This is a book of keys and highly localized descriptions, but for what it is it's amazing. An invaluable resource for anyone botanizing Mt. Diablo and...moreThis is a book of keys and highly localized descriptions, but for what it is it's amazing. An invaluable resource for anyone botanizing Mt. Diablo and useful for anyone botanically inclined in the Bay Area. I often find the keys and descriptions more useful than Jepson. Maybe that isn't saying much.(less)
Mosses are fairly hard to identify, mostly because they are so small. This book is required reading if you want to ID mosses in California, mostly bec...moreMosses are fairly hard to identify, mostly because they are so small. This book is required reading if you want to ID mosses in California, mostly because there aren't many other image-based resources for moss identification, and keys can get pretty technical pretty quick. While this guide is not comprehensive, it will lead you in the right direction. My main caveats are a) not everything is photographed in situ (many photos are microscopic and/or of dried specimens), and b) there is no key to fall back on when you can't find a good match among the photos or leaf illustrations.(less)
Decent guide to most of the saltwater fish you might encounter fishing or diving around here. Not all the photos are perfectly representative, but it'...moreDecent guide to most of the saltwater fish you might encounter fishing or diving around here. Not all the photos are perfectly representative, but it's decent.(less)
This is a stay-at-home hardcover manual, and I haven't found a better one for New England inverts (I only go exploring there once or twice a year, so...moreThis is a stay-at-home hardcover manual, and I haven't found a better one for New England inverts (I only go exploring there once or twice a year, so maybe there are better guides I don't know about). While it's mostly keys there are a ton of great illustrations and a handful of color plates, which makes it considerably more accessible to non-experts like me, especially when compared with tomes like The Light and Smith Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon. My main complaint is that they wasted pages on the tetrapods, which receive infinitely better treatment in more popular field guides. More writhing squirmy beasties, please!(less)
I got this to help ID some wildflowers I photographed during a recent vacation back East. While I was there I relied mostly on the Peterson and Audubo...moreI got this to help ID some wildflowers I photographed during a recent vacation back East. While I was there I relied mostly on the Peterson and Audubon guides to the eastern US, which are decent, but lacking in some key areas upon which this guide improves. Like the Peterson guide, it approaches comprehensiveness for the region, and like the Audubon guide, every single species has a color photograph. Unlike either of them, every species has a range map on the same page as the photo (no annoying flipping back and forth), which also shows seasonality using color (not immediately obvious but learnable). Every photo also has a scale bar showing the actual size of the flower. Scale bars and range maps are excellent visualizations that more field guides should employ, especially botanical ones. The flowers are organized by color, then by morphology and family. The back cover has a ruler (yay!), but it's not in metric (boo).
My only real problem with this book is that while they list the families shown at the top of each page, they use common names without the additional scientific names ("Rose Family" instead of "Rosaceae"). If you care enough about botany to learn your families, you will probably know the scientific names instead ot the ambiguous common ones. I was flipping through the white section looking for Polygonaceae and it took me a while to realize they call it the "Smartweed Family." There also isn't much in the way of natural history, just morphology and habitat. This is one area in which the Audubon guide has this one beat.
Overall, this is one of the best pictorial botanical field guides I think I've used. I wish we had some regional guides like this for CA.(less)
This is a nice, colorful guide to the often mystifying world of intertidal California. Most of the common things you're likely to encounter are in the...moreThis is a nice, colorful guide to the often mystifying world of intertidal California. Most of the common things you're likely to encounter are in there, and it's small enough to fit in a big pocket. The binding is also sturdy and I believe the cover and pages hold up fairly well to a good splashing or dunking.(less)
Coleoptera is the most speciose group of organisms ever classified, and California is a big, ecologically diverse place, so it's impossible to fit eve...moreColeoptera is the most speciose group of organisms ever classified, and California is a big, ecologically diverse place, so it's impossible to fit every single CA beetle into a field-sized guide. That said, this book does a decent job. There are enough photos to narrow things down to family most of the time, and often to genus, and the text accounts list all or the most common species in each genus, often with useful morphological and behavioral traits. Definitely a good one to have in the toolkit.(less)
This is a great guide for what it is: an overview of almost every living thing you might encounter in the Sierra Nevada that will fit in your backpack...moreThis is a great guide for what it is: an overview of almost every living thing you might encounter in the Sierra Nevada that will fit in your backpack. If you're looking at something and wondering, "What kind of plant is that?" or even "Is this a plant or a fungus?" then this guide is perfect. Visually oriented, mostly organized by color, with some additional groupings by habitat make for a pretty good experience when looking up complete unknowns.
Of course, the downside is that if you really want to get specific, this book is just a starting point. For instance, I've been using it to work out some of the things I saw on a trip to Plumas County last weekend. I saw this one little green woodland orchid all over the place, but it's not in this book. There are actually several little green orchids in the area, but I don't think any of them are listed.
Anyway, well worth the money if you, like me, don't know that much about the Sierra.(less)
This book is the field companion to the stay-at-home-tome Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi, but don't let its mycena-t...moreThis book is the field companion to the stay-at-home-tome Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi, but don't let its mycena-thin silhouette confuse you: it's just as packed to the gills with useful knowledge, zany stories, and pictures of crazy mushrooms and crazier mushroom-lovers as its girthy sibling. This book stays in my hiking bag from November to March. I've beat my copy up mercilessly, but the binding and pages are sturdy. Couldn't ask for much more in a regional field guide.(less)
Pretty much the standard guide for western herps. Pretty good overall, good illustrations and maps, a bit light on the natural history but it's meant...morePretty much the standard guide for western herps. Pretty good overall, good illustrations and maps, a bit light on the natural history but it's meant for the field. Sturdy binding, despite thickness.(less)
This is the best reference I've found for plants in the Bay Area, and it's pretty much always in my hiking bag from February to June. It has some colo...moreThis is the best reference I've found for plants in the Bay Area, and it's pretty much always in my hiking bag from February to June. It has some color plates, but it's mostly keys, so be forewarned that you'll need some botanical terminology and either the plant in hand or a bunch of detailed photos. A lot of couplets use measurements, so photos with a ruler in frame are often useful.
They keys are pretty good, though, and more comprehensible than the Jepson ones, IMO. Plus, unlike Jepson, you can take this into the field without a mule. Comprehensive coverage of all vascular plants and ferns is awesome. The only real issue I've found is a few missing taxa (some species of Gilia I think).(less)
An exceptional field guide. Layouts and illustrations are clean and consistent, every species account includes multiple plumages (if relevant), maps,...moreAn exceptional field guide. Layouts and illustrations are clean and consistent, every species account includes multiple plumages (if relevant), maps, and useful points of identification. The organization is taxonomic, which can be troublesome for beginners, but the illustrations are so nice that the book is highly "flippable," i.e. it's relatively easy to flip through and find something close to what you're seeing. My only real complaint is that the pictorial indexes that lead each family only show non-breading plumage. Those grids of illustrations are useful and unique among the field guides I own, but showing only non-breeding plumage is obviously less than ideal during the breeding season.(less)
Haven't used it too much, but it is highly technical, and most of the keys seem to assume you have a whole specimen in hand, flower, fruit, and leaves...moreHaven't used it too much, but it is highly technical, and most of the keys seem to assume you have a whole specimen in hand, flower, fruit, and leaves. Nevertheless, it's comprehensive, and unlike the full Jepson, you can carry it in a backpack.(less)
I think this is the only field guide exclusively dedicated to the opisthobranchs of the nearshore Eastern Pacific, so I guess we should be grateful th...moreI think this is the only field guide exclusively dedicated to the opisthobranchs of the nearshore Eastern Pacific, so I guess we should be grateful that it's pretty good. Fairly comprehensive, including undescribed species, with photos and range information for all (no maps, though). Most entries have etymological info, which is always a plus. My main complaints are 1) it doesn't seem to respond too well to getting wet, which sort of happens a lot when you're tidepooling, and 2) there is usually only one photo per species, which can be a bit limiting for species with multiple morphs (e.g. Acanthodoris rhodoceras).(less)
Haven't had to use this too much yet, but my one dip in to look up thornbacks was pretty promising. Lots of detailed information, with decent illustra...moreHaven't had to use this too much yet, but my one dip in to look up thornbacks was pretty promising. Lots of detailed information, with decent illustrations. I don't actually see sharks and rays in the wild that often, so I'm guessing this will be more of a go-to reference when I read about CA elasmobranchs elsewhere.(less)
This is one of my favorite guides, efficiently compiling a very large, diverse group of animals in a single, baggable volume. The ordering is taxonomi...moreThis is one of my favorite guides, efficiently compiling a very large, diverse group of animals in a single, baggable volume. The ordering is taxonomic (despite color-coding), which might be confusing if you're just starting out, but once you learn something about your families and superfamilies, it's very useful. Peterson-style arrows point out distinguishing features, and each butterfly is depicted with a modified photo on a white background, which combines the detail of photos with the focus of illustrations. Great stuff. I also find the scale shadows on each page very useful. Did I mention the comprehensive range maps? Score.(less)
Sibley's bird guides have become the authoritative field guides to the birds of North America, and with good reason: thoughtful, consistent layout com...moreSibley's bird guides have become the authoritative field guides to the birds of North America, and with good reason: thoughtful, consistent layout combined with beautiful, precise illustrations and lots of helpful ID notes make for a great experience. So, I was pretty intrigued to find he made a guide to trees. Like the bird guides, it is beautiful and packed with great information (the range maps are particularly useful), but overall it's not quite up to snuff. I've actually been reading the guide (intro, looking up favorite trees, etc) for a few days, but I just gave it a test drive in the field today and found it sadly wanting, especially in comparison the the drier key approach used in my go-to plant guide for this area, Beidleman and Kozloff's Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region. One major problem is a lack of any kind of preview or index system. Sibley's bird guides begin each family or major group with a grid of all the species contained therein, which is pretty useful for giving the whole group a glance and picking out the bird you've got in your binocs, and when this fails those guides are still pretty flippable: go somewhere close to the bird you're looking at (passerines, divers, raptors, etc), start flipping, and you'll see something similar. It's much harder to do this for trees, given their highly variable appearance, so it's hard to narrow down possibilities. Sure it's a pine but... this is the west. There are a lot of pines. Many practical tidbits seem to be lacking as well, like the "hairy armpits" where the veins fork on the underside of a coast live oak leaf, or the way a juniper's berries smell like gin when crushed.
Overall, I think this is a great home reference, but I'll stick to keys in the field.(less)
Pretty good set of regional keys. No photos of the plants, though there are photo plates of habitats and numerous line drawings. Keys seem decent, and...morePretty good set of regional keys. No photos of the plants, though there are photo plates of habitats and numerous line drawings. Keys seem decent, and the species descriptions, while brief, include localities. The Tom Killion print on the cover is, of course, beautiful, but the maps on the inside covers are also very fine, showing the whole county and a detail of the Mt. Tam area. Having this book makes me want to spend more time in Marin.(less)
This is one of the best field guides I own. "Marine invertebrates" encompasses an enormous number of species, but Hoover strikes the right balance bet...moreThis is one of the best field guides I own. "Marine invertebrates" encompasses an enormous number of species, but Hoover strikes the right balance between capturing that diversity and excluding particularly rare animals for the sake of brevity. He also always notes when he is excluding things, so if you don't find what you're looking for, you know there are still more options. I wish other non-comprehensive field guides did this. He also includes Hawaiian names whenever available, which is super cool. So far I've been SCUBA diving with two charter companies in Hawaii, and both had this book aboard their boats.(less)
I relied on this for a recent trip to Oahu and the Big Island. Great recommendations, right amount of background, though, of course, doomed to be date...moreI relied on this for a recent trip to Oahu and the Big Island. Great recommendations, right amount of background, though, of course, doomed to be dated. (less)
This is one of the most amazing biological guides ever. In addition to being an almost comprehensive guide to most macroscopic fungi of the western US...moreThis is one of the most amazing biological guides ever. In addition to being an almost comprehensive guide to most macroscopic fungi of the western US, it is also weird, hilarious, and just plain wacky. Pretty much every time I grab it to look something up, I come across some new gem from Arora. Here's one I just found:
Since so few bracket fungi are edible, they are ignored by most people and barely mentioned in many popular mushroom books. As I am also ignored by most people (and have yet to be mentioned in any kind of book), I feel I have something vital in common with these unheralded but indispensable organisms. Therefore, a fairly extensive (but by no means comprehensive) treatment is offered here, in hopes that readers will at least learn to notice polypores, if not identify them.
California is an enlightened state that guarantees open access to its coastline, and this guide catalogs pretty much every single public access point,...moreCalifornia is an enlightened state that guarantees open access to its coastline, and this guide catalogs pretty much every single public access point, along with historical and ecological side notes. My favorite parts are the tables describing the types of terrain at each spot, b/c I am always looking for rocky areas with tidepools.(less)
Golden Guides are mostly aimed at a lay audience, and many for kids, but they're all fairly awesome all the same, and this one a really fantastic intr...moreGolden Guides are mostly aimed at a lay audience, and many for kids, but they're all fairly awesome all the same, and this one a really fantastic introduction to the major spider families and their non-spider arachnid relatives.(less)
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