Fifty Common Birds of Oklahoma and the Great Southern Plains

Rating:
Summary: Useless as a guidebook, mildly entertaining otherwise
Review: I wanted to like the book, but was gravely disappointed. I was originally going to rate it two stars--I raised it to three because the author seems such a nice guy! The book consists of fifty sets of two facing pages, each set devoted to a bird. On the right is a painting, usually showing a side view of the bird and nothing else. On the left is a page of text on the bird, usually an anecdote about the author's experience with the species. Most of the stories are very dated, from the 1940s or 1950s. I find the book mildly amusing to leaf through when I'm bored, but it is no use as a reference, didn't challenge or inspire me, and I wouldn't dream of taking it into the field. There are much better uses for your reading dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Mr. Sutton captures the wonder of birding.
Review: This book is not meant to be a field guide. Each bird's page is a description of Mr. Sutton's encounter with that bird in the wild. He captures the beauty, wonder, and excitement of birding. I realize there are some that want to make an "extreme sport" out of it, trying to see how many species one can identify in one day, by checking off your list and quickly moving on to the next one. If this is your style, then buy Peterson's. But if you are the sort of birder that can stand for an hour or more, hardly breathing, just watching and listening, then you will find this book a rich experience to savor again and again. I was very happy to find that it is still available.