A Birder's Guide to Eastern Massachusetts

Published by American Birding Association

Published August 1994. There's simply no substitute for birding with the locals. You'll see more birds, you'll get to visit all of the secret places that they've discovered by years of poking around their local turf, and you'll learn more about local variations in plumage, habitat choice, behaviour, and song. When you bird with the locals, you won't get lost in a maze of unfamiliar roads nor will you drive right by the greatest little marsh or the best vantage point for sea-birding. If you're serious about finding birds when you're away from home, it pays to get advice from experienced local birders!

A Birder's Guide to Eastern Massachusetts was written, mapped, and field-checked by the locals. These avid Eastern Massachusetts birders guide you through the very best spots: Plum Island, Newburyport, Monomoy, Cape Ann, Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, Martha's Vineyard, the Sudbury River Valley, the Greater Boston area, and more than half-way across the state to exciting Quabbin Reservoir.

Many of the chapters, originally published in Bird Observer magazine, provide extensive information about field identification and all of them include notes about local conditions - access, traffic, private property, and boating hazards. Each chapter has been thoroughly reworked to reflect the march of civilisation into formerly wild areas; habitat changes since the original articles were written are documented. The guide gives mile-by-mile route instructions for each of the twenty-two areas covered. Thirty-four excellent maps show details mentioned in the text.

Pelagic birding opportunities are covered in a special appendix, with details about which species may be found on offshore trips in all seasons. Addresses of groups regularly offering pelagic birding trips are included. Another appendix suggests the best sites for hawk-watching and explains the migratory progression in Eastern Massachusetts.

Specialities of Eastern Massachusetts and the bar-graph section give information about the status and distribution of many of the species considered special for this region. Such birds as Great Cormorant, King Eider, Harlequin Duck, Peregrine Falcon, American Golden-Plover, Hudsonian Godwit, Purple Sandpiper, Common Black-headed, Iceland, and Little Gulls, Roseate Tern, Snowy Owl, Empidonax flycatchers, migrant and breeding warblers, and winter finches are regularly sought here by birders.

From a review of A Birder's Guide to Eastern Massachusetts

"The chapters have been updated, well-edited, and generally honed to perfection in a nicely orchestrated guide. . .The large spiral [wire-O] binding, wrap-around water-resistant covers, and heavy pages are all part of the good things going for ABA guides."

 - Jerome A. Jackson, Birder's World

292 pages.

Spiralbound Softback £21.00