Tune In

In celebration the late Roger Tory Peterson's 100th birthday, Houghton Mifflin just published the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. An amalgamation of RTP's original paintings and 40 new paintings by Michael O'Brien, with new range maps and re-written text, this guide supplants the Eastern & Western Peterson Field Guides and joins the growing list of recently published top-notch North American Field Guides.

I peeked at a preview copy at the ABA's annual convention in Utah last summer, and was impressed with the look and feel of the guide. But what is really cool to share with you all right now is the series of podcasts (33 episodes totalling nearly 3 hours of content) that Bill Thompson III and Jeff Gordon produced as digital supplements to the book. I am honored to have contributed photos for the project, and encourage everyone to check them out. The podcasts include family overviews, species profiles, tutorials, and RTP biography episodes. There's lots of info for birders of all skill levels. While I haven't watched them all yet I know I will- they offer a great way to review bird families quickly, kind of like video birding Cliff Notes. For beginning & intermediate birders this will be an awesome resource, distilling the decades of birding experience & accumulated knowledge of BT3 & Jeff Gyr into potent digests. Watch the intro podcast at the top of the page first- it sets the stage really well. Nicely done, gents- I know RTP would approve!