tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.comments2009-10-30T00:57:15.452-04:00Sibley Guides NotebookUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-14377163800514107362009-10-29T19:15:10.797-04:002009-10-29T19:15:10.797-04:00I appreciate these corrections. And thanks for the...I appreciate these corrections. And thanks for the book, too. There were two oaks of the same species side by side in Brooklyn's Prospect Park that were bothering me because I couldn't find them in a couple of standard tree guides I have. This was a big mast year, and the fat acorns and crazy-hippie cups were all around the trees. I'm glad you've included non-native species, Matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13334628837533439470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-67433705928690734652009-10-27T16:59:12.914-04:002009-10-27T16:59:12.914-04:00Wow, if this is it, I'm happy. And happy NYT B...Wow, if this is it, I'm happy. And happy NYT Bestseller List, Dave! We're behind "What to Expect..." and "Skinny Bitch," but we'll keep climbing!Big Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11029012673236788466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-62225396721722914472009-10-23T17:48:10.176-04:002009-10-23T17:48:10.176-04:00Now I have another reason to check out Canada Gees...Now I have another reason to check out Canada Geese, other than looking for a Cackling goose. Makes looking much more interesting. They are really quite beautiful birds.Hilke Brederhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18357741278362930033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-89826791608748373972009-10-23T12:14:57.904-04:002009-10-23T12:14:57.904-04:00The Cork Tree threw me for years: opposite leaves,...The Cork Tree threw me for years: opposite leaves, but I just couldn't find it in any of my guide books. Yet we saw it constantly at one of our local nature centers. Then I realized it wasn't a native! Learning that not all trees are native has been a lengthy learning process.......<br /><br />Still don't have your new guide but my birthday is coming up soon and it's up near the Ken Januskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16984782169460110520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-38678469535792749812009-10-23T04:26:43.781-04:002009-10-23T04:26:43.781-04:00Quite beautiful indeed! I used to watch them all d...Quite beautiful indeed! I used to watch them all day long by the lake we had by our house when I was little. I even thought they were prettier than swans...haha. Even today, I think they have something magical about them. <br /><br />Take care, JulieToronto real estate agenthttp://juliekinnear.com/about_julie-team.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-60989623124746616352009-10-22T10:50:42.681-04:002009-10-22T10:50:42.681-04:00Cool list. I think some of the older ones are more...Cool list. I think some of the older ones are more fun sometimes. Though it isn't even mentioned on the list, I still prefer Timberdoodle over American Woodcock.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15821760169329951459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-20891674808429530052009-10-22T10:44:52.740-04:002009-10-22T10:44:52.740-04:00Good Stuff. I think people tend to ignore Canada G...Good Stuff. I think people tend to ignore Canada Geese as being common or, even worse they simply call them "sky carp." They are really quite beautiful in the same way of the subtle beauty of a sparrow. Thanks for another excuse to look closer.Kirkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15821760169329951459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-79708316543372435452009-10-21T12:59:57.933-04:002009-10-21T12:59:57.933-04:00Fascinating. A bird ID opportunity right in front...Fascinating. A bird ID opportunity right in front of me all the time, and I was unaware.<br /><br />I'm heading over to the Hudson.<br /><br />Many thanks.Jason Kesslerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078079559796728394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-32756216194411654932009-10-20T09:38:50.335-04:002009-10-20T09:38:50.335-04:00Hi Lindsey, Yes, apparently this list hasn't b...Hi Lindsey, Yes, apparently this list hasn't been updated to show some of the recent name changes like Eastern Towhee and the reversion to Baltimore and Bullock's Orioles. <br /><br />And thanks to a post by David La Puma on the NJ listserv I learned a new one that's missing from this list: Brotherly-love Greenlet for Philadelphia Vireo.<br />From Webster's Online dictionary: <br David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-43850498193225127672009-10-19T16:20:05.712-04:002009-10-19T16:20:05.712-04:00Thanks for posting this, being a birder who is onl...Thanks for posting this, being a birder who is only 27 I am not familiar with a lot of the older names so this was interesting. The old names for American Bittern are so fitting for their call! I do wonder how old the list is though, I noticed Solitary Vireo is still in the new list, and had to double-check my recently printed bird books regarding Rufous-sided Towhee (which I and the books Lindseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07386243323076528579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-46357457331939953332009-10-19T11:20:27.905-04:002009-10-19T11:20:27.905-04:00Hi,
I was thinking about old bird names this morn...Hi,<br /><br />I was thinking about old bird names this morning when I saw a Solitary Vireo...oops, I mean a Blue-Headed Vireo. (I still identify its song by its one-at-a-time 'solitary' phrases.) The vireo was in with a bunch of Myrtle Warblers...oops, I mean Yellow-rumped Warblers. That was after I saw the young Marsh Hawk...um, Northern Harrier. Oh, and I saw a Duck Hawk, too -- make peregrinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05310871394184407035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-9116734156644799522009-10-16T18:29:38.951-04:002009-10-16T18:29:38.951-04:00Doh!
A neophyte error as (clearly) all of your i...Doh! <br /><br />A neophyte error as (clearly) all of your illustrations are of individual leaves. And you do show a Peppertree twig with alternate compound leaves.<br /><br />I think I got that from thinking about ashes with opposite leaves but, of course, it's the compound leaves that are opposite to each other (as well as being "opposite" in their construction from "Kevin Purcellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18157202870194603923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-55035033656890357512009-10-16T15:42:39.652-04:002009-10-16T15:42:39.652-04:00Hi Kevin,
These species have alternate leaves, bu...Hi Kevin, <br />These species have alternate leaves, but I see where the confusion comes from. The illustrations of leaves of pistachios and peppertrees in the guide show single compound leaves. So what you are seeing are opposite leaflets on a leaf, but these compound leaves would be arranged alternately along the twigs.David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-22694610052318717032009-10-16T11:17:20.590-04:002009-10-16T11:17:20.590-04:00Hi Kevin. Thanks for these comments. I've upda...Hi Kevin. Thanks for these comments. I've updated the list above. And I just have two points in response to continue the discussion about common names: Most species have many different common names, and I had limited space, so I had to choose two or (rarely) three or four alternate names to highlight. In most cases I tried to choose the most frequently-used, but I would tend to leave out David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-30115386473430834482009-10-15T14:27:34.551-04:002009-10-15T14:27:34.551-04:00p312 - Cashew Family intro says "Most of the ...p312 - Cashew Family intro says "Most of the species have pinnately compound alternate leaves". <br /><br />But all the pistachio examples (and a peppertree) you show look like they have opposite leaves but they're not mentioned in your list of opposite leaved plants above.<br /><br />Am I misreading the illustrations?Kevin Purcellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18157202870194603923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-21349440877845726632009-10-15T14:18:16.714-04:002009-10-15T14:18:16.714-04:00p302 - Slippery Elm - "fragramt" should ...p302 - Slippery Elm - "fragramt" should be "fragrant"<br /><br />A more general issue is the index. I've found three problems so far.<br /><br />The minor one is there are a few entries I've found (so there may be more) where the page entry is off by one or two. I presume the page order changed a bit after the index was created.<br /><br />e.g.<br /><br />Pignut p145 Kevin Purcellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18157202870194603923noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-13837809270344151772009-10-15T13:24:17.438-04:002009-10-15T13:24:17.438-04:00Noted.Noted.Big Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11029012673236788466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-59646100905809856672009-10-10T21:47:32.266-04:002009-10-10T21:47:32.266-04:00David, I'm loving the guide so far! I'm ju...David, I'm loving the guide so far! I'm just at the browsing/leafing-through stage so far, but might have found a misprint.<br />In the Southern Red Oak account on pg 189, a note states:<br />acorn identical to Southern Red Oak<br /><br />I'm thinking that should be a different species, perhaps "Northern"?Grant McCrearyhttp://www.birderslibrary.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-86446407064021257672009-10-10T13:39:07.639-04:002009-10-10T13:39:07.639-04:00David, you might enjoy this little essay with my o...David, you might enjoy this little essay with my observations on how nearly THREE DOZEN different bird species moved in and around one particular tree in just a half hour:<br />http://quodlibet-sarah.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-good-is-old-tree-anyway.html<br /><br />but the story had a sad end:<br />http://quodlibet-sarah.blogspot.com/2009/08/stumped.htmlperegrinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05310871394184407035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-41348169894493869052009-10-07T12:44:13.442-04:002009-10-07T12:44:13.442-04:00Hi Sarah, Great comment! I'll have to pay more...Hi Sarah, Great comment! I'll have to pay more attention to woodpeckers now. I suspect that all birdwatchers know these things, and use them in the subconscious pattern recognition process. But when we try to describe how we identified a bird we fall back on "general impressions of size and shape" and never talk about the subtleties of movement, habitat, perch choice, etc that David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-22948830535018458362009-10-07T11:57:22.839-04:002009-10-07T11:57:22.839-04:00Hi Patrick and Renee, Thanks for the compliments. ...Hi Patrick and Renee, Thanks for the compliments. While there are lots of other interesting topics to cover in field guides, I think I'll be sticking with a few more projects involving birds and trees for the foreseeable future.David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-70958865159843330252009-10-07T11:50:46.661-04:002009-10-07T11:50:46.661-04:00Hi Robert,
Thanks for the comment. I've added ...Hi Robert,<br />Thanks for the comment. I've added a definition to the post above. Hope that answers your question. And good luck on your continued "growth" in tree identification!David Sibleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17594789223586882529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-82063730317411628942009-10-03T16:25:37.209-04:002009-10-03T16:25:37.209-04:00I'm just a sapling when it comes to tree ident...I'm just a sapling when it comes to tree identification and botany in general. I hope with your new tree guide in hand I can mature. <br /><br />Can you tell me what the term "opposite leaves" refers too?Robert Mortensenhttp://avimor.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-76278187112035809132009-10-01T15:41:33.250-04:002009-10-01T15:41:33.250-04:00Hello,
I have long found this sort of observation...Hello,<br /><br />I have long found this sort of observation to be an important part of my mental birding checklist. I'm very nearsighted, and even with proper eyeglasses (and bins) I can never see REALLY well. When I was a little girl I learned to bird mostly by ear (still do) (and I became a musician!) but I also learned to ID birds by flight patterns and the very types of movements you peregrinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05310871394184407035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8723269882919206612.post-28098831504138375442009-09-28T20:43:14.078-04:002009-09-28T20:43:14.078-04:00I greatly enjoyed finding this book in the local B...I greatly enjoyed finding this book in the local Borders and standing around looking at a copy with a guy right near me doing the same! I'll be buying myself one soon...I started wishing there was a Sibley's guide to all things natural!Lindseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07386243323076528579noreply@blogger.com