan ISBN: 0-8135-3084-9 Publisher: Rutgers University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $50.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Be sure to get the newest edition
Comment: There are now two editions of Boyle, the older version with an orange cover and the Barred Owl, and a newer version with a photo of a Hooded Warbler on the front. You'll want to make sure you get the latter, since many things have changed over the years.
Rating: 5
Summary: The New Boyle
Comment: It is one of the milder species of blasphemy, I suppose, to call any book one's "bible"; but since its appearance 17 years ago (!), Bill Boyle's NJBFG has served thousands of the birding faithful as ritual object and authoritative companion alike. My own copy of the first printing, with its ugly laminated binding in shreds and the bookblock bulging from tipped-in notes, photocopies, and clippings, is probably the single most used volume in my birding library: field guides come and go, but for nearly two decades now, Boyle has come and gone wherever I have.
Just how intensive my use of the book has been came clear to me with the arrival--"long-awaited," in the reviewer's cliche--of the second edition. As I read through the new treatments of areas long familiar to me, I discovered that (like many NJ birders) I'd actually memorized verbatim great chunks of the first edition, and that I noticed every new word and every new turn of phrase in the revised accounts. If it is true that every obsession is at its base religious, then this book truly is the birder's bible.
The birder's bible: divine in inspiration, certainly, but here and there the mortal nature of its human author peeks through. As anyone who has ever written anything knows, it is even more difficult to revise than to write, and this revised edition has some flaws that were not apparent in the first. There are far more copy-editing errors this time around, and the index--more important than ever, given the new book's rather breathless layout--is not an infallible help (just try to find the main entry for Merrill Creek!). Compared to the enjoyably expansive style of the first edition, the new entries strike me as occasionally a bit too concise, a problem that might have been eased by simply eliminating even more of the old sections treating sites that, like the Institute Woods, now offer (in Boyle's words) "the mere shadow" of their former glory; valuable space is also sacrificed to a number of new full-page illustrations.
These things having been said, the book is still an outstanding example of the bird-finding guide. The maps seem to be largely up to date and accurate (Sussex County birders: are Rockport and Blackdirt marshes really the same place?), the annotated species list is even more useful than in the first edition, and the binding isn't likely to crackle and peel. It will take only weeks, I am sure, for New Jersey birders to start quoting this new Boyle, chapter and verse.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great for all skill levels
Comment: This book is just as useful for seasoned birders as it is for the beginner, or the person new to New Jersey. Beginners will appreciate its review of New Jersey's best birding destinations; seasoned pros will enjoy the depth of the information and the amount of detail on nesting species and accounts of rarities.
For us locals, "Bird Finding" is great for those days when you want to hop in the car and travel to somewhere a little different, or if you want to explore a familiar destination a little more closely. The book offers detailed directions (although some of the exit numbers and streets have changed since its publication date), including which trail to follow, which tree to investigate, etc. Its accuracy is remarkable. It's clear Bill Boyle knows each location intimately and visits them often.
This is a must-have for any birder living in the state (and there are lots), and any vacationer planning to spend more than a weekend in New Jersey.
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Title: Birds of New Jersey: Field Guide by Stan Tekiela ISBN: 1885061897 Publisher: Adventure Publications Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: New Jersey Birds by James Kavanagh ISBN: 1583551573 Publisher: Waterford Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America by David Sibley, David Allen Sibley ISBN: 067945120X Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors by Peter Dunne, David Sibley, Clay Sutton ISBN: 0395510228 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 1989 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America by David Sibley, David Allen Sibley ISBN: 0679451218 Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Pub. Date: 29 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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