Download or read book The Delightful Horror of Family Birding written by Eli J. Knapp and published by Torrey House Press. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "For the nature lover with a sense of humor." —SIERRA MAGAZINE Eli Knapp takes readers from a leaky dugout canoe in Tanzania and the mating grounds of Ecuador's cock–of–the–rock to a juniper titmouse's perch at the Grand Canyon and the migration of hooded mergansers in a New York swamp, exploring life's deepest questions all along the way. In this collection of essays, Knapp intentionally flies away from the flock, reveling in insights gleaned from birds, his students, and the wide–eyed wonder his children experience. The Delightful Horror of Family Birding navigates the world in hopes that appreciation of nature will burn intensely for generations to come, not peter out in merely a flicker. Whether traveling solo or with his students or children, Knapp levels his gaze on the birds that share our skies, showing that birds can be a portal to deeper relationships, ecological understanding, and newfound joy. ELI J. KNAPP, PhD, is professor of intercultural studies and biology at Houghton College and director of the Houghton in Tanzania program. Knapp is a regular contributor to Bird Watcher's Digest, New York State Conservationist, and other publications. An avid birdwatcher, hiker, and kayaker, he lives in Fillmore, New York, with his wife and children.

Download or read book When Birds Are Near written by Susan Fox Rogers and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-15 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this dazzling literary collection, writers explore and celebrate their lives with and love for birds—detailing experiences from Alaska to Bermuda, South Dakota to Panama. In When Birds Are Near, fresh new voices as well as seasoned authors offer tales of adventure, perseverance, and fun, whether taking us on a journey down Highway 1 to see a rare California Condor, fighting the destruction of our grasslands, or simply watching the feeder from a kitchen window. But these essays are more than just field notes. The authors reflect on love, loss, and family, engaging a broad array of emotions, from wonder to amusement. As Rob Nixon writes, "Sometimes the best bird experiences are defined less by a rare sighting than by a quality of presence, some sense of overall occasion that sets in motion memories of a particular landscape, a particular light, a particular choral effect, a particular hiking partner." Or, as the poet Elizabeth Bradfield remarks, "We resonate with certain animals, I believe, because they are a physical embodiment of an answer we are seeking. A sense of ourselves in the world that is nearly inexpressible." When Birds Are Near gives us the chance to walk alongside these avid appreciators of birds and reflect on our own interactions with our winged companions. Contributors: Christina Baal, Thomas Bancroft, K. Bannerman, R. A. Behrstock, Richard Bohannon, Elizabeth Bradfield, Christine Byl, Susan Cerulean, Sara Crosby, Jenn Dean, Rachel Dickinson, Katie Fallon, Jonathan Franzen, Andrew Furman, Tim Gallagher, David Gessner, Renata Golden, Ursula Murray Husted, Eli J. Knapp, Donald Kroodsma, J. Drew Lanham, John R. Nelson, Rob Nixon, Jonathan Rosen, Alison Townsend, Alison Világ

Download or read book Dead Serious written by Eli J. Knapp and published by Torrey House Press. This book was released on 2021-09-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: FOREWORD INDIES BRONZE WINNER, ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT "Diverting descriptions of flora and fauna lead into captivating lessons about biological principles, all of which are embellished with humor. A rousing read." —FOREWORD REVIEWS Through personal stories of mishap and adventure, historical vignettes, and scenic detours, professor Eli J. Knapp dissects eighteen critical forces that lie behind the earth's sixth extinction. Drawing from experiences across the globe, Knapp peeks into odd and overlooked corners of natural history, showing how ocean–going tortoises and ghost deer can both instruct and inspire. Full of humor, hope, and self–effacing scientific savvy, Knapp's exploration of our home planet provides welcome respite in a deadly serious subject. ELI J. KNAPP, PhD, has had a fascination with wildlife ever since obsessively counting deer on his bus rides to school as a kid. His wildlife interests have put him into kayaks, hot air balloons, dilapidated land rovers, and many pairs of hiking boots in search of new species and experiences. When not watching birds, Eli teaches courses in conservation biology, wildlife behavior, human ecology, and Swahili at Houghton College in western New York, where he is a tenured professor of intercultural studies and biology. His research interests spawn out of a three–year stint living in Serengeti National Park, where he studied the coexistence of people and wildlife around protected areas. Eli now enjoys sharing nature with his wife and three children, and has chronicled his adventures in The Delightful Horror of Family Birding: Sharing Nature with the Next Generation.

Download or read book Effin Birds written by Aaron Reynolds and published by Ten Speed Press. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compact, comprehensive, and very silly field guide featuring more than 200 of the rudest birds on earth—from the creator of the Webby Award–winning hit Instagram account! Effin’ Birds is the most eagerly anticipated new volume in the grand and noble profession of nature writing and bird identification. Sitting proudly alongside Sibley, Kaufman, and Peterson, this book contains more than 150 pages crammed full of classic, monochrome plumage art paired with the delightful but dirty aphorisms (think “I’m going to need more booze to deal with this week”) that made the Effin’ Birds feed a household name. Also included in its full, Technicolor glory is John James Audubon’s most beautiful work matched with modern life advice. Including never-before-seen birds, insults, and field notes, this guide is a must-have for any effin’ fan or birder.

Download or read book A Supremely Bad Idea written by Luke Dempsey and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-08-04 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unlikely birder traces his indoctrination into the hobby by a pair of obsessive fellow enthusiasts and their zealous nation-wide search for rare and noteworthy species, in an account that describes their haphazard encounters with human and natural challenges. Reprint.

Download or read book Red Tails in Love written by Marie Winn and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1999-03-30 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Updated Edition—Ten Years Later The scene of this enchanting (and true) story is the Ramble, an unknown wilderness deep in the heart of New York's fabled Central Park. There an odd and amiable band of nature lovers devote themselves to observing and protecting the park's rich wildlife. When a pair of red-tailed hawks builds a nest atop a Fifth Avenue apartment house across the street from the model-boat pond, Marie Winn and her fellow "Regulars" are soon transformed into obsessed hawkwatchers. The hilarious and occasionally heartbreaking saga of Pale Male and his mate as they struggle to raise a family in their unprecedented nest site, and the affectionate portrait of the humans who fall under their spell will delight and inspire readers for years to come.

Download or read book Birdwatching in New York City and on Long Island written by Deborah Rivel and published by University Press of New England. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This easy-to-use guide gives seasonal information for both popular birding sites and those off the beaten path. Precise directions to the best viewing locations within the region's diverse habitats enable birdwatchers to efficiently explore urban and wild birding hotspots. Over 500 species of birds can be seen in New York City's five boroughs and on Long Island, one of the most densely populated and urbanized regions in North America, which also happens to be situated directly on the Atlantic Flyway. In this fragmented environment of scarce resources, birds concentrate on what's available. This means that high numbers of birds are found in small spaces. In fact, Central Park alone attracts over 225 species of birds, which birders from around the world flock to see during spring and fall migration. Beyond Central Park, the five boroughs and Long Island have numerous wildlife refuges of extraordinary scenic beauty where resident and migratory birds inhabit forests, wetlands, grasslands, and beaches. These special places present an opportunity to see a wide array of songbirds, endangered nesting shorebirds, raptors, and an unprecedented number and variety of waterfowl. Including the latest information on the seasonal status and distribution of more than 400 species, with 39 maps and over 50 photographs, this full-color guide features information essential to planning a birding visit. It will become the go-to book for both the region's longtime birders and those exploring the area for the first time.

Download or read book Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder written by Julia Zarankin and published by Douglas & McIntyre. This book was released on 2020-09-12 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Julia Zarankin saw her first red-winged blackbird at the age of thirty-five, she didn’t expect that it would change her life. Recently divorced and auditioning hobbies during a stressful career transition, she stumbled on birdwatching, initially out of curiosity for the strange breed of humans who wear multi-pocketed vests, carry spotting scopes and discuss the finer points of optics with disturbing fervour. What she never could have predicted was that she would become one of them. Not only would she come to identify proudly as a birder, but birding would ultimately lead her to find love, uncover a new language and lay down her roots. Field Notes from an Unintentional Birder tells the story of finding meaning in midlife through birds. The book follows the peregrinations of a narrator who learns more from birds than she ever anticipated, as she begins to realize that she herself is a migratory species: born in the former Soviet Union, growing up in Vancouver and Toronto, studying and working in the United States and living in Paris. Coming from a Russian immigrant family of concert pianists who believed that the outdoors were for “other people,” Julia Zarankin recounts the challenges and joys of unexpectedly discovering one’s wild side and finding one’s tribe in the unlikeliest of places. Zarankin’s thoughtful and witty anecdotes illuminate the joyful experience of a new discovery and the surprising pleasure to be found while standing still on the edge of a lake at six a.m. In addition to confirmed nature enthusiasts, this book will appeal to readers of literary memoir, offering keen insight on what it takes to find one’s place in the world.

Download or read book The Burgess Animal Book for Children written by Thornton Waldo Burgess and published by . This book was released on 1922 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ick written by Melissa Stewart and published by National Geographic Children's Books. This book was released on 2020 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From award-winning author Melissa Stewart comes the grossest journey through the animal world you'll ever take. From ants to zorillas, get ready to discover some seriously strange animal behaviors. Slurp up soupy insides with houseflies, spit sticky saliva to build nests with birds, and fend off predators with poop-flinging caterpillars and farting snakes. And that's just the tip of the dung pile! These yucky habits may seem surprising to us, but they're totally normal for these animals. In fact, their survival depends on them."--

Download or read book Buntings and Sparrows written by Clive Byers and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-03-25 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first comprehensive guide to all the Old World buntings and North American sparrows. It includes 39 plates in full colour depicting all the species and distinct races.

Download or read book Wild Things Acts of Mischief in Children s Literature written by Betsy Bird and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2014-08-05 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Secret lives, scandalous turns, and some very funny surprises — these essays by leading kids’ lit bloggers take us behind the scenes of many much-loved children’s books. Told in lively and affectionate prose, this treasure trove of information for a student, librarian, parent, or anyone wondering about the post–Harry Potter children’s book biz brings contemporary illumination to the warm-and-fuzzy bunny world we think we know.

Download or read book A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching written by Rosemary Mosco and published by Workman Publishing Company. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part field guide, part history, part ornithology primer, and altogether fun. Fact: Pigeons are amazing, and until recently, humans adored them. We’ve kept them as pets, held pigeon beauty contests, raced them, used them to carry messages over battlefields, harvested their poop to fertilize our crops—and cooked them in gourmet dishes. Now, with The Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, readers can rediscover the wonder. Equal parts illustrated field guide and quirky history, it covers behavior: Why they coo; how they flock; how they preen, kiss, and mate (monogamously); and how they raise their young (on chunky pigeon milk). Anatomy and identification, from Birmingham Roller to the American Giant Runt to the Scandaroon. Birder issues, like what to do if you find a baby pigeon stranded in the park. And our lively shared story together, including all the things we’ve taught them—Ping-Pong, for example. “Rats with wings?” Think again. Pigeons coo, peck and nest all over the world, yet most of us treat them with indifference or disdain. So Rosemary Mosco, a bird-lover, science communicator, writer, and cartoonist (and co-author of The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid) is here to give the pigeon's image a makeover, and to help every town- and city-dweller get closer to nature by discovering the joys of birding through pigeon-watching.

Download or read book The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America written by Matt Kracht and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2019-04-02 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National bestselling book: Featured on Midwest, Mountain Plains, New Atlantic, Northern, Pacific Northwest and Southern Regional Indie Bestseller Lists Perfect book for the birder and anti-birder alike A humorous look at 50 common North American dumb birds: For those who have a disdain for birds or bird lovers with a sense of humor, this snarky, illustrated handbook is equal parts profane, funny, and—let's face it—true. Featuring common North American birds, such as the White-Breasted Butt Nugget and the Goddamned Canada Goose (or White-Breasted Nuthatch and Canada Goose for the layperson), Matt Kracht identifies all the idiots in your backyard and details exactly why they suck with humorous, yet angry, ink drawings. With The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America, you won't need to wonder what all that racket is anymore! • Each entry is accompanied by facts about a bird's (annoying) call, its (dumb) migratory pattern, its (downright tacky) markings, and more. • The essential guide to all things wings with migratory maps, tips for birding, musings on the avian population, and the ethics of birdwatching. • Matt Kracht is an amateur birder, writer, and illustrator who enjoys creating books that celebrate the humor inherent in life's absurdities. Based in Seattle, he enjoys gazing out the window at the beautiful waters of Puget Sound and making fun of birds. "There are loads of books out there for bird lovers, but until now, nothing for those that love to hate birds. The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of North America fills the void, packed with snarky illustrations that chastise the flying animals in a funny, profane way. " – Uncrate A humorous animal book with 50 common North American birds for people who love birds and also those who love to hate birds • A perfect coffee table or bar top conversation-starting book • Makes a great Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthday, or retirement gift

Download or read book Felix Yz written by Lisa Bunker and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “If it wasn’t for the fused-with-Zyx thing, I suppose I would just be normal—whatever that means.” When Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside him after one of his father’s science experiments went terribly wrong. The creature is friendly, but Felix—now thirteen—won’t be able to grow to adulthood while they’re still melded together. So a risky Procedure is planned to separate them . . . but it may end up killing them both instead. This book is Felix’s secret blog, a chronicle of the days leading up to the Procedure. Some days it’s business as usual—time with his close-knit family, run-ins with a bully at school, anxiety about his crush. But life becomes more out of the ordinary with the arrival of an Estonian chess Grandmaster, the revelation of family secrets, and a train-hopping journey. When it all might be over in a few days, what matters most? Told in an unforgettable voice full of heart and humor, Felix Yz is a groundbreaking story about how we are all separate, but all connected too.

Download or read book Still Life written by Melissa Milgrom and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2010-02-14 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After her curiosity is piqued by a safari gone awry, a journalist delves into the curious world of taxidermy and shares her findings. It’s easy to dismiss taxidermy as a kitschy or morbid sideline, the realm of trophy fish and jackalopes or an anachronistic throwback to the dusty diorama. Yet theirs is a world of intrepid hunter-explorers, eccentric naturalists, and gifted museum artisans, all devoted to the paradoxical pursuit of creating the illusion of life. Into this subculture of passionate animal-lovers ventures journalist Melissa Milgrom, whose journey stretches from the anachronistic family workshop of the last chief taxidermist for the American Museum of Natural History to the studio where an English sculptor, granddaughter of a surrealist artist, preserves the animals for Damien Hirst’s most disturbing artworks. She wanders through Mr. Potter’s Museum of Curiosities in the final days of its existence to watch dealers vie for preserved Victorian oddities, and visits the Smithsonian’s offsite lab, where taxidermists transform zoo skins into vivacious beasts. She tags along with a Canadian bear trapper and former Roy Orbison impersonator—the three-time World Taxidermy Champion—as he resurrects an extinct Irish elk using DNA studies and Paleolithic cave art for reference; she even ultimately picks up a scalpel and stuffs her own squirrel. Transformed from a curious onlooker to an empathetic participant, Milgrom takes us deep into the world of taxidermy and reveals its uncanny appeal. “Hilarious but respectful.” —Washington Post “Engrossing.” —New Yorker “[A] delightful debut . . . Milgrom has in Still Life opened up a whole world to readers.” —Chicago Tribune “Milgrom’s lively account will appeal to readers who enjoyed Mary Roach’s quirky science books.” —Library Journal

Download or read book Little Hours A Novel written by Lil Copan and published by Lil Copan. This book was released on 2021-06-09 with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2022 GOLD WINNER: NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS - FICTION/SMALL PRESS 2022 FINALIST: NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS - REGIONAL FICTION Book Description When Miriam—restless, and longing for something she cannot name—picks up a copy of Sister Bird’s Guide to Small Birds she finds on the last page an invitation from the Sisters at St. Hildegard Monastery on Plover Point—“we gladly respond to questions about the life of birds and the life of faith.” Debut novelist Lil Copan brings us a book for birdwatchers, coffee drinkers, baseball fans, bumper-sticker readers, animal lovers and all those who care about life's most piercing, unanswerable, tender, humanizing questions. One set of letters over the course of two years reveals deep internal conflicts, a small farm on the verge of going under, a nun with a gambling addiction, and another with a profound secret that might upend everything the community worked so hard for. When an innocent birding question begins this special correspondence, what emerges is a revelatory journey of the spirit. Reviews "I read it straight through. I'm not confident that I even breathed while reading it. The novel is a wonder! Formally, literarily, and spiritually, it's just staggering. Wise and absorbing. Reading LITTLE HOURS, I had the all too rare experience of losing the self-conscious awareness that I was reading; I was, instead, simply and suddenly placed in a world that was both familiar and unfamiliar to me. What a gift." —Lauren F. Winner, author of Girl Meets God "What characters they are: finely drawn, indelibly comic, charming, irascible, forbidding, wise. And foolish, as we all are, in most compelling, most believable, ways. Beautiful writing and penetrating intelligence . . . [reminding us] sometimes wayward paths end up being the surest." —Carlene Bauer, author of Frances and Bernard "Gorgeously written. Lil Copan's luminous new book will do wonders for your soul." —James Martin, author of Building a Bridge "Little Hours is immediately funny, intimate, and soul-tending. From the first exchange of letters, you love the women writing them. You realize that their questions, desires, and temptations are your own, so you hang on every word, waiting to learn and grow along with these beautiful characters. This book is so true, and so gentle and loving in its truth telling." —Vinita Hampton Wright, author of Velma Still Cooks in Leeway "This is one of the best models for spiritual companionship I’ve seen in print. It’s a profound book. I hope that my listeners will pick it up and will love it as I have loved it." –David Dault, host of Things Not Seen radio show and podcast