New Titles

1) Black, Jeffrey M, Jouke Prop, and Kjell Larsson. The Barnacle Goose. 2014. T & A D Poyser. Hardbound: 287 pages. Price: $85.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: The Barnacle Goose, a distinctive, handsome black-and-white bird, gets its name from a medieval myth that the birds hatched from barnacles--how else to explain their sudden appearance each autumn in northern Britain? We now know, of course, that the birds migrate from Arctic Russia, Norway and Svalbard to winter throughout northern Europe. This book represents a culmination of more than 25 years of Barnacle Goose research. It represents the story of one of Europe's most celebrated long-term behavioral studies, detailing the lives of these social and sociable birds.

      Chapters include sections on pair formation and bonding, family and population dynamics, brood parasitism, food and feeding, size and shape in different populations, life cycle, survivorship, dispersal, migration, and conservation, with particular regard to climate change. It is a rigorous and thorough examination of the lives of these birds, in fine Poyser tradition.  

RECOMMENDATION: A must have for anyone with a serious interest in the species.

2) Dinets, Vladimir. Peterson Field Guide to Finding Mammals in North America. 2015. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Paperback: 348 pages. Price: $19.95 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: To see a fog shrew, should you go to Muir Woods National Monument? If you’re planning to visit Yellowstone National Park, what animals can you expect to see? When should a photographer visit to get a shot of a gray fox?     
     A mammal finder’s guide (rather than an identification guide), this book tells you how to look, where to go, and what you are likely to find there. Two main sections provide a choice of looking up information by place or by species: The first includes regions of North America, highlighting the best places to look for mammals. The species-finding guide has accounts of more than four hundred species of mammals, including detailed directions to specific parks, refuges, and other locations; the best times of day (or night) to look; and much more information specific to each mammal.
RECOMMENDATION: A useful location guide to North American Mammals.

3) Kaufman, Kenn, Kimberly Kaufman, and Jeff Sayre. Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest. 2015. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Paperback: 416 pages. Price: $20.00 U.S.
PUBLISHER'S SUMMARY: Even if we focus on certain things in the outdoors, most of us are curious about everything else that might turn up. Serious birders, botanists, and entomologists all have their specialized guides, but this book is the guide to “everything else"—the one guide to take when you go out for a walk. Wow, that’s a cool-looking mushroom. Wonder what it is. Hey, look at that weird insect.
     Birds, mammals, trees, wildflowers, insects, reptiles, amphibians, fish, spiders, mushrooms, ferns, grasses, even constellations overhead and rocks underfoot—it’s all here. With authoritative yet broad coverage, nontechnical language, and more than two thousand color photographs, this book is an essential reference for nature lovers living in or visiting Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.
RECOMMENDATION: A well illustrated introduction to the natural history of the region.