Boy, as I was checking up on my books, I see why no one wants to go with me! I take my little spaniel now and claim that she needs to go if I want to stop! I have several. I take with me. ALWAYS the Audobon Society Guide to Wildflowers, their one on Trees, sometimes their one on Eastern Forests if I KNOW I am going to get to go exploring and see a bunch of stuff. It covers just about all wildlife. I prefer the Perterson Guide for Eastern Birds. I have the Audobon one on Birds but for quick ID I have an easier time with the Peterson. I noticed you mentioned dead trees. I have a fantastic pix somewhere of a tree hit and hollowed out by lightning in the Pisgah National Forest. Basically I own most of the Audobon and Peterson series but try to limit what I take along. If I can't ID I write down the details to look up when I get home.
I have not gotten into tracks but try to hit all road construction sites through the neaby mountains right after a rain. I am a rock and mineral collector. For that it is usually the Audobon or a great one by Simon and Schuster. I teach geology, well, Earth Science, but geology is the part I love. So, that of course, means a knapsack and chisel, and rock hammer in case I see something unusual. I have come back with some real trophies; I don't distrub the wildlife though. I'ts hard to resist sometimes but I do. Oh, the plants that I have wanted to bring home!
What do you use? Despite an entire wall of floor to ceiling bookcases, my motto is that there is not such thing as too many books!
I have a couple of books on just the Carolinas written by local experts that I take sometimes. Yeah, when it gets this bad, it is just my dog and I that go. No else has the patience!
Who has Eastern or Western Bluebird trails?
I have the East and West version of Stokes bird guide. It was so long ago, I don't remember if I picked it out or if someone picked it for me. They work well enough for me. It is a good thing I have both, b/c we now live in btwn.
I have a TX natives book that covers quite a bit, a TX grasses book, a toxic plants book (toxic to cattle/horses/livestock in general), a TX snakes field guide, Ortho's Hummingbird and Butterfly book (I think it has a user friendly guide, even if it is not diverse), and the tracks book I mentioned. These are my favorites and I take them with me most often.
I have a huge N.A. butterfly book - very comprehensive on butterflies, but it doesn't cover their larva except in text and it doesn't cover moths at all. I have yet to find a user-friendly butterfly/moth/caterpillar field guide for NA.
You must be a really great teacher! I bet your kids love you. The best teachers are the ones that really get into their subject and bring in new stuff to class. My best teachers were like that.
I just bought the Eastern edition of Stokes for my husband. He must have really liked it because he ferreted it away in his personal library in his bathroom.
If memory serves me (it doesn't quite a bit lately) Ortho's Hummingbird and Butterfly book isn't all that environmentally friendly so to speak and it's dated. You might want to research any plants you might be interested in using from their "user friendly guide" before you buy them and plant them.
Despite an entire wall of floor to ceiling bookcases, my motto is that there is not such thing as too many books!
Equi - Ortho books as a rule aren't env. friendly, are they? I use the Ortho guide for the butterfly pics - they have the cat pic next to the btfly. It also lists host plants for ea. I have other identify books, but they aren't as clear. There is always a piece of info missing.
We now live in a place w/ more than just the ruby throat, too.
Does anyone have a btfly/moth/cat/chrysalis/host plant identify book they like?
Anyone willing to create one w/ lots of pics? I'd buy it.