Читать книгу Birds of the Sierra Nevada - Ted Beedy - Страница 10

PREFACE

A day spent in the Sierra paying close attention to every aspect of landscape, weather, plants, and wildlife can be timeless, a healthy bit of immortality captured in a single day. Or, as John Muir put it: “Another glorious Sierra day in which one seems to be dissolved and absorbed and sent pulsing onward we know not where. Life seems neither long nor short, and we take no more heed to save time or make haste than do the trees and stars. This is true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”

The Sierra, Muir’s “Range of Light,” is rightly noted for its spectacular landscapes, but for the visitor who takes time to watch and listen, even the most unassuming corner is filled with wonders, delights, and surprises. The mountains hum with activity of all sorts of animals, but none are as readily observed and enjoyed as the birds. Nearly 300 species are regular visitors, and each has its own unique story to tell about where it came from, where it is going, and how it uses these mountains. And these stories are not static. In the past several decades, new species of birds have colonized the Sierra, some species have nearly vanished, populations of others have grown and spread, while some have dwindled.

We wanted to create a book that would update our knowledge of all the birds of the Sierra and would enhance and deepen the experience of a day in this range for the serious ornithologist as well as the casual hiker. We wanted to take full advantage of the latest research that takes us deeper into the natural history of these birds. We also wanted to reap the benefit of the much finer scale of status and distribution information now available. The number of people who have the skills to find and identify these birds has increased greatly and with that, our knowledge of behaviors and ranges of Sierra birds has likewise expanded.

Words alone could never do justice to the wonder and diversity of these birds. Therefore, while not making any attempt to create a “field guide,” we chose to prepare a richly illustrated book showing all the regularly occurring birds of the Sierra. We went well beyond our own personal experience and tapped into the priceless local knowledge of birders and ornithologists who live, work, and play in the Sierra. Our hope is that readers will find that time spent with this book alters the way they experience a day in the Sierra, helping them find, in that day, “true freedom, a good practical sort of immortality.”

EDWARD C. BEEDY

EDWARD R. PANDOLFINO

KEITH HANSEN