New Titles

 

1) Birkhead,Tim. The Great Auk: Its Extraordinary Life, Hideous Death and Mysterious Afterlife. 2025. Bloomsbury Sigma. Hardbound: 288 pages. Price: $28.00 U.S. 

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: The Great Auk was a flightless, goose-sized bird superbly adapted for life at sea. Fat, flush with feathers and easy to capture, the birds were in trouble whenever sailors visited their once-remote breeding colonies. Places like Funk Island, off north-east Newfoundland, became scenes of unimaginable slaughter, with birds killed in their millions. By 1800 the auks of Funk Island were gone. A scramble by private collectors for specimens of the final few birds then began, a bloody, unthinking destruction of one of the world's most extraordinary species.

     But their extinction in 1844 wasn't the end of the Great Auk story, as the bird went on to have a remarkable afterlife; skins, eggs and skeletons became the focus for dozens of collectors in a story of pathological craving and unscrupulous dealings that goes on to this day.

     In a book rich with insight and packed with tales of birds and of people, Tim Birkhead reveals previously unimagined aspects of the bird's life before humanity, its death on the killing shores of the North Atlantic, and the unrelenting subsequent quest for its remains.

     The Great Auk remains a symbol of human folly and the necessity of conservation. This book tells its story.

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST-READ for anyone with an interest in the Great Auk and/or enjoys Birkhead's writing! 

 

 

 

2) Talbott Roché, Cindy et al.. Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington (Second Edition). 2025. Oregon State University Press. Paperback: 486 pages. Price: $45.00 U.S. 

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: As the comprehensive reference for 394 species, subspecies, and varieties of grasses, Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington has become the definitive identification resource for amateurs and professionals alike throughout the region. With 18 additional species, updated names, new keys, and improved photos and maps, the second edition provides an in-depth and refreshed treatment of both native and introduced grasses that grow wild in Oregon and Washington and their neighboring states and provinces.

     This guide covers the entire spectrum of grasses, from weedy invaders to rare native species. It shows how grasses are valued for habitat restoration in numerous environments—from wetlands to deserts, and from sea level to alpine. Field Guide to the Grasses of Oregon and Washington provides identification keys, species descriptions, photographs of each species (both in the field and through a microscope), habitats, and range maps. Users will especially appreciate the labeled macrophotographs that illustrate hard-to-see diagnostic features.

     Biologists, land managers, botanists, and consultants, as well as plant professionals, home gardeners, and amateur plant enthusiasts, will find this guide an indispensable reference for identifying all the grasses encountered in the diverse habitats of Oregon and Washington. 

RECOMMENDATION: This book is a MUST-HAVE for those with a serious interest in the grasses of the region!