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	(Ross's Gull header by Dave Hawkins)

Related Articles • Meet David Sibley • Meet Tim Gallagher -author of the Grail Bird • Meet Dominic Couzens, author of Atlas of Rare Birds • Meet Geoff Hill, author of National Geographic Bird Coloration • Other Book Reviews • Birds of Kazakhstan - review by Peter Kennerley • More Feature Birding Articles Monte Taylor is a Canon Professional Photographer. His images have been published in National Geographic, National Audubon Society Field Guides and Magazines, Birding, Western Birds, and numerous other books, magazines, periodicals, CD's, DVD's, and research papers over the last 30 years. His accomplishments include photographing nearly all (over 800 species) of the expected bird species, including many of the rarest, in North America. To that he has added many of the large mammals, cetaceans, and sea mammals and expanded into species from Japan, China and east Asia. He has also been in the number one position on the most photographed birds in the American Birding Association area (North America) for the last few years! His travels have taken him to each state and province on the North American continent, north of Mexico (and Mexico as well), including many trips to Japan, China and east Asia. His most favorite places are Alaska, California, southeastern Arizona, Florida, Ohio, Texas, Japan, China, British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, Canada. Latest Birding Books >> Latest Book Reviews >> Atlas of Rare Birds offers a guide to some of the rarest birds in existence, with maps that show where to find them. Focusing on fifty captivating stories of the very rare, it describes remarkable discoveries of species not seen for centuries and brought back from the brink of extinction, successes like the Seychelles Magpie-Robin and the California Condor. The book is organized around key groups of species, with each species the subject of its own mini-chapter; we learn about the five most amazing tales of island endemics, the five most bizarre cases of a bird's becoming threatened, and other astonishing tales of bird life. Atlas of Rare Birds is an accessible, readable, and visually appealing take on the serious subject of threatened birds and possible extinctions - a timely topic because of increasing concerns about climate change and habitat destruction. The atlas format - featuring 200 colour photographs and 61 colour maps - shows the global nature of the problem and brings together the many strands of the concerted bird conservation effort taking place on every continent. Atlas of Rare Birds is published in association with BirdLife International, the world's largest global alliance of bird conservation organizations.		One Man's Quest to Photograph every ABA Bird Monte Taylor talks to Surfbirds about his quest to photograph every species found in the ABA geographical area of North America "A quick glimpse through the glass lens of a bird may be all that is needed for most, but for photographers, it takes immeasurable patience and persistence to get that bird photographed in a recognizable image. Sitting on the sea ice alongside the Bering Sea with a 40 knot wind in your face trying to get just one image of an Ivory Gull, being eaten alive by mosquitos in the Everglades whilst hoping to photograph a Thick-billed Vireo, are only part of what it takes to photograph birds. That has been my passion for the last 50 years, and will be till I am no longer able to lift that big heavy lens any longer." Bar-tailed Godwit, Alaska, copyright Monte Taylor My interest in birds and nature began at the age of nine in the northern U.S. state of Illinois. Blue Jays and Cardinals and nesting American Robins in our yard were fascinating to me. About that time my parents had given me a Kodak Brownie Camera (wow does that go back in time!) which got me thinking why not take pictures of birds? With my Kodak Brownie in hand I took my first photos of a Robin and its nest of bright blue eggs! Soon after we moved to southern Florida and after visiting the Everglades I was really hooked. Eventually I found myself photographing many species while birding. But there were times that I didn't take the camera, and some of those 'seen' species became nemesis 'photo' birds for me for years to come! Lesson: never miss the opportunity in life as you don't know when it will occur, if ever, again. With any passion however comes adventures that often were much about the people and places as it was the species I sought. Sandhill Cranes, Bosque-del-Apache, copyright Monte Taylor One of my earliest birding acquaintances whom I have become a lifetime friend is BJ Rose of Missouri. We had met in Alaska forty miles out the Kougarok Road from Nome (nearest gas station = 40 miles) with his rental truck having two flat tires. BJ had photographed more birds than any other in the U.S. at that time and he encouraged me to do the same - and it stuck. Others such as the late Arnold Small and Herb Clarke were also instrumental in teaching me a great deal and encouraging me. On nearly every 'chase' I would run into friends such as Sandy Komito or David Narins, or one of my most often travel companions, Ebbe Banstorp, and that has afforded me more opportunities and the motivation at times to just buy that airline ticket and go for that bird! Places too, such as southeastern Arizona, south and coastal Texas, south Florida, the prairie states, Bosque del Apache, New Mexico, migration stopovers such as Pt. Pelee, Ontario or Crane Creek, Ohio, my home state of California, or my most favorite place on earth, Alaska, nearly as big as all of the continental U.S, draw me back again and again for the great photo ops they afford. Arctic Tern, Alaska, copyright Monte Taylor Attu Island, Alaska especially has been one of my most memorable. A magical place in my mind so far from any civilization and the potential for unbelievable asian strays. My fortune to have been able to go there on several occasions and photograph so many of the rarest species to be found in the U.S. cannot be surpassed. Recounting those memories of my Attu trips and all the people whom I was honored to have met and bird with almost overshadows the birds that I first saw and photographed there. One of those Attu trips was a shorebird bonanza, and a shootout for me as a photographer. Although the Attu 'rule' was to ensure that all birders on the island had seen the bird before photographing, once the last birder had their feast, I would move in for my turn. That spring we had all four Stints (Little, Temminck's, Long-toed, and Rufous-necked), Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Gray-tailed Tattler, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Pintail Snipe, Common Greenshank, and Spotted Redshank. I ran through over 50 rolls of film pretty quickly! As the years went by I was finally approaching a major milestone. My own set birding list totals and goals had all been attained, but for photographed species there was one special number for me, and that was 800. In June of this year, my Son, Christopher Taylor (an excellent up and coming nature photographer in his own right), called me and told me there was an Orange-billed Nightingale Thrush in South Dakota. We deliberated, only for about 5 minutes, then got tickets and were in the air that afternoon. The next morning we found the thrush by ear but seeing, and more difficultly, photographing the bird, was another story. Finally Christopher with his unbelieavable ears and eyes got all of us on the bird and I was able to fire off a number of shots of my 800th ABA photo bird. Laysan Albatross, California, copyright Monte Taylor Although that was a huge milestone what I find most special was that is was another trip with my son, Christopher, and being able to run into numerous birder friends such as Paul Sykes of Georgia, Larry Peavler of Indiana, Ebbe Banstorp of California, and the beautiful scenery found in the Badlands of South Dakota. My most recent chase started out for one species, a Greylag Goose which was being seen in Nova Scotia, Canada. Ebbe Banstorp and I bit the bullet and bought tickets to Halifax and off we went, not knowing whether or not the goose would even be there once we arrived ("wild goose chase"?). Our first morning found nothing but empty fields, but alas, here came the flocks of Canadas in from the Bay of Fundy in the west settling down on the fields. We quickly scurried over for our best vantage spot and picked out the Greylag. That morning we had also heard of a Pink-footed Goose in New Brunswick, about 2+ hours away. We shot up toward New Brunswick and while en route got a call from Stuart Tingley of NB telling us that a Barnacle Goose had just been found in Prince Edward Island province! We looked at each other almost in disbelief of how lucky could we be. About another 30 minutes and we had the Pink-footed. Now it was off to Prince Edward Island nearly a 3 hour drive before the sun set. We made it to the Barnacle Goose just before dark and saw it. A THREE Goose day! Although I didn't get photos that evening of the Barnacle due to minimum light, the very next morning drove back and found and photographed the Barnacle Goose for my 805th photo bird for the U.S. Baikal Teal, Arizona, copyright Monte Taylor A quick glimpse through the glass lens of a bird may be all that is needed for most, but for photographers, it takes immeasurable patience and persistence and attempts to finally get that bird photographed in a recognizable image. Photographing birds is much different than chasing and then seeing them through your scope or binoculars. Although most know about weather and conditions (mosquitos, heat, cold, humidity, dangers, etc.) the pursuit of photographing a species brings a much greater measure of tolerability and patience. Sitting on the sea ice alongside the Bering Sea in late May with a 40 knot wind in your face for hours trying to just get off one image of a rare species such as Ivory Gull, being eaten alive by mosquitos on Snake Bight Trail in the Everglades in the August heat / humidity looking for and hoping to photograph a Thick-billed Vireo, or having to spend hours in a non-hospitable (people) spot to just get that photo is only part of the substance it takes to photograph birds. That has been my passion for the last 50 years, and will be till I am no longer able to lift that big heavy lens any longer! Monte M. Taylor http://www.tsuru-bird.net White-tailed Hawk, Texas, copyright Monte Taylor