I got a nice bird guide ("National Geographic Complete Birds of North America") for a belated Christmas present last month. Now I have a modern bird guide that includes Eastern North America. (I previously got a field guide to Western Birds while I was out in California.) In conjunction with a digital camera, I can identify a lot more birds--I tend to have a hard time remembering all the pertinent details of a quick flash of feathers going by.
( Seagull photos )