Comments on: A modern (holistic) approach to Tree Identification

By: Cindy

Cindy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:50:17 +0000

I’m admittedly lacking in my ability to identify bare trees, and look forward to purchasing your guide so I can build my skills in that area. (It would be nice to be able to write in my winter journals that I spotted a bird in a ‘(fill in the _ tree’ instead of just ‘a tree’) Although I’ve been a naturalist for all of my years, we’re never too old to learn. Thank you for helping so many do just that!

By: Lindsey D.

Lindsey D. — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:36:17 +0000

I finally got to open the Guide to Trees tonight, and I too hope people make lists using it. I made my own (actually based on one I made using your Guide to Birds) in Excel – it is a list only of the tree species I’d actually find in my local area (I determined this by looking at the range maps on each page), organized how you have them in the book – ‘Family’ in Column A, any breakdown by ‘Genus’ in Column B, the common name (and noting if it’s a non-native) in Column C, scientific name in Column D, and any other common names you had listed in Column E. I highlighted in green all species that appeared on the range map to cover the entire state/to be common. I immediately started recognizing how certain tree species I’d seen before were similar, I now have a simple highlighted list of species in my local area that are common so I can focus on those, and it even helped me realize that friends all summer were calling trees a different common name than one I actually knew. I made my birding spreadsheet list in May and it proved invaluable – in fact, people started asking for seasonal versions of it, especially after I updated it with the state Breeding Bird Atlas data for the counties my friends and I bird in.

I, for one, find the holistic approach you took to be intuitive, and I noticed on a lot of pages you illustrated parts of the tree almost anyone would naturally find interesting when first approaching it, but not just one or two, but all of them, giving a well-rounded approach. I often pick up acorns, cones, interesting colored or shaped leaves off the ground, and check out the shapes of trees – you put all of these things where they would be of interest.

By: Ken Januski

Ken Januski — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:02:56 +0000

As I read this I remembered your advice in Birding Basics to try to sketch the birds that you see, even if you don’t know how to draw. I couldn’t help but think of this while reading the post.

Of course you may actually say this in the new guide. I haven’t read it yet only because I’m waiting to see if I get it as a birthday present later this month. But if you haven’t suggested something like that it sure strikes me as a good idea: sketching and comparing general shapes of trees, specific leaves, twig structure, etc. It’s such a good way to see better, though I’m sure you know that well.

We were recently at Cape May talking an avid birder there who said one of his family might be getting your new tree guide but he certainly wouldn’t be reading it! A died in the wool birder and birder only. But my reaction especially after reading this post is that you’re really doing the world a great service with this guide, especially by trying to get people to look at trees in a new way. Over time even that avid birder may decide that he’s missing something and take another look at trees.