Amazon.com Review
The Pacific Northwest is a cornucopia of extraordinary outdoor diversity. Pocket- and purse-friendly, this field guide covers habitats (subalpine meadows to rain forests to desert shrub to salt marshes) in addition to topography and geology (with explanations of the Oregon Dunes, Columbia Plateau Basalts, Mount St. Helens volcano, and a variety of minerals). Flora and fauna, however, make up the bulk of the book, with 1,000 of the most common species found in the Pacific Northwest. From mushrooms and algae to trees and wildflowers, fishes, frogs, flies, birds, and mammals, each species is identified with a color picture, short description, and notes on the habitat and season in which you'd encounter it. There's also an excellent chapter on Northwesterners' favorite topic of conversation--the weather--plus a guide to constellations and the night sky, for those evenings when it's clear. It behooves anyone who likes nature and lives in or visits the Pacific Northwest to carry the easy-to-use and beautifully put-together
Audubon Society Field Guide at all times.
--Stephanie Gold
From the Inside Flap
Filled with concise descriptions and stunning photographs, the
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest belongs in the home of every Pacific Northwest resident and in the suitcase or backpack of every visitor. This compact volume contains:
An easy-to-use field guide for identifying 1,000 of the region's wildflowers, trees, mushrooms, mosses, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, butterflies, mammals, and much more;
A complete overview of the Pacific Northwest's natural history, covering geology, wildlife habitats, ecology, fossils, rocks and minerals, clouds and weather patterns and night sky;
An extensive sampling of the area's best parks, preserves, beaches, forests, islands, and wildlife sanctuaries, with detailed descriptions and visitor information for 50 sites and notes on dozens of others.
The guide is packed with visual information -- the 1,500 full-color images include more than 1,300 photographs, 14 maps, and 16 night-sky charts, as well as 150 drawings explaining everything from geological processes to the basic features of different plants and animals.
For everyone who lives or spends time in Washington or Oregon, there can be no finer guide to the area's natural surroundings than the
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest.