Book News

The Guide to Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape, and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places
by Robert M. Thorson

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

This is the first guidebook to Henry David Thoreau’s most defining place, visited by half a million people each year and widely known as the fountainhead of America’s environmental consciousness.

Using this guide, both armchair readers and trail-walkers alike can amble around the pond’s shoreline, pausing at fifteen special places to learn about people, historic events, and the natural world. Thoreau will be a constant companion via quotes from Walden. Stop by stop, the place of his book will merge with the book of his place.

Abundantly illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps, this guide is a must-have for a meaningful, engaging tour of Walden Pond as well as a souvenir of a visit.

We’ve all heard of it. Many have read about it. Who among us wouldn’t want to visit Walden Pond? Even so, I must admit that it probably wouldn’t have made my list of sites to see in my next visit to New England. Until, that is, this book. It will help the visitor with logistics, of course, but more than that will explain the history – both natural and literary – and significance of the site.

The Guide to Walden Pond: An Exploration of the History, Nature, Landscape, and Literature of One of America’s Most Iconic Places
by Robert M. Thorson
Paperback; 272 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; March 13, 2018
ISBN: 9781328969217
$16.99

BirdNote: Chirps, Quirks, and Stories of 100 Birds from the Popular Public Radio Show
by BirdNote; edited by Ellen Blackstone

From Sasquatch Books:

Here are the best stories about our avian friends from the public radio show BirdNote, each brief essay illuminating the life, habits, or songs of a particular bird. Why do geese fly in a V-formation? Why are worms so good for you–if you’re a robin? Which bird calls, “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?” From wrens that nest in cactuses to gulls that have a strange red dot on their bills–these digestible and fascinating bird stories are a delightful window to the winged world. A foreword by John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and an introduction by Gordon Orians, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington, are also included.

BirdNote is a program available on public radio or as a podcast. Each episode is short – two minutes long – and delightfully educational. One hundred of these episodes have been collected into this small, nicely bound volume. You lose the bird sounds that accompany the audio programs, but you gain a large, attractive illustration of a bird with every story here. They may be short, but each entry is packed with interesting stuff. Well-read birders likely know most of it, but for everyone else this would make a great introduction to the world of birds.

BirdNote: Chirps, Quirks, and Stories of 100 Birds from the Popular Public Radio Show
by BirdNote; edited by Ellen Blackstone
Hardcover; 224 pages
Sasquatch Books; March 20, 2018
ISBN: 9781632171696
$22.95

Best Places to Bird in the Prairies
by John Acorn, Alan Smith, and Nicola Koper

From Greystone Books:

In Best Places to Bird in the Prairies, three of Canada’s top birders reveal their favorite destinations for spotting local birds in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. They highlight thirty-six highly recommended sites, each of which has been expertly selected for the unique species that reside there. With exclusive lists of specialty birds, splendid color photography, and plenty of insider tips for finding and identifying birdlife year-round, the book is accessible and easy-to-use―an indispensable resource that will inspire both novice and seasoned birders to put on their walking shoes, grab their binoculars, and start exploring.

The destinations they feature are as varied as the birds that are found there, ranging from rural to urban, easily accessible to remote. The authors provide clear maps, detailed directions, and alternative routes wherever possible to ensure the experience is satisfying for first-time visitors and experienced birders alike.

This guide covers Canada’s “Prairie Provinces” of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. Twelve sites represent each of these provinces. In 4-6 pages, the author gives an overview of each site and its birding, and tells you how to get there. A map and a large, color bird photo round out each account. This isn’t a thick, detailed, comprehensive bird-finding guide like, for example, the ABA Birdfinding Guide series. Instead, these local experts give you a sense of what each site is like and provide a taste of the birding there. But that taste should be enough to whet your appetite to see these places and their birds for yourself.

Best Places to Bird in the Prairies
by John Acorn, Alan Smith, and Nicola Koper
Paperback; 280 pages
Greystone Books; May 5, 2018
ISBN: 9781771643269
$22.95

Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide
by Klaus Malling Olsen

From Princeton University Press:

With more than 50 gull species in the world, this family of seabirds poses some of the greatest field identification challenges of any bird group: age-related plumage changes, extensive variations within species, frequent hybridization, and complex distribution.

Gulls of the World takes on these challenges and is the first book to provide a comprehensive look at these birds. Concise text emphasizes field identification, with in-depth discussion of variations as well as coverage of habitat, status, and distribution. Abundant photographs highlight identification criteria and, crucially, factor in age and subspecific field separation. Informative species accounts are accompanied by detailed color range maps.

Gulls of the World is the most authoritative photographic guide to this remarkable bird family.

• The first book to provide in-depth coverage of all the world’s gull species
• More than 600 stunning color photographs
• Concise text looks at variations, habitat, status, and distribution
• Informative species accounts and color range maps

This guide features lots and lots of photos. It’s not without issues, but it is definitely worth having a specialty guide to these tricky birds. So much so that the two previous gull guides, Olsen’s own Gulls of North America, Europe, and Asia and Peterson Reference Guides to Gulls of the Americas, command high-to-insane dollar amounts on the secondary market. If you don’t already have one of those, this guide would be a worthy addition to your library.

Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide
by Klaus Malling Olsen
Hardcover; 488 pages
Princeton University Press; March 27, 2018
ISBN: 9780691180595
$45.00

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Peterson Guide to Bird Identification―in 12 Steps
by Steve N. G. Howell and Brian Sullivan

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Identifying birds can be overwhelming. Where and how do you start? The good news is that most people already know more than they realize about birds, which can greatly simplify the identification process.

Written in a helpful, conversational style and illustrated with numerous photos, this “12-step program” starts with the basics and builds logically into a manageable framework that enables anyone to get into, or get more out of, the world of watching, identifying, and enjoying birds.

This small, light-hearted book would be a great second step (after getting a field guide, of course) to anyone looking to identify birds.

Peterson Guide to Bird Identification―in 12 Steps
by Steve N. G. Howell and Brian Sullivan
Hardcover; 160 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; April 3, 2018
ISBN: 9781328662064
$17.95

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Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America
by Seabrooke Leckie and David Beadle

From Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:

Southeastern North America is home to an incredible variety of moths, from drab browns to bright yellows and pinks, the small and simple to the flashy or bizarrely shaped. Just a few are common house and garden pests; thousands more harmless species live hidden in woods and meadows. This comprehensive guide of more than 1,800 common species is the best tool for identifying and appreciating these ubiquitous insects.

With helpful tips and techniques for observing moths, range maps and graphs showing when and where to see them, and keys to identifying even the tough species, the Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America provides everything an amateur or experienced moth-watcher needs.

Moths are cool, I suppose, but I hadn’t really given them much thought. Certainly never considered trying to identify them, with their insane number of species. But now, at some point this year I will put up a white sheet and light (as described in this book) and the kids and I will use this guide to try to ID some moths. Hurray for field guides!

Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Southeastern North America
by Seabrooke Leckie and David Beadle
Paperback; 640 pages
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; March 13, 2018
ISBN: 9780544252110
$29.00

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The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet’s Great Ocean Voyagers
by Adam Nicolson

From Henry Holt and Co.:

Seabirds have always entranced the human imagination and NYT best-selling author Adam Nicolson has been in love with them all his life: for their mastery of wind and ocean, their aerial beauty and the unmatched wildness of the coasts and islands where every summer they return to breed. The seabird’s cry comes from an elemental layer in the story of the world.

Over the last couple of decades, modern science has begun to understand their epic voyages, their astonishing abilities to navigate for tens of thousands of miles on featureless seas, their ability to smell their way towards fish and home. Only the poets in the past would have thought of seabirds as creatures riding the ripples and currents of the entire planet, but that is what the scientists are seeing now today.

The Seabird’s Cry seeks to provide an understanding and appreciation of seabirds by focusing on ten different species (more like groups) that we normally think of as “seabirds”, such as albatross, shearwaters, puffins, and gulls. This book and the also recently published Far from Land look like excellent complements to each other, to the joy of seabird fans everywhere.

The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet’s Great Ocean Voyagers
by Adam Nicolson
Hardcover; 416 pages
Henry Holt and Co.; February 6, 2018
ISBN: 9781250134189
$32.00

Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds
by Michael Brooke

From Princeton University Press:

Seabirds evoke the spirit of the earth’s wildest places. They spend large portions of their lives at sea, often far from land, and nest on beautiful and remote islands that humans rarely visit. Thanks to the development of increasingly sophisticated and miniaturized devices that can track their every movement and behavior, it is now possible to observe the mysterious lives of these remarkable creatures as never before. This beautifully illustrated book takes you on a breathtaking journey around the globe to reveal where these birds actually go when they roam the sea, the tactics they employ to traverse vast tracts of ocean, the strategies they use to evade threats, and more.

Michael Brooke has visited every corner of the world in his lifelong pursuit of seabirds. Here, he draws on his own experiences and insights as well as the latest cutting-edge science to shed light on the elusive seafaring lives of albatrosses, frigatebirds, cormorants, and other ocean wanderers. Where do puffins go in the winter? How deep do penguins dive? From how far away can an albatross spot a fishing vessel worth following for its next meal? Brooke addresses these and other questions in this delightful book. Along the way, he reveals that seabirds are not the aimless wind-tossed creatures they may appear to be and explains the observational innovations that are driving this exciting area of research.

Featuring illustrations by renowned artist Bruce Pearson and packed with intriguing facts, Far from Land provides an extraordinary up-close look at the activities of seabirds.

I find seabirds to be mysterious and fascinating. This book helps to lessen the former, while increasing the latter. If anything the author says in this interview sounds interesting to you, you should most definitely read this book.

Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds
by Michael Brooke
Hardcover; 264 pages
Princeton University Press; March 13, 2018
ISBN: 9780691174181
$29.95

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A coalition of organizations, including Audubon and National Geographic, have declared 2018 to be The Year of the Bird. That seems to be extended to bird books as well – just look at all these books set to be published this year!

• The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet’s Great Ocean Voyagers
  by Adam Nicolson
  February 6, 2018; Henry Holt and Co.

  Seabirds have always been a favorite of mine. They are endlessly fascinating…

• Birds of the Photo Ark
  by Noah Strycker and Joel Sartore
  March 6, 2018; National Geographic

  Beautiful portraits along with words from Noah Strycker sounds like a winner.

• Far from Land: The Mysterious Lives of Seabirds
  by Michael Brooke
  March 13, 2018; Princeton University Press

  …in fact, seabirds are so cool that two books about them in the span of a month shouldn’t be too much!

• Peterson Guide to Bird Identification―in 12 Steps
  by Steve N. G. Howell and Brian L. Sullivan
  April 3, 2018; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  This small book presents a 12-step program for bird ID that should be a great primer for newer birders.

• Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai‘i
  by Daniel Lewis
  April 10, 2018; Yale University Press

  Hawaii’s birds are gorgeous, have an interesting story, and, unfortunately, are in trouble. I’m looking forward to learning more about them. But then I also noticed this in the book’s description: “Lewis offers innovative ways to think about what it means to be native.” It sounds like this book may challenge our – us birders, at least – definition of native. That makes me look forward to it all the more.

• Gulls of the World: A Photographic Guide
  by Klaus Malling Olsen
  April 10, 2018; Princeton University Press

  Birders are definitely in need of a new guide to gulls, especially one that covers all of them. Hopefully this book fills that void well.

• Birds of Prey of the East: A Field Guide
  Birds of Prey of the West: A Field Guide
  by Brian K. Wheeler
  May 15, 2018; Princeton University Press

  Wheeler’s previous set of guides, which utilized photographs instead of drawings, is still useful now, long after they’ve gone out of print. Since those now fetch a premium price, it’s nice to see these coming.

• Antpittas
  by Harold Greeney and‎ David Beadle(
  September 11, 2018; Helm

  Antpittas!!!!

• The Splendor of Birds: Art and Photographs From National Geographic
  by National Geographic
  October 23, 2018; National Geographic

  This looks like a visual feast. But then it ought to be, for a list price of $75!

Birdlife of the Gulf of Mexico
by Joanna Burger

From Texas A&M University Press:

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most important ecological regions in the world for birds. The mosaic of diverse habitats in the region provides numerous niches for birds. There are productive salt marshes, barrier islands, and sandy beaches for foraging and nesting; a direct pathway between North and Central and South America for migrating; and warm, tropical waters for wintering. Many species are residents all year around, some migrate through, and still others spend the winter along the shores. The Gulf Coast is home to a significant portion of the world’s population of Reddish Egret and Snowy Plover and a significant portion of the US breeding populations of certain birds, including the Sandwich Tern, Black Skimmer, and Laughing Gull. In total, there are more than 400 bird species that rely on the Gulf at some time during the year.

Drawing on decades of fieldwork and data research, renowned ornithologist and behavioral ecologist Joanna Burger provides detailed descriptions of birdlife in the Gulf of Mexico. Burger records trends in bird population, behavior, and major threats and stressors affecting birds in the region, including the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. While some of this data exists in journal articles, research papers, and government reports, this is the first volume to weave together a comprehensive overview of the birds and related natural resources found in the Gulf of Mexico.

Illustrated with over 900 color photographs, charts, and maps, this landmark reference volume will be immensely important for researchers, conservationists, land managers, birders, and wildlife lovers.

This mammoth book is a tour de force, covering the habitat, birds’ use of such habitat, threats, and status of selected indicator species for the entirety of the Gulf (not just the U.S. portion). I wholeheartedly agree with the statement above that this is an essential resource for researchers, conservationists, and land managers. For birders and wildlife lovers, I wouldn’t go as far as to say essential, but rather highly recommended if you are at all interested in learning more about this region and its birds.

Birdlife of the Gulf of Mexico
by Joanna Burger
Hardcover; 776 pages
Texas A&M University Press; January 2, 2018
ISBN: 9781623495466
$75.00

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