My youngest child has just graduated high school, so I've looked for a hobby to fill some of my  "empty nest"  time.

I decided on birding - which to this point has been interesting, but now I want to learn more about the birds I'm seeing!

I'm looking for a good field guide to birds in the eastern United States.  I've put several on my wish list, but thought that perhaps placing a posting on the forum might help.

I'm located in Ohio.

One thing I've found is that I prefer books with paintings rather than photos. It seems like photos would be easier to see, but it's so hard to control conditions that it makes it really tough to compare the different birds. (Is this one on the left really yellower than the others, or was it the lighting?) My current favorite is the National Geographic one.

My favorite book to use is the Audubon Society guide to birds in North American, Eastern edition.