Books for Your End-of-Summer Staycation Adventure!

There's still time to wring some more fun adventures out of the summer, without even leaving the state! We are still hoping to check out Tinkertown and Meow Wolf. The Santa Fe Opera's season continues until the end of August. Gallup's Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial is just around the corner, as is Santa Fe's Indian Market. All fun things, but maybe you have a more strenuous adventure in mind, or closer to nature? Camping, birding, hiking - there's a lot of scope for outdoor adventures here in the Land of Enchantment! We hope you'll take advantage of some of the resources the library catalog has to offer when planning your summer fun, whether it's outdoorsy or not so much! Here are some books you might helpful:

Camping

Camping in America's Western County and City Parks by Don Wright

Best Tent Camping, New Mexico: Your Car-Camping Guide to Scenic Beauty, the Sounds of Nature, and an Escape From Civilization by Monte Parr

Camping New Mexico: A Comprehensive Guide to Public Tent and RV Campgrounds by Melinda Crow 

Birding

Birding Hot Spots of Santa Fe, Taos, and Northern New Mexico by Judy Liddell and Barbara Hussey

Winging It: A Beginner's Guide to Birds of the Southwest by Catherine Coulter ... [et al.]

Hiking

Hiking Four Corners: A Guide to the Areas' Greatest Hiking Adventures by J. D. Tanner and Emily Ressler-Tanner 

Hiking to History: A Guide to Off-Road New Mexico Historic Sites by Robert Julyan 

Best Hikes Near Albuquerque by JD Tanner and Emily Ressler-Tanner 

New Mexico Wilderness Alliance Wild Guide, 2014 edited by Tina Deines

60 Hikes Within 60 Miles Albuquerque: Including Santa Fe, Mount Taylor, and San Lorenzo Canyon by Stephen Ausherman

Cycling

Best Bike Rides Albuquerque and Santa Fe: A Guide to the Greatest Recreational Rides in the Area by J. D. Tanner, Emily Ressler-Tanner, and Shey Lambert

Mountain Biking Northern New Mexico: A Guide to Northern New Mexico's Greatest Off-Road Bicycle Rides by Bob D'Antonio 
 

Miscellaneous Adventure

Walking Albuquerque: 30 Tours of the Duke City's Historic Neighborhoods, Ditch Trails, Urban Nature, and Public Art by Stephen Ausherman

By the Way--: A Guide to New Mexico's 25 Scenic Byways by Laurie Evans Frantz, Lesley S. King, Marti Niman

Roadside New Mexico: A Guide to Historic Markers by David Pike

The Basic New Mexico Bucket List: 100 Things To Do in New Mexico Before You Die by by Barbe Awalt

Off the Beaten Path New Mexico: A Guide to Unique Places by Nicky Leach

Signs & Shrines: Spiritual Journeys Across New Mexico by Sharon Niederman

A Spy's Guide to Santa Fe and Albuquerque by E.B. Held

Touring New Mexico Hot Springs by Matt Bischoff

Backroads & Byways of New Mexico: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions by Sally Moore

Light, Landscape, and the Creative Quest: Early Artists of Santa Fe; with, Walking in the Path of the Artists: A Guide Booklet to the Artists' Homes by Stacia Lewandowski      


Want more ideas? There's always the New Mexico Tourism Department. Or, check out a Museum Discovery Pass from a library branch near you - some of them are expiring at the end of the month. In September, you might also check out: ¡Globalquerque!, The Pie Town Pie Festival, or The State Fair. Do you have any last minute summer fun plans? Let us know your destination in the comments!

Picture credit:

New Mexico.. Photography. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 26 Jul 2016.
http://quest.eb.com/search/137_3080670/1/137_3080670/cite

 

Birding New Mexico

One of my co-workers is an enthusiastic birder (she's one of the top 100 eBirders in New Mexico!) & she's inspired me to take on a completely new subject today: birding or birdwatching.

You think you know birding?  My dad looks for birds in his backyard & on walks, & I've always considered him a birdwatcher, but there are whole aspects of birding I'd never considered. According to Wikipedia, "In the 20th century most of the birding activity in North America was done on the east coast. The publication of Roger Tory Peterson's field guide in 1934 led to the initial increase in birding. Binoculars became more easily available after World War II, which made this easier. About 4% of North Americans were interested in birding in the 1970s and in the mid 1980s at least 11% were found to watch birds at least 20 days of the year. An estimate of 61 million birders was made in the late 1980s." There are birding activities, such as planned excursions to foreign climes to observe birds; some birders participate in a volunteer census such as the Christmas Bird Count;& there are competitive birdwatching competitions such as "Big Day" (teams have 24 hours to identify as many species as possible).  Ever heard of "twitching" or "chasing"?  Not a synonym for birder, a "twitcher" is someone who travels long distances to see a rare bird to check it off a list. 

My co-worker took up birding several years ago & has totally immersed herself in the birding world!  If you are interested in learning about birding or taking field trips with other birders, she suggests that you "like" Central New Mexico Audobon Society on Facebook for updates; the Rio Grande Nature Center has guided bird walks on Saturday & Sunday; & she recommends the UNM campus (including the duck pond) & the Sandia foothills (where the east/west roads end) as prime birding locations.

Some new & recommended reads for adult birders:

Bird Sense: What It's Like to Be a Bird by Tim Birkhead

Bird Songs: 250 North American Birds in Song by Les Beletsky

The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior by David Allen Sibley

Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans by John Marzluff and Tony Angell

What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World by Jon Young

Zen Birding by David M. White & Susan M. Guyette

Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding by Scott Weidensaul

New Mexico Bird Finding Guide by John Parmeter, Bruce Neville, & Doug Emkalns

Birding Hotspots of Central New Mexico by Judy Liddell & Barbara Hussey

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik (the book was also adapted into a movie)


Know a child interested in birding or want to interest a child in birding?  Try these titles!

Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard by Loree Griffin Burns

Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf by Olivia Bouler

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

What's That Bird?: Getting to Know the Birds Around You, Coast-to-Coast by Joseph Choiniere & Claire Mowbray Goldin

Backyard Bird Watching for Kids: How to Attract, Feed, and Provide Homes for Birds by George H. Harrison


Online resources for birders:

Central NM Audobon Society

NM Ornithological Society

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

American Birding Association