Birding Northern California (Paperback)

by John Kemper (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Where-to site guide to 81 of the best birding areas in Northern California including 294 individual sites and 102 maps.

From the Back Cover
Northern California has recorded a total of 559 birds. Only two entire states have recorded more - Texas (606) and all of California (601). This book leads you to 81 prime birding areas, with 294 individual sites and 102 maps. Seasonal bar graphs are provided for regularly occurring species. A chapter on 'specialty birds' has range maps for 173 species, that both beginning and experienced birders will find of special interest. John Kemper has spent over forty years hiking, backpacking, and birding in California. He has been an educator most of his life, is active in the Audubon Society, and leads local birding field trips.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Falcon; 1st edition (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560448326
• ISBN-13: 978-1560448327
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #141,282 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most comprehensive guide to birding northern California., May 27, 1999

By A Customer

With the passion of a life-long birder and the precision of a former professor of engineering, John Kemper has written an exceptional, new site guide for northern California. Detailed information is given for 81 major locations from the Oregon border through Monterey, King, and Tulare counties plus the Kern River Valley in Kern County; Mono County and the White Mountains are included on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada

The book focuses on species of interest by listing "specialty birds" and "other key birds" at the beginning of each location description. Specialty birds include uncommon to abundant birds found primarily in the western United States, endangered or threatened species, and rare birds if the site is among the best for the bird. The text describes when, where, and how to the find the birds at each site, and this information was personally verified by John during two years of fieldwork preparing the book. Range maps and bar charts at the back of the book are cross-referenced to the best sites for each species and the time of year when each species occurs in different regions of the state. Readers will appreciate the easily readable, detailed maps and the clearly written site descriptions. Novices, long-time California birders, and birders from out of state planning their first or 100th trip to the state, will find the information needed to find the birds of interest to them and to plan successful birding trips.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book to Plan For Bird Trips, February 28, 2006

By	KM - See all my reviews

This book was better than what I had expected. I am getting ready to order several more for birding friends. I was not under the impression that is was an identification guide when I first bought the book and it isn't. But, it does tell me what to study before I travel to the very descriptive destinations.

I cannot wait for the weekend to try birding in another area close to home.

Thank-you John Kemper for a thorough guide book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Compliments to a Norcal birding field guide, July 26, 2007

By	Srinivasan Subbaraman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

- Compliments to a Norcal birding field guide
Found it very handy
Areas to improve
- Verbose format could be improved and turned more concise (tables, possibly more thumbnails and less free text) with possibly better indexing of birds vs spots to find them.