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Thanks very much, Joe. I'm thrilled this resonated with you. I also think those older guides of ours support retreats into "hermitage." Although I'm pruning my library as I grow older, I do indeed hope to spend more solitary time with many of those books!

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deletedNov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer
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Thanks, Clarke. I agree that apps and field guide don't compete, except for friendly competition when it comes to starting out and learning a taxon (especially birds). I hope I made that clear in the post. I've found that some folks using app get their ID and then promptly go on to what's next out there (especially new birders). What field guides (books) and manuals have given me over the decades is context, mostly taxonomy and family (or genus-level) characteristics. To my mind, that's what fosters easier, more complete, learning in the identification of living things "from scratch" in nature. Once I learned, for example, that flowers in the mustard family (Brassicaceae) have the unusual composition of four petals and six stamens, I could then spot mustards in many places. It's a simple example, to be sure. And, yeah, I might have learned that flower arrangement from an app -- but it really was the kind of fundamentals that I absorbed from book learning. In any event, yeah, let's use apps and books in the best ways we can. And I'll keep exploring this thesis of mine with due consideration of perspectives like yours. Thanks again!

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Nov 29, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I have to confess that I am sympathetic to Clarke’s point of view, although for me it is taxon dependent. Because of my own background, I already have an affinity for vertebrates and have an immediate sense of family relations for any fish, herp, bird, or mammal I encounter. Therefore, I can make immediate use of a field guide whenever called for. I don’t think I’ve ever used an app to identify a vertebrate. But as I have gotten on in years, I find that memorizing the key characteristics for higher level groupings in new taxa to be increasingly impossible. Over the last few years I’ve been trying to expand my familiarity with a bunch of new groups – plants, fungi, and beetles, in particular – and I’ve found point-and-click apps a great way to get a leg up on where to begin a search in a field guide. I agree completely, Bryan, with your assessment of the limitations of apps if all one uses them for is to get a name before moving on to the next specimen. But using them as a way to begin the search for deeper information if one doesn’t have the time, patience, or functional neurons to go through every page in a field guide for every specimen encountered has helped me to continue to enjoy being a student of nature.

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Nov 30, 2023·edited Nov 30, 2023Author

Ah, more wisdom from another "graybeard" (who is one of my eco-heroes). Thanks, Steve! I guess I'm mostly in agreement with you. I have indeed used apps to get me to genus at the very least -- basically for me to say, "oh, yeah, of course it's a Geum" or "how could I not know that this is a Idia species?!" But getting there first to that kind of awareness came from books. I worry that true novices, especially younger folks, will merely use apps to identify things without enough regard to even basic phylogenetic relationships. Or maybe the app will delay that taxonomic learning. And, yeah, I agree -- it is indeed taxon-dependent. There's another aspect to this, of course, which is that I myself tend to limit the breadth of my knowledge of things in nature; I know lots of stuff on a general level, and when I find something captivating — like sexual autonomy in aphids (https://chasingnature.substack.com/p/males-need-not-apply) — I'm all in (even though I can barely identify most aphid species). Then I write, which takes so much time and brain power. But I so enjoy being that way in nature, which is probably why I'm not chasing birds nearly as much as I used to. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll no doubt write more on this stuff. Thanks!

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deletedNov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer
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You and edit your comments -- the three little dots to the right! 😃

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No sign of snowy owls or snow goose down here. I have a collection of my mothers wildflower books that served me well for years. Books are so much better than phone apps.

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I'm at a stage in my life where I'm "pruning" from my bookshelves. It's tough (editing is way easier -- pruning branches rather than leaves). It's particularly tough to part with my older field guides (so, basically, I won't). 🤔 😀

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I hear you. I am pruning too, but some books, I just can't. I have some books I have had since high school, that I keep resisting letting go of.

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I walked away from my Master Naturalist course with several pounds worth of new field guides. It was so much fun using them in the field! Especially for plants. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make them practical in the backcountry. (They aren’t, there’s just no way. You either accept carrying those extra pounds or you don’t.) I’ve found both Merlin and iNaturalist--thanks to your introduction for that one!--to be wonderful assists for learning. I don’t always use them, but sometimes I’ll go between them and a field guide, and especially for birds it’s really helpful. I like the way you relate it to learning languages. When I’m learning a language, I use recordings (CDs and tapes once, online now) to try to figure out pronunciation, unless I’m doing immersion, but that doesn’t replace the rest of the text studying, just enriches it.

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I can relate. I think the immersion is a good way to be. One thing about birders (myself included): when they take up birds, they often do so to the exclusion of all else in nature. I know of many birders who would unwittingly stomp on an orchid in pursuit of a warbler. So when I learned birds, I immersed myself in field marks and song. (I actually learned eastern bird songs from a 33 rpm record.) Then came Birding by Ear on cassette, which was incredible (probably still is as a way to learn). It's also helpful that I learned birds while I was young, fleet of foot, and with sharp eyesight and hearing. Now that that's no longer the case (😀), I can more methodically turn my learning to other taxa (mostly botany for me now). I've lugged plenty of big botany manuals in the field with me (and not much else). For me, the focus is contemplative, a welcome relief from the fusillade of life.

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This has in fact been my experience of serious birders! Though I’ve never seen one stomp on an orchid, to be fair. ;)

That is an amazing lifelong learning story, honestly (have you written that story? I could see it as a beautiful essay for somewhere like the Center for Humans & Nature). I wish I’d learned when I was younger. I was put off of birding in particular quite young by a parent who knew birds very well but a) didn’t teach me, and b) often chided me for not knowing. (See also: fly fishing.) Which is largely why I turned hard into plants and geology when given the chance! I’m trying to get over the psychological flinch because it really is so, so beautiful—you’ve helped with that. 😀

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Okay, yeah, true, a bit of hyperbole on the orchid thing. 😆 Funny, I tend to write more about the vagaries of growing old as a field biologist, rather than my trajectory getting here. But thanks for the idea! The comments for this post are guiding me on that topic as well (especially where my thesis might be weak or incorrect).

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Looking forward to reading what comes! And for what it’s worth I read your thesis as apps being of limited usefulness when actually learning identifications and ecologies in depth, which I think bears out.

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I've actually got a colleague (a former student of mine) who takes issue with that thesis; so I'm looking forward to more discussions with him!

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Looking forward to it even more now!

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Actually, I can see good arguments for neurodiversity in particular. Depending on how the app is developed. I can’t stand most online K-12 math programs, for example, but I’ve seen one developed for kids with dyslexia that’s very good for everyone.

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

As I learned about nature as a pre-teen I learned and broadened my understanding of nature by reading John Borroughs and others who gave context to their observations. There was a bookshelf full of then I was ready to enjoy field guides to specific groups. Even then I collected older publications like the volumes by Bent on birds of North America. I do love books and finding real organisms where the belong. Also understanding where to look and to be discovering for myself. Thank you for this post. Again you got me to reflect on how I came to love so much of the natural world.

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I suspect we'll turn more toward those old manuals the older we get, Sue? I myself am partial to William Hamilton Gibson, about whom I really should write. (Do you know him?) To my mind, he was better than Burroughs, Muir and Thoreau (the naturalist, not necessarily the philosopher).

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I don’t have it in my collection.

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Nov 28, 2023·edited Nov 28, 2023Author

Sharp Eyes is among his best (I own many of his books). He was incredible. Died at age 46, which may be why so few have heard of him, even here in New England. I need to change that.

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I will look for that one!! Thank you.

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I too prefer books to apps. I have a small library of birding books and have at least five field guides just devoted to shorebirds..though like someone said, 'i don't do gulls!'. Most of my field guides are specialized to the western United States. Field guides that provide seasonal ranges, juvenile and gender identification and best of all, behavior, are my favorites. Peterson and Sibley are my go-to favorites.

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Ah, you've made my day, Michael. Thanks! I suspect I'll add more birding book suggestions to that Field Guide to Field Guide. And my aspiration now will be to inspire you to "do gulls." The Chasing Nature Classroom's first video lecture will be 1.5 hours on "Getting Gulls" (same order as shorebirds, after all)!

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Particularly nice post, Bryan.

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So is a "mild rant" a real thing? 😀

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Field guides are the way! I want to have a field guide for everything. Currently eyeing up one for bird eggs and one for bird feathers respectively to join my Peterson guide to bird nests.

The guides are also so helpful for more complex identifications like lichens and fungi. I recently picked up a physical book for identifying macrolichens and its brought lovely insight into my PNW naturalist explorations. The knowledge in that book simply isn’t on the internet or an app. And it’s far too complex for AI.

Seek and Merlin are the two mainstays on my phone. I love using Seek as a branching off point: it tells me where to start. And Merlin is also really helpful for learning bird calls while out on walks. It’s hard to remember a bird call and reference it later especially when it’s hard to know where to start.

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Thanks, Emma. I've got Brodo's Lichens of North America, which to my mind is perhaps the only coverage of any taxon that makes it as both an identification manual AND a coffee table book. It's beautiful. And at some point I'll explore how well a new birder can learn and remember songs by using Merlin. I learned them more systematically (with records, the kind that go on record-players 😀), and from Birding by Ear, which grouped similar songs for learning (trills, robin-like, etc). I'll be interested to learn how new birders learn from Merlin.

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I very much appreciate that you used the phrasing “as a branching off point” in a comment about lichens 😀

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I have to confess to loving Merlin for identifying bird calls. I am not a birder; per se,'and but feed the birds and hear a lot of characters in my backyard. I like to be able to say, oh, hello Carolina wren. Hey, Ms Titmouse, what's up Purple finch. Etc. Otherwise I am apt to be saying, is this the party to whom I am speaking?

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I may be the only person in the birding world who has never used Merlin. But I do want to discover how new birders learn with it. I do think it's an amazing app.

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This was so on point. I like using the apps, but I find deciphering clues using my guides more helpful to my learning process – I can almost feel the connections being made in my brain! Ha! I think the apps are a terrific tool when used along with field guides, so you'll usually find me out in the field with a pocket guide, the apps on my phone (I use Merlin to help me identify birdsong), and my nature journaling kit making notes, jotting down questions and guesses, and drawing what I see to later research and subsequently make my illustrations.

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Thanks for this, Susannah. Yeah, I should have pointed out that when I use an app like Seek to help me identify something, I don't stop there. I either use what I already know or use manuals or field guides to place the species in context -- usually family, tribe and genus. It like what I tell new birders: The key is to first know a vireo, for example, when you see one. You might say to yourself, "You know, I don't know exactly what this bird is, but I suspect it's a vireo (because I generally know vireo family characteristics)." Then you can go to your field guide (or even the app) to get the exact species. But to first know a vireo, to know what it means to be a vireo in form and function, it really helps to learn vireos in a book. Then the apps can help. (If only I could illustrate with one-quarter of your talents!) 😀

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You are so kind. Thank you! I have to say I really appreciate the resource on your website and have added some guides to my wishlist!

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I must do a shout out for the late George Misch Sutton, Oklahoma's premier birder and artist. I, when younger actually preferred his bird art to the immortal GTP!

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Sutton, like his mentor Fuertez, was an exquisite illustrator. When I gaze at his work, it just makes me feel serene and good and happy.

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Nov 28, 2023·edited Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Thank you Bryan for championing the use of books for learning!

Owning a number of bird field guides is essential to my sussing out plumage nuances. Even then I still goof up but books will always be my primary resource.

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Thanks, Sue!

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

Great read!

Thank you, a perfect time to be buying guides for gifts. I need to buy myself the Dragonflies and Damselflies.

You are so right about the apps. My husband and I finally gave in and graduated from a flip phone about two years ago. Yes, I know, about time and any other snarky comment you have available.

I was very excited to load any nature apps I could find. You are absolutely correct. Most function as a verification of what you already think you’re looking at. Some of the plant apps are so far from being correct that it seems almost fiction. I do love Merlin.

And no worries on the snowy owl prediction.

Unless you have an owl buddy that brings you messages to let you know

( Harry Potter had a Snowy owl) then we’ll let it slide.

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Harry Potter had a Snowy; I've got eBird! 😂

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Nov 28, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

I’d rather have a Snowy

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Great rant and agreed on books over apps. I've flirted on and off with the ebird and merlin apps and finally uninstalled them both for good over the Summer. I found I was not really paying attention on my hikes.

As for Snowy Owls and Snow Geese up here in the Ottawa Canada area, we've had a lot of Snow Geese moving through and will no doubt be in Northern New York State by now. I did look for Snowy Owls last weekend West of Ottawa where they are known to Winter, but I wasn't able to see any. Can't wait for the Snowy Owls to return!

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Thanks for the update, Neil. Yeah, you know it's a quiet year for Snowy Owl is there are none yet near Ottawa. As you probably know, over the past 20 years or so, we've been seeing the vanguard of any irruptions as early as October. In any event, please keep me posted from Ottawa!

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This is brilliant, Bryan. It's the best, most nuanced discussion on the topic I've seen. We're all about the field guides here. And what you're now offering paid subscribers makes Chasing Nature the best deal around. We'll be digging into your guide to guides with enthusiasm.

Side note: You haven't mentioned opportunities to see snow geese in Maine, so I'm assuming there isn't a particularly good site?

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Thanks, Jason. That Maine and provincial butterfly atlas is amazing. Dragonflies of Maine are on the way! And on the Snow Geese, I'm not aware of any reliable spot for them in Maine. The eastern population of Snow Geese (Greater Snow Geese) in our region generally moves south along the St. Lawrence (hence through the Champlain Valley of New York and Vermont). Any birds to your north probably just pass Maine by on their way to wintering grounds along the mid Atlantic coast. There are indeed lots of sightings from Maine, of course, but in low numbers from scattered locations. Snowy Owls are way more reliable in October and November (except so far this year) in Maine!

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Oh well, Maine can't have everything, I suppose. We need to leave some highlights for those poor souls in upstate NY and VT who don't have an ocean...

By the way, Heather is very happy to see this post on the virtues of physical field guides. As she said, "See, I'm not just a stubborn Luddite; I have some back-up now." Though she is, cheerfully, a stubborn Luddite.

We really like the butterfly atlas; it far exceeds our level, but will serve us well. Excited for Dragonflies of Maine. Have you provided images for that as well?

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By the way, at long last, I'm reading Alfred Lansing's "Endurance." Amazing!

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Well, that's a rabbit hole I can help you with. One of the few things I know well is Antarctic literature. If you ever want recommendations to follow up Lansing's excellent account, let me know. For now, though, enjoy that tale of tales. The Endurance story is like a orchestral piece that keeps swelling even when you think it can't get any more dramatic, and then it builds again, and again...

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Although the ship only bypassed Antarctica on its ill-fated journey, The Wager by David Grann was my "can't-put-down" read of the year, with Endurance in second place. I've been escaping more and more into this kind of disastrous adventure writing (makes me less of a complainer in life, at least I hope so). 😀

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I'll check out The Wager. You might consider following up Endurance with Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World. It's less a roller-coaster thrill ride than a descent into (a very frozen) hell. Both groups of men should have died many, many times. Cherry-Garrard is an excellent writer. Then there's Mawson's Home of the Blizzard, and the story of Nordenskjold's expedition which nearly rivals the Endurance for marvels of survival....

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Nov 30, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

What about Reinhold Messner's all but unobtainable "Antarctica"? Or Fienne's book? Walks across the top of the world!

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I like Messner's grumpy tale, not least because he found slogging across the ice much harder than scrambling up the impossible peaks of the Alps. Fiennes was even grumpier. My favorite modern crossing book is by Borge Ousland, yet another amazing Norwegian.

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Nov 30, 2023Liked by Bryan Pfeiffer

One lesson from reading those accounts, is to never, ever undertake a long traverse with a friend! The friendship will not survive it! Everything about your companion will become a potential source of irritation- even the way they tie their shoes!

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... which, of course, brings to mind the old joke about the two friends being stalked by a puma, prompting one of whom to slowly pull from from his backpack and don a pair of running shoes ....

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Indeed. I can vouch for the alternative, having undertaken a three-month two-man gig on an Antarctic glacier with a guy I'd met just a couple weeks before. We got along famously - still do - having spent the summer getting to know each other rather than becoming tired of each other.

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