This book is an attempt to survey the natural history of the whole of Wales. It therefore covers such areas as Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons as well as the spectacularly beautiful Pembrokeshire coast and the less well-known but no less interesting areas of mid-Wales.Wales is a country of great geographical and biological diversity, a largely mountainous land whose eastern scarps overlook the richer plains of Mercia. William Condry is an acute observer of the potentialities of te...

With Bewick on my knee, I was then happy...' Jane EyreCharlotte Bronte's heroine was not alone in her enjoyment of Thomas Bewick's British Birds - since its first publication in 1797 it has become one of the best-loved classics of natural history. Bewick's masterful woodcuts are more than scientific records; each beady eye and jaunty pose betrays the artist's love of birds.This edition includes over 180 bird species, from garden favourites such as robins, blackbirds and fin...

Jemima Parry-Jones has devoted most of her life to working with animals, primarily birds of prey. This eBook, written with vast authority, takes the whole subject of falconry further. Jemima explains some of the motives behind the sport of falconry, the background to captive breeding, and shows how to approach both in a practical and ethical way. Details are given on the most suitable birds, on how to care for birds of prey, preventative medicine, treatment and rehabilitation to the wild o...

Written by well-known naturalists and photographers, this guide will enable the easy identification of around 1,000 of the more common insects found in the region. The carefully chosen selection represents all insect groups, with a bias towards the more prominent species, so that all the butterflies, grasshoppers, crickets, damselflies and dragonflies occurring in Britain have been included. Over 700 colour photographs show the species in their natural habitats, and around 100 line-drawing...

Human activity has irreversibly changed the natural environment. But the news isn't all bad.It's accepted wisdom today that human beings have permanently damaged the natural world, causing extinction, deforestation, pollution, and of course climate change. But in Inheritors of the Earth, biologist Chris Thomas shows that this obscures a more hopeful truth -- we're also helping nature grow and change. Human cities and mass agriculture have created new place...

A wonderful meditation on the English landscape in wet weather by the acclaimed novelist and nature writer, Melissa Harrison.Whenever rain falls, our countryside changes. Fields, farms, hills and hedgerows appear altered, the wildlife behaves differently, and over time the terrain itself is transformed.In Rain, Melissa Harrison explores our relationship with the weather as she follows the course of four rain showers, in four seasons, across Wicken Fen, Shropshire, ...

Spectacular Snakes of Australia showcases these beautiful creatures which play such an important part in our biodiversity. It portrays most of the species found in Australia, such as tiger snakes, copperheads, brown snakes, death adders and sea snakes, up close and personal. It also includes some unique photographs, such as the hatching of scrub pythons, that offer a rare glimpse into their more intimate lives. The informative text, based on the latest research, describes the reproductive bio...

‘Trees are wildlife just as deer or primroses are wildlife. Each species has its own agenda and its own interactions with human activities …’Written by one of Britain’s best-known naturalists, Woodlands offers a fascinating new insight into the trees of the British landscape that have filled us with awe and inspiration throughout the centuries.Looking at such diverse evidence as the woods used in buildings and ships, and how woodland has been portrayed in pictures and photo...

Winner of The Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Award for Non-Fiction in 2011 and the Authors' Foundation Roger Deakin Award in 2011A stunning debut in the tradition of Robert Macfarlane and Helen MacdonaldOf all the birds of the British Isles, the raptor reigns supreme, sparking the imagination like no other. In this magnificent hymn to these beautiful animals, James Macdonald Lockhart explores all fifteen breeding birds of prey on these shores – from the hen harrier swi...

What connects elephants and geckos, tortoises and larks, or cordgrass and mussels?This book recounts the interactions bringing these unlikely pairs and several others together. As animals and plants go about their lives, they sometimes alter the environment in ways beneficial for other species. Glimpses of these connections are offered by scientific studies reported from various corners of the globe.Game Changers is the first book in the series on ecosystem engineers which ...

Springwatch British Wildlife is the perfect year-round countryside introduction to the much-loved wildlife of the popular BBC2 television series.The book guides you through Britain's rich and diverse natural heritage, allowing you to enjoy the nation's wildlife at its finest – learning how the animals live and where to find them, why they do what they do and how we can appreciate them.You will be introduced to the birds, mammals and plants that inhabit our gardens, cities a...

The Kruger National Park is one of the world’s leading stewards of biological diversity. Its management requires ongoing monitoring and re-evaulation to ensure that species survive. Shaping Kruger provides fascinating insight into the lives, habits and behaviour of the larger animals that significantly affect the workings of the park. It expertly synthesizes decades of ground-breaking research into the animals and their environment, examining along the way individual species; predator-prey...