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An outstanding new field guide to raptor identification is now available. Some of you might be familiar with Jerry's Liguori's highly acclaimed Hawks From Every Angle. Jerry has now released a new book titled Hawks At A Distance. As the title suggests, this new book is specifically designed for hawk watchers attempting to identify distant raptors. This field guide picks up where his earlier book left off, is loaded with excellent photos of raptors at a distance, explains how light conditions and flight positions can trick the observer and is just the right size to carry into the field. The authors field identification skills are outstanding. His many years of first hand experience in identifying hawks at a distance and his efforts in writing this book have given us a book that will be valued by observers for many years. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning to identify raptors. Those of you that are taking part in observations at the area's hawks watches will certainly benefit from reading it and using it in the field. Even the most experienced hawk watchers are likely to benefit from the knowledge contained in it's pages. My copy will likely be with me whenever hawk watching. Other books of value to hawk watchers are Jerry Liguori's Hawks From Every Angle, Brian K. Wheelers Raptors of Eastern and Western North America(two books), as well as Hawks in Flight by Pete Dunn, David Sibley and Clay Sutton. Another book that could be useful is The Crossley ID Guide, which was recently released. This book takes a different and perhaps much needed approach to bird identification. Instead of giving the reader one or two illustrations, the author nearly fills each page with photos of each species. These photos are taken from many angles and at many distances. These illustrations, like the illustrations in Hawks At A Distance, show birds as they are often seen. We all love to see birds conveniently perched a few meters away, but this is rarely what we get while in the field. Instead, we are often trying to identify a bird that is distant, at a odd angle, has just flown past us or is at a great distance. This books approach seems to have much promise. On the down side, it's size is greater than the average field guide making it somewhat impractical to be carried into the field. I hope these reviews will be helpful to at least a few readers. Good birding, Todd Watts Bocabec, NB
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