Showing titles in Birdwatching

In The Swallow, Stephen Moss documents a year of observing the swallow close to home and in the field to shed light on the secret life of this extraordinary bird. We trace the swallow's life cycle and journey, and the key part the swallow plays in our traditional and popular culture.

"This deeply personal book is a delight for those who already value our feathered friends and is a perfect introduction for those who are new to birding."—Caroline Quentin Birdwatching is for everyone. Discover how simple, everyday encounters with birds can help you bond with the natural world...

Nature took on a new importance for thousands of people when the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Britain, providing solace in a time of great anxiety - not least because the crisis struck at the beginning of spring, the season of hope and renewal, and furthermore, in an extraordinary conjunction, the spring of 2020 turned out to be the loveliest spring ever recorded in Britain. Three nature writers, living like everyone else under lockdown, but walking out each day to exercise, resolved to record their experiences of the coronavirus spring, in widely contrasting parts of the country. 

A stunning and panoramic history of native birds in Aotearoa, from the bestselling author of The Meaning of Trees For millions of years, the song of the birds echoed throughout Aotearoa, with no one around to hear it. While the arrival of humans would transform their story forever - birds may...

Rosemary and Peter Grant and those assisting them have spend 20 years on Daphne Major, an island in the Galapagos, studying natural selection. They recognize each individual bird on the island, when there are 400 at the time of the author's visit or when there are over a thousand. They have observed about 20 generations of finches - continuously.Jonathan Weiner follows these scientists as they watch Darwin's finches and come up with a new understanding of life itself.

The book traces Conor Jameson's travels in search of the Goshawk, a magnificent yet rarely seen (in Britain at least) raptor. Each episode of the narrative arises from personal experience, investigation, and the unearthing of information from research, exploration, and conversations. The journey takes him from an encounter with a stuffed Goshawk in a glass case, through travels into supposed Goshawk territories in Britain, to Berlin - where he finds the bird at ease in the city. Why, he wants to know, is the bird so rarely seen in Britain?

Derek Jones meets celebrities with a love of wildlife in these 37 episodes from the classic nature-themed interview show Between 1970 and 1980, broadcaster Derek Jones invited a host of famous names to chat about their enthusiasm for nature and their encounters with animals. Delving into the BBC...

This download showcases some of the most exquisite sounds that can be heard in the natural world, from the rich, melodious songs of the Blackbird, Pied Butcherbird and Nightingale that are full of complexity, ingenuity and perfectly arranged phrases, to the breathtaking compositions of the Skylark, Albert's Lyrebird and White-rumped Shama, and the rhythmical variations on a theme from the Chiming Wedgebill and White-browed Robin-chat.

When we see a bird flying from branch to branch happily chirping, it is easy to imagine they lead a simple life of freedom, flight, and feathers. What we don't see is the arduous, life-threatening challenges they face at every moment. Beaks, Bones and Bird Songs guides the listener through the myriad, and often almost miraculous, things that birds do every day to merely stay alive. Like the goldfinch, which manages extreme weather changes by doubling the density of its plumage in winter.

Domesticated since the dawn of man, pigeons have been used as crucial communicators in war by every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. They have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Charles Darwin relied heavily on pigeons to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet today they are reviled as "rats with wings."

William Henry Hudson was a founding member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Though born in Argentina, Hudson came to England in 1874, where he remained until his death in 1922. Absorbed by nature, and in particular by the lives and activities of birds, his acute observations on wildlife led to some charming books which helped establish the pastime of bird watching. Birds in Town and Village is one of his classics. It is a truly engaging rumination on birds, as he watched them go about their daily lives. It is unfailingly charming, and read with an easy, relaxed tone by Neville Jason.

From his Cornish boyhood, Rory recounts his life of birdwatching, observing his first skylark while stoned; his repeatedly failed attempts to get up at the crack of dawn like the real twitchers; and his flawed bid to educate his mate Danny in the ways of birding. Rory's tale is a thoroughly...

Call of the Kingfisher is the enchanting debut from composer and wildlife recordist, Nick Penny. This love letter to a short stretch of Northamptonshire’s River Nene celebrates all the wild things that live there, especially the kingfishers.

A gorgeous, witty account of birding, nature, and the beauty around us that hides in plain sight, written and illustrated by the best-selling author of The Joy Luck Club With a foreword by David Allen Sibley “Unexpected and spectacular” —Ann Patchett, best-selling author of These...

50 Things to Know About Birdwatching was made with the beginner in mind, but it is useful to anyone who enjoys birdwatching! It includes everything you need to know to make your birding experiences the most enjoyable and successful. You will learn ways of identifying bird species, how to stay safe while in different habitats, how to keep a log on the birds you see and why, and so much more. By the time you finish listening, you will know at least 50 things to know about birdwatching!

'A tour-de-force survey of how birds live their lives - with all the drama, surprise, humour, sadness and amazement of any human soap-opera' - Stephen Moss, author of Ten Birds That Changed the World 'Utterly fascinating . . . Strassmann is the perfect guide to this world: an author as much...

Feathers are an evolutionary marvel: Aerodynamic, insulating, beguiling. They date back more than 100 million years. Yet their story has never been fully told. In Feathers, biologist Thor Hanson details a sweeping natural history, as feathers have been used to fly, protect, attract, and adorn through time and place. Applying the research of paleontologists, ornithologists, biologists, engineers, and even art historians, Hanson asks: What are feathers? How did they evolve? What do they mean to us?

As development and subsequent habitat destruction accelerate, there are increasing pressures on wildlife populations. But there is an important and simple step toward reversing this alarming trend: Everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity. Bringing Nature Home has sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human well-being, and this audio edition will help broaden the movement. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical recommendations, everyone can make a difference.

Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune hopes an overseas birding trip will hold some clues to solving his fugitive brother’s manslaughter case. Meanwhile, his longtime nemesis Laraby has been drafted in as cover to investigate an accountant’s murder. With the manslaughter case poised to claim another victim, Jejeune learns that his girlfriend, Lindy, is in grave danger, and she needs Jejeune. Soon, he is faced with a further dilemma. He can speak up on a secret he has discovered to Laraby’s case, knowing it will cost his job on the north Norfolk coast he loves. Or he can stay silent and let a killer escape justice.

In 2021, Ruby Free, 21, got her dream job working on an RSPB reserve. But this position wasn’t for the faint hearted – it meant moving to live on Rathlin Island, off the County Antrim coast. One of the wildest and most biodiverse corners of the UK and Ireland, to Ruby, who had grown up in the south-west of England, it felt both thrilling and very far from home.