National Geographic Guide to Birding Hot Spots of the United States

by Mel White with Paul Lehman. All you need to start bird-watching, says Mel White, an Arkansas-based birding expert, is a good pair of binoculars, a notebook and a road map. I'd add a big thermos of hot coffee because they don't call them "early birds" for nothing.

Originally published in two volumes in 1999, one for each side of the Mississippi, this new guidebook combines both eastern and western hot spots under one cover. It includes all the National Geographic expertise you'd expect, along with detailed directions, contact information, best seasons to visit, insider's advice and 150 photographs and illustrations. I'm not a birder , but I found an unexpected benefit from this book in that it brings together many of the major wildlife areas and protected refuges under one roof, so to speak. And it tells you some things you didn't know that could add another dimension to your next trip. Such as this tip: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel "is one of the more unusual birding spots on the Atlantic Coast." (National Geographic Society, $21.95)

...great gift idea for all those birders out there...

Newsday.com - Travel

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