Birding the Southwestern National Parks

At the end of the twentieth century roughly 265 million people visited the 374 sites in the American National Park System. These places, designated and protected because of their significance to our nations historical and natural heritage, contain some of the most beautiful landscapes in the United Stateslandscapes that naturally lend themselves to outdoor recreation.In this book, veteran parks interpreter Ro Wauer introduces the pleasures of birding in the national parks of the American Southwest. From California to Texas, from hugely popular destinations such as Arizonas Grand Canyon to the mostly undiscovered shores of Amistad National Recreation Area, Wauer visits seventeen sites and gives us his advice on what birds to expect to see and where and how to find them.Written by a birder for birders, this book introduces readers to some of the best birding north of the Mexican border, as well as some of the most impressive scenery anywhere. Wauer takes readers on a personal tour, pointing out where to go to see a vast array of each parks bird life: Le Contes Thrashers in Death Valley, Clarks and Western Grebes at Lake Mead, Phainopeplas at Organ Pipe Cactus, Lucys Warblers at Saguaro, Peregrine Falcons in Grand Canyon, Cave Swallows at Carlsbad Caverns, Magnificent Hummingbirds at Guadalupe Mountains, and Colima Warblers in Big Bend.Birding the Southwestern National Parks is written for anyone visiting, planning to visit, or dreaming of visiting the Southwestern national parks.The Southwestern Parks:Death Valley National Park, California and NevadaJoshua Tree National Park, CaliforniaLake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada and ArizonaGrand Canyon National Park, ArizonaSunset Crater Volcano, Wupatki, and Walnut Canyon National Monuments, ArizonaMontezuma Castle National Monument, ArizonaTonto National Monument, ArizonaOrgan Pipe Cactus National Monument, ArizonaSaguaro National Park, ArizonaChiricahua National Monument, ArizonaCarlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Parks, New Mexico and TexasWhite Sands National Monument, New MexicoBig Bend National Park, TexasAmistad National Recreation Area, Texas