BOOK 



MARKET 



the title of another of his works: Small- 

 Headed Flycatcher. Seen Yesterday. He 

 Didn 7 Leave His Name. 



This book is a collection of articles he 

 wrote between 1977 and 1985, that appeared 

 in Peregrine Observer, Bird Watcher's 

 Digest and New Jersey Audubon. 



The collection includes his encounter 

 with a 92-year-old man in New Jersey who 

 wanted to trade stories with Dunne about 

 how many hawks he had killed. Their 

 meeting had gotten off with a misunderstand- 

 ing about why Dunne was interested in 

 spotting the northern harrier, better known on 

 the Jersey shore as the chicken hawk. "I 

 shoot 'em every chance I git," the old-timer 

 proudly announced. 



Dunne chose not to do battle. "Just as 

 Billy is a product of his time, I am a product 

 of mine," he writes. 



On a lighter note, he tells the tale of "A 

 Lifer for Roger." The five-member team is in 

 hot pursuit of a Fork-tailed Flycatcher. They 

 had been instructed to look in the backyard of 



"the house across the street from 

 the house with the blue whale." 



He was willing to give up the 

 search. But being a member of a 

 five-man team, he could not make 

 a unilateral decision. Besides, one 

 team member just happened to be 

 Roger T. Peterson, the author of 

 Junior Audubon Society bird 

 identification leaflets. Peterson, 

 now deceased, was Dunne's 

 boyhood hero. How could he deny 

 him a chance to check this rare 

 bird off his lifelist? 



And so the quest for the holy 

 grail begins, with comical twists 

 up to the conclusion of the 

 adventure. 



Dunne knows the obsessions 

 that drive birders to follow vague 

 directions from total strangers who 

 claim to have spotted a rare 

 species two days ago. 



While he is laughing at 

 himself, Dunne is teaching his 

 readers about birds and birding. 



• A BIRDER'S GUIDE TO COASTAL 

 NORTH CAROLINA by John 0. Fussell 

 III. 1994. The University of North Carolina 

 Press, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, N.C. 

 27515. 540 pages. Paperback. $19.95. ISBN 

 0-8078-4453-5. 



If you are heading for the North 

 Carolina Coast, don't leave home without a 

 copy of A Birder's Guide to Coastal North 

 Carolina. 



Even if you consider yourself an 

 "accidental" birdwatcher, this book gives an 

 overview of the possibilities in store. 



"Coastal North Carolina provides 

 wonderful opportunities for bird-watching. 

 The region contains an excellent variety of 

 habitat, and over four hundred species have 

 been identified in the area, although the area 

 has a handful of acive birders and is actually 

 not birded very heavily. New species are 

 found almost every year," he writes. 



Fussell points out that North Carolina's 

 geographic position — and the offshore 



presence of the Gulf Stream — set the stage 

 for a diverse display of species. 



He laments the loss of coastal habitat 

 to development, but rejoices in the fact that 

 "much critical habitat is being preserved in 

 public lands — the national seashores, 

 national wildlife refuges, national forests, 

 state parks, state estuarine reserves and 

 state game lands." In addition, conservancy 

 groups protect an abundance of natural 

 areas. 



This opens the door to opportunities to 

 get close to nature without straying on 

 posted property. All the areas he discusses 

 in the book are public lands. 



For starters, Fussell provides an 

 annotated list of the birds you may see, 

 along with the location and description of 

 usual habitat. And, oh yes, if you happen to 

 be doing some deep-sea fishing, Fussell 

 includes some fascinating information 

 about sea birds you may encounter off- 

 shore. 



Site guides are arranged from north to 

 south. Maps help readers find their way to 

 the birding possibilities. The author's 

 personal experiences are noted. 



For example, Map 5 in "The North 

 Coast Section" introduces Merchants 

 Millpond State Park in Gates County to 

 readers. 



He describes Merchant Millpond as 

 "one of the most beautiful areas in coastal 

 North Carolina" — a place to enjoy even 

 when the birding is slow. The towering bald 

 cypress and tupelo gums dripping with 

 Spanish moss are home to Red-shouldered 

 Hawks, Barred Owls, Pileated Woodpeck- 

 ers, and even a few Wild Turkeys. 



How easy is it to get to the best 

 birding spots? For each entry, Fussell 

 provides logistical information that will 

 keep travelers from bogging down in 

 swamp or sand. He also tells the time of 

 year to sight the usual and unusual species. 



For readers "hooked" on birding, 

 Fussell devotes an entire section on Birds of 

 Special Interest to help identify and find 

 more elusive, rare birds. □ 



COASTWATCH 25 



