Butterflies Through Binoculars: A Field Guide to the Boston-New York-Washington Region Paperback - 1993

From the publisher

For decades, bird watchers have delighted in the freedom and joy of nature armed only with binoculars and a good field guide. In more recent years, amateur naturalists have also turned their lenses to the world of butterflies, whose myriad species and fantastic shapes and colors offer an
intriguing challenge to even the most seasoned birder. But while bird enthusiasts have always had the help of accurate and accessible handbooks, those observing butterflies have had no such advantage. Until now, that is.
In this unique field guide, Jeffrey Glassberg has made butterfly watching a less frustrating and far more rewarding pastime, showing us how to find, identify, and enjoy the nearly 160 species that inhabit the Northeast. Butterflies Through Binoculars is the first butterfly guide to combine
the immediacy and vividness of actual photographs of living butterflies with the traditional field guide format. While older guides cater to the collector, offering drawings that show the captured and mounted insect, this book shows butterflies in their natural poses and in the correct size
relationship to related species. With Butterflies Through Binoculars in hand, the brilliant Tiger Swallowtail, the more dour Mourning Cloak, even the Rare Skipper itself will not elude identification by the beginning--or, for that matter, the more seasoned--observer. By focussing the guide on the
Boston to Washington corridor, Glassberg has excluded the species from unrelated areas that have made older field guides so cumbersome. In addition, he provides entirely new field marks for butterfly identification, demonstrates how to identify subjects by way of the key characteristics butterflies
are likely to display in their natural settings, shows how species can be recognized both from above and below, and explains how to differentiate between males and females.
Besides being a handy guide to identification, Butterflies Through Binoculars also tells readers where to find particular species, giving a complete account of flight times, ranges, and seasonal patterns. Nine major locations for butterflying are described in great detail, and readers are
directed to forty specific locations where uncommon--even rare--species can be found. And throughout the book, the basic natural history of each species is considered in a lively, readable fashion.
For butterfly enthusiasts, for bird watchers who want to add a new dimension to their hobby, for anyone who is simply interested in exploring the wilds of their own back yard, Butterflies Through Binoculars will offer hours of delightful help and instruction.

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