I always carry Peterson's East of the Rockies with me because I never know what I'll see. Once out in my boat, I saw and was the first to report a Hudsonian Godwit that was taking a break on his/her way South. Generally, I don't bother with binocs, just slowly walk up to my bird with the book open if I don't know it by sight.

My son gets mentioned in P's when we see something he hasn't seen before. One morning, many years ago, a woodcock landed at my feet. He was tired and I ended up scaring a cat away from him as he rested.

Kingfishers and night herons live on the creek where we keep our boats. Once, when delivering a boat to Cape May, we had the privilege of seeing squadrons of Black Skimmers and Pelicans dining on freshly fertilized horseshoe crab roe. Life is good.