SCOTT SHALAWAY Facts and fiction for summer reading

As you pack for vacation this summer, don't forget to take along a few good books. Here are a few titles that have come to my attention in recent months.
Rachel Porter's in trouble again, this time in coastal Georgia where she's investigating the mysterious deaths of endangered manatees.
Rachel is the invention of Jessica Speart, author of Avon's Rachel Porter Mystery series. In this seventh Rachel Porter mystery, our heroine has been transferred to Georgia where rednecks and good ol' boys make life for a young female agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a never-ending series of challenges. I've developed a real affection for Rachel over the last seven years, and I always look forward to reading her latest adventures.
Author Speart's background as a soap opera actress, her passion for wildlife conservation, and her ability to tell a tale combine to make Coastal Disturbance (2003, $6.99) great summer reading for the beach or the back porch.
Avid birder
The Verb To Bird:" Sightings of an Avid Birder by Peter Cashwell (2003, $14.95, Paul Dry Books) is a delightful series of essays on birds, birders, and birding. If you've ever wondered what makes birders tick, this book offers some entertaining answers. That it is witty and well written just makes it a more satisfying read.
If you're looking for a birding book from a more authoritative source, check out Pete Dunne on Bird Watching: The How-to, Where-to, and When-to of Birding (Houghton Mifflin, 2003, $12.00). Pete is arguably North America's best and best-known birder, and he's also a terrific writer. If you've never had a chance to bird with Pete, this is the next best thing. It's like picking his brain on the topics he knows best -- optics, field guides, birding tours, birding etiquette, birding by ear, and much more.
Speaking of field guides, The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Knopf, 2003, $19.95) is the latest bird guide to hit book stores. If you found Sibley's Guide to Birds (2000) too big and heavy to carry afield, the publisher has done a great job condensing it to true field guide size. It covers 650 species and includes detailed range maps and more than 4,200 detailed illustrations. While Sibley's encyclopedic Guide to Birds never leaves my desk, this new field guide will travel well. (The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America was also published earlier this year.)
Butterflies listed
Butterflies of North America by Jim Brock and Kenn Kaufman (Houghton Mifflin, 2003 $22.00) is a terrific book for anyone interested in butterflies. Detailed range maps and more than 2,200 digitally enhanced color images cover all the butterflies that inhabit the continental United States, Alaska, and Canada.
The text includes the larval food plants for each species, and this is critical information because without caterpillar food plants, you can't have caterpillars, and without caterpillars, you can't have butterflies.
Finally, if you love hummingbirds and I've never met anyone who doesn't, The Wildlife Gardener's Guide to Hummingbirds and Songbirds from the Tropics by Susan Day, Ron Rovansek, and Jack Griggs (HarperCollins, 2003, $14.95)) is must reading. The stunning photos of the birds and flowers alone are worth the price of the book, but this guide goes far beyond pretty pictures. You'll learn the pros and cons of various nectar feeders, how to attract tropical migrants with fruits, and the value of water.
Detailed guide
But the most important feature of the book is its detailed guide to growing plants for hummingbirds. Learn how to grow the 12 best nectar plants, including trumpetcreeper, cardinal flower, bee balm, and trumpet honeysuckle.
Specific suggestions for making a variety of habitats and geographical areas more hummer-friendly make this an invaluable reference book. The final chapter describes and illustrates the most common hummingbirds and tropical song birds that visit our backyards. If you need a gift for a nature lover this summer, I strongly recommend The Wildlife Gardeners' Guide to Hummingbirds.
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