Book Review: Guide to Adirondack wildlife is occasionally frustrating

by JOHN ROWEN, Daily Gazette, link to original article

“Adirondack Wildlife” is a capably written, sometimes frustrating book that will help fans of nature and the Adirondacks welcome back the warmer weather.

The author, James Ryan, is a naturalist and a professor of biology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He brings an added level of credibility from experiencing nature in the Adirondacks firsthand as a resident and visitor, from childhood to adulthood.

The book is worth reading — but not necessarily for the reason that Ryan intends. It is titled a “field guide” and it includes numerous wildlife species, what appear to be several hundred from the ladybug to the moose. In between these creatures of greatly varying size, he describes larger insects, spiders, butterflies, about 140 fish, nearly 30 reptiles and amphibians, 118 bird species and nearly 50 mammals. He also comments on “extirpated carnivores,” such as wolves, cougars and lynx.

In field guides, such as the Peterson series, each species has a narrative description and either a color or black-and-white illustration. Often, several species are shown on the same page so a reader can use the comparative view to determine if, for example, the loud, medium-sized bird is a blue jay or a Canada (gray) jay.

“Adirondack Wildlife” describes individual species. It has 118 black-and-white illustrations, 75 color photographs and seven line drawings. The color photographs are particularly good and will help identify some of the more vividly colored insects, fish and birds in the park — as well as important mammals.
Not always helpful

But the artworks do not cover all the species in the book and are not always on the same page with the narrative. With fish, reptiles and amphibians and some of the mammals, this arrangement and level of illustration works.

However, with other classes of wildlife, such as the insects, bird and smaller mammals, it does not help the observer in the field. For example, with warblers, a category of quickly flying small birds, the reader will need to flip among the color plates in the middle of the book, the narrative and eight black-and-white photographs. In a traditional field guide, this information would be more compact, on fewer pages and easier to use with fast-moving creatures.

Despite this basic concern, “Adirondack Wildlife” has much to offer. Generally, it is well-written and well organized.

The descriptions of some species will make it easier for me to identify them in the future. I particularly liked those of birds of prey: owls, hawks and eagles. Thanks to Ryan’s writing, I finally understand the logic behind the broad classes into which birds of prey are grouped. From his bird list, I learned that cuckoos, which seemed to me like a warm-climate species, are in fact native to the Adirondacks.

In the chapter on insects, Ryan says most species “go unseen but some, like black flies and mosquitoes, are impossible to ignore.” He describes many butterflies and he dispels a myth about the Woolly Bear caterpillar. People assert that the width of the brown band on this caterpillar will predict the severity of winter. Ryan explains that “the width of the band varies greatly, even within a single brood.”
Invasive species

Invasive species are a growing concern. While Ryan’s inventory suggests the Adirondacks have not yet seen many invasives, he shows the threat in his comments on starlings. In the 19th century, a Shakespeare fan released 100 starlings in Central Park as part of an effort to ensure that every animal mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays lived in the United States. From this local introduction, starling populations have swelled to 200 million across the entire North American continent.

The last section is about cougars, wolves and lynx. These animals used to live in the Adirondacks until they were extirpated by humans. Ryan tells how an effort to reintroduce lynx resulted in them being killed by vehicles or other animals — or leaving the region.

He analyzes sightings of cougars, concludes that many are hoaxes and thinks that credible sightings may be of animals that have wandered in from Canada or Vermont. He describes how land uses in the park would make it difficult for reintroduced wolf populations to be viable on a long-term basis.

The introductory chapters describe the natural and human factors that have shaped the environment in which Adirondack wildlife lives. Ryan also describes the terrestrial and aquatic habitats which sustain wildlife.
Useful information

Whether you have studied the Adirondacks for a long time or are just becoming interested in the region, these chapters are loaded with useful information, explained in a clear and simple manner. I particularly liked the descriptions of climatic zones in the region, how temperature and elevation affect plant species and shapes forest communities. Adirondack forests include alpine plant communities at the top of high peaks, spruce-fir forests, mixed conifer-hardwood forests and maple-beech forests.

It would be wonderful if a second edition, with more illustrations as a field guide, follows. In the meantime, this is a good reference for people interested in the Adirondacks, particularly people who are just starting to learn about the region.

Adirondack Wildlife: A Field Guide’
AUTHOR: James M. Ryan
PUBLISHER: University Press of New England, 272 pages, ISBN 978-1-58465-749-1
HOW MUCH: $24.95

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