Forthcoming Title

                                                                              
Here's a sneak peak of the forthcoming Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America:
http://seabrookeleckie.com/the-new-peterson-moth-guide/

                                                                                     

New Title

                                                                              
1) Sidles, Constance. Second Nature: Tales from the Montlake Fill. 2011. Constancy Press, LLC. Hardbound: 248 pages. Price: $23.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: In the rush of modern life, in the chaos of a world that is often in crisis, where can you find peace of mind? Constance Sidles finds it in nature. If, like her, you're searching for a haven that gives you respite from care and grants you hope for the future, then come with her as she takes you on a journey into the wilds of a natural area set in the heart of a big city: the Montlake Fill in Seattle.
     The Fill is 75 acres of wild beauty on the campus of the University of Washington. In 32 essays arranged into four seasons, Connie describes the birds who come here and the things they do.In the process, she reflects on the meaning of wild nature and its healing role in our modern lives.
     Connie's essays are by turns funny, serious, light, and dark. Like her first book about the Fill, In My Nature: A Birder's Year at the Montlake Fill, Connie writes about the human heart, as wild and free as the birds she finds at the Fill, as worn by care, and as lifted up by beauty.
     Her essays are illustrated with spectacular photos of the birds of the Fill, taken by some of the best wildlife photographers in the world. Visually stunning and emotionally uplifting, this book is for everyone who loves nature, both human and wild...
RECOMMENDATION: If you enjoyed the author's first book about the Montlake Fill: In My Nature, you'll enjoy this one! You can order the book here: http://constancypress.com/store/

New Title

                                                                              
1) Brooks, Matt et al.(editors). Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona (8th edition). 2011. Tucson Audubon Society. Spiralbound: 371 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S.
SUMMARY: Tucson Audubon's updated edition of Finding Birds in Southeast Arizona, its eighth, brings together all the latest information on finding birds in southeast Arizona. This is your best source of detailed information that will help in planning bird watching adventures throughout southeast Arizona.
New for the eighth edition:

*15 new birding sites across Southeast Arizona
*New maps and updated older maps
*Updated contact information and web addresses
*Updated information on existing site locations
*Updated information on entering Mexico
*Updated IBA (Important Bird Areas) information, including sites
*Information pertaining to areas affected by the 2011 fires
*New Classifieds section for businesses catering to birders
*Updated bar graphs and species accounts for all species
*Easier to use index with bolding of key pages
*Printed locally on recycled paper using renewable energy
*New simple butterfly checklist

RECOMMENDATION: A MUST have for birders interested in the region! You can order the book from the Tucson Audubon Society here: http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/what-we-do/publications/fbi.html
 Also available:              





Buteo Books Link

The Weekly Birdbooker Report

                                    Photo copyright: Joe Fuhrman

                                                                              
My WEEKLY Birdbooker Report can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/punctuated-equilibrium/2011/nov/06/1

New Title

                                                                              
1) Sinclair, Ian et al.. Birds of Southern Africa (4th edition). 2011. Princeton University Press. Paperback: 464 pages. Price: $35.00 U.S.

SUMMARY: Birds of Southern Africa continues to be the best and most authoritative guide to the bird species of this remarkable region. This fully revised edition covers all birds found in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and southern Mozambique. The 213 dazzling color plates depict more than 950 species and are accompanied by more than 950 color maps and detailed facing text.
     This edition includes new identification information on behavior and habitat, updated taxonomy, additional artwork, improved raptor and wader plates with flight images for each species, up-to-date distribution maps reflecting resident and migrant species, and calendar bars indicating occurrence throughout the year and breeding months. This book features:

*Fully updated and revised
*213 color plates featuring more than 950 species
*950+ color maps and over 380 new improved illustrations
*Up-to-date distribution maps show the relative abundance of a species in the region and indicate resident or migrant status
*New identification information on behavior and habitat
*Taxonomy includes relevant species lumps and splits
*Raptor and wader plates with flight images for each species
*Calendar bars indicate occurrence throughout the year and breeding months.

RECOMMENDATION: The page count has increased from 447 pages (in the 3rd edition) to 464 pages. I prefer this title over the Newman's Birds of Southern Africa guide.

Buteo Books Link

New Titles

                                                                              
1) Liddell, Judy and Barbara Hussey. Birding Hot Spots of Central New Mexico. 2011. Texas A&M University Press. Flexibound: 203 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S.

SUMMARY: From pine forest to desert scrub, from alpine meadow to riparian wetland, Albuquerque and its surrounding area in New Mexico offer an appealing variety of wildlife habitat. Birders are likely to see more than two hundred species during a typical year of bird-watching. Now, two experienced birders, Judith Liddell and Barbara Hussey, share their intimate knowledge of the best places to find birds in and around this important region.
     Covering the Rio Grande corridor, the Sandia and Manzano Mountains, Petroglyph National Monument, and the preserved areas and wetlands south of Albuquerque (including crane and waterfowl haven Bosque del Apache), Birding Hotspots of Central New Mexico offers twenty-nine geographically organized site descriptions, including maps and photographs, trail diagrams, and images of some of the birds and scenery birders will enjoy. Along with a general description of each area, the authors list target birds; explain where and when to look for them; give driving directions; provide information about public transportation, parking, fees, restrooms, food, and lodging; and give tips on availability of water and picnic facilities and on the presence of hazards such as rattlesnakes, bears, and poison ivy.
     The book includes a “helpful information” section that discusses weather, altitude, safety, transportation, and other local birding resources. The American Birding Association’s code of birding ethics appears in the back of the book, along with an annotated checklist of 222 bird species seen with some regularity in and around Albuquerque.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those birding in the region!

Buteo Books Link

                                                                             
2) Tattersall, Ian and Rob DeSalle. Race? Debunking A Scientific Myth. 2011. Texas A&M University Press. Hardbound: 226 pages. Price: $35.00 U.S.
SUMMARY: Race has provided the rationale and excuse for some of the worst atrocities in human history. Yet, according to many biologists, physical anthropologists, and geneticists, there is no valid scientific justification for the concept of race.
     To be more precise, although there is clearly some physical basis for the variations that underlie perceptions of race, clear boundaries among “races” remain highly elusive from a purely biological standpoint. Differences among human populations that people intuitively view as “racial” are not only superficial but are also of astonishingly recent origin.
     In this intriguing and highly accessible book, physical anthropologist Ian Tattersall and geneticist Rob DeSalle, both senior scholars from the American Museum of Natural History, explain what human races actually are—and are not—and place them within the wider perspective of natural diversity. They explain that the relative isolation of local populations of the newly evolved human species during the last Ice Age—when Homo sapiens was spreading across the world from an African point of origin—has now begun to reverse itself, as differentiated human populations come back into contact and interbreed. Indeed, the authors suggest that all of the variety seen outside of Africa seems to have both accumulated and started reintegrating within only the last 50,000 or 60,000 years—the blink of an eye, from an evolutionary perspective.
     The overarching message of Race? Debunking a Scientific Myth is that scientifically speaking, there is nothing special about racial variation within the human species. These distinctions result from the working of entirely mundane evolutionary processes, such as those encountered in other organisms.
RECOMMENDATION: If you think you understand what "race" is, read this book!

New Title

                                                                              
1) Congedo, Fiorella (editor). Birds: Adapted from Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle. 2011. Harper Design. Paperback: 287 pages with DVD. Price: $22.99 U.S.

SUMMARY: This lovely book showcases the delicate copper engravings of birds created by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Compte de Buffon (1707-88), for his masterpiece work Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière.
     The glorious birds captured within are original reproductions of Leclerc’s art, which depicts the vibrant hues of the birds’ feathers, the varying length of their wings, and their wide eyed expressions as they stand perched, always alert for symbols of danger or other forms of life that might serve as their next meal. Leclerc’s original text from Histoire naturelle is also faithfully reproduced to provide descriptive information on the birds, such as their living locations and their unique physical characteristics.
     To bring this lovely book into the 21st century, the paperback format and low price make this rare and significant volume accessible and affordable. A DVD is also included with images of the birds to be used by readers at their discretion.
RECOMMENDATION: A must have for those that collect bird art!