Part Two is the field guide proper, with brilliant photographs and pithily informative descriptions of over 1,000 of the flora and fauna to be found there, covering lichens and conifers, wildflowers and ferns, spiders and insects, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There are vivid pictures of feral horses and mule deer, an elk cow nuzzling her calf and a male elk strutting with his antlers, and there are photos and write-ups for wolverines and mountain lions, moose, caribou, and bison. There are also wonderful pages full of whirligig beetles and margined burying beetles, hairy rove beetles and spotted tiger beetles, not to mention the jagged ambush bug and meadow spittlebug. The flora section is appealing, as well, with delicate western bog laurel and orange honeysuckle close-ups, cliff fendlerbush flowers and Pacific red elderberry, water smartweed and purple western monkshood. There's also an appendix of parks and preserves, and pages full of the constellations you can see at night with no city lights to mar the view. With a century of nature preservation under its belt, Audubon does justice to the field-guide genre. --Stephanie Gold

Product Description
Filled with concise descriptions and stunning photographs, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Rocky Mountain States belongs in the home of every Rocky Mountain
resident and in the suitcase or backpack of every visitor.This compact volume contains:

An easy-to-use field guide for identifying 1,000 of the state's wildflowers, trees, mushrooms, mosses, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, butterflies, mammals, and much more;

A complete overview of the Rocky Mountain region's natural history, covering geology, wildlife habitats, ecology, fossils, rocks and minerals, clouds and weather patterns, and the night sky;

An extensive sampling of the area's best parks, preserves, mountains, forests, and wildlife sanctuaries, with detailed descriptions and visitor information for 50 sites and notes on dozens of others.

The guide is packed with visual information -- the 1,500 full-color images include more than 1,300 photographs, 11 maps, and 16 night-sky charts, as well as more than 100 drawings explaining everything from geological processes to the basic features of different plants and animals.

For everyone who lives or spends time in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming, there can be no finer guide to the area's natural surroundings than the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Rocky Mountain States.