From a Q & A at his publisher's website:
Q: The Armchair Birder has returned! How is this book different from its predecessor, The Armchair Birder?--Marshal Zeringue
A: The big difference between this book and its predecessor is that The Armchair Birder Goes Coastal deals not just with different birds but with whole different kinds of birds. The Armchair Birder was about songbirds, the birds of backyard and woodland, whereas the new book is about birds of shore and marsh--wonderful, often strange, birds that youre not going to see hanging around the feeder outside your window.
Q: Why did you choose to focus on the coastal birds?
A: Coastal birds are incredible. Who hasn't watched a brown pelican dive headfirst into the surf from twenty feet high, or been amazed by the beauty and grace of a snowy egret? And the more you find out about these birds, the more fascinating they become. Besides, there are worse things in the world than having to go to the beach to do research.
Q: This time around, you traveled to the birds, journeying from North Carolina's Outer Banks, down the Atlantic coast, and westward along the Gulf of Mexico. In your experience, which place was best for bird watching?
A: Shore and marsh are lovely places, and I was never disappointed. But for diversity of species concentrated in one spot at a particular time, two places stand out:...[read on]
