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Birdscapes: A Pop-Up Celebration of Bird Songs in Stereo Sound
Product Description Get ready for the most groundbreaking entry to date in the bestselling Birdsongs series (more than 400,000 copies sold!). Birdscapes delivers an immersive birding experience never before seen--or heard--in any book. For the eyes: seven elaborately engineered full-color pop-ups portraying dozens of bird species in diverse North American habitats from the Alaskan Tundra to a Southeast swamp. For the ears: extended recordings of the birds' calls and songs in stereo from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For the serious birder: scientifically accurate illustrations of the birds and moving text about their fragile ecosystems. This beautifully crafted volume is a visual and audio delight! "Pop-up books aren't just for kids anymore! This multimedia experience transports you to seven natural habitats in North America and immerses you in the birds and their songs. --Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation, National Audubon Society
"Birdscapes is a delight for the eyes and the ears--a tour of North America's bird-rich ecosystems, rendered as seven lavishly detailed, three-dimensional landscapes, and brimming with choruses of authentic bird songs and calls." --Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind and Of a Feather
An Interview with Miyoko Chu, Director of Communications at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
 Q: When did you first become interested in birds?
A: When I was 11, my father and I rescued some pigeons from a poultry truck in San Francisco's Chinatown. I spent a lot of time in the backyard coop, watching the pigeons as they courted and raised their young. It was amazing to realize all this drama was playing out with wild birds everywhere, too, and to have the opportunity to study it.
Q: What's your favorite bird song and why?
A: My favorite song is that of the Scott’s Oriole, featured in the desert scene of Birdscapes. Hearing that clear, bubbling melody in the desert is an unforgettable experience.
Q: What was the best thing about working on Birdscapes?
A: It was exciting to go from the ideas and bird lists for each soundscape to seeing and hearing this three-dimensional product as it emerged from the minds of the artists, editors, and sound engineers. It was incredible to see the artists' sketches transform into complex and ingenious pop-up scenes, and to experience how precise recordings for each bird were blended to evoke the soundscape.
Q: Have you visited all of the seven different bird habitats featured in Birdscapes?
A: Of the seven habitats, I'm most familiar with the desert, where I studied birds during 1995-2000, and the eastern deciduous forest, which is right outside my office window. I have visited the Great Plains and Pacific evergreen forests. I have not been to the Arctic, a southern swamp, or a seabird colony. In writing those scenes, I benefited from the insights of my colleague Gerrit Vyn, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s audio production engineer, who selected the recordings, including some that he had recorded on recent expeditions to these habitats.
Q: Which habitat in Birdscapes did you enjoy writing about the most and why?
A: Actually, there were two that I enjoyed the most--for completely opposite reasons! I loved writing about the desert because I had spent so much time there, and remembered the sights and sounds so vividly. And it was great fun to write about the seabird colony because that was something I had never experienced before—and I was completely surprised by what I learned. Whether an individual seabird's voice or thousands, the sounds are awe-inspiring, and the birds have such an interesting lifestyle as they all cram on to a bit of rock for the breeding season.
Q: Are you a daily birder or a weekend birder?
A: I'm an opportunistic birder! I'm always watching and listening for birds around my house and neighborhood. But in between work and spending time with my family, my focused birding these days happens irregularly, on the spur of the moment. My office at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology overlooks Sapsucker Woods, so I sometimes slip outside to look for birds after getting an email alert about a good migration day, or when I notice people outside my window pointing up at the trees.
Q: Do you have any suggestions for beginning birders?
A: Invest in a pair of binoculars and practice becoming comfortable with them. It will open up a whole new world, enabling you to see many more birds than you may have even realized were around you before. Spend time getting to know the different kinds of birds you see, the reasons for their behaviors, and the many kinds of sounds they use throughout the year.
Excerpts from Birdscapes
Click on each image below to see a larger view of the page.
More to Explore .
Price: $39.90
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National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Fifth Edition
Birding is the fastest growing wildlife-related activity in the U.S., and even conservative estimates put the current number of U.S. birders at 50 million According to the New York Times, some authorities predict that by 2050 there will be more than 100 million—and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America will be the essential reference for field identification and the cornerstone of any birder's library. This is the ultimate, indispensable bird field guide—comprehensive, authoritative, portable, sturdy, and easier than ever to use. Among the the new edition's key elements and practical improvements: Every North American species—more than 960, including a new section on accidental birds—classified according to the latest official American Ornithologists' Union checklist 4,000 full-color illustrations by the foremost bird artists at work todayand newly updated range maps that draw on the latest data New durable cover for added protection against adverse weather, plus informative quick-reference flaps that double as placemarkers New reader-friendly features like thumbtabs that make locating key sections faster and easier, and a quick-find index to direct users straight to the information they need..
Price: $12.73
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Silent Spring (Edition 001)
First published by Houghton Mifflin in 1962, Silent Spring alerted a large audience to the environmental and human dangers of indiscriminate use of pesticides, spurring revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. "Silent Spring became a runaway bestseller, with international reverberations . . . [It is] well crafted, fearless and succinct . . . Even if she had not inspired a generation of activists, Carson would prevail as one of the greatest nature writers in American letters" (Peter Matthiessen, for Time"s 100 Most Influential People of the Century). This fortieth anniversary edition celebrates Rachel Carson"s watershed book with a new introduction by the author and activist Terry Tempest Williams and a new afterword by the acclaimed Rachel Carson biographer Linda Lear, who tells the story of Carson"s courageous defense of her truths in the face of ruthless assault from the chemical industry in the year following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death in 1964..
Price: $5.08
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Fairy Houses ... Everywhere! (The Fairy Houses Series) (The Fairy Houses Series)
Take a peek! Just turn these pages and discover a world filled with whimsical habitats constructed from natural materials. The idea is to entice a fairy to stop by for a visit. From rustic dwellings to fairy mansions, these small structures are appearing in woods, parks, backyard gardens and even at the beach. But beware! Building fairy houses can be addictive for all ages. Symptoms include exploring the outdoors, being creative, sparking the imagination and discovering Nature s enchantment. You know you re really hooked when you start building fairy houses ... everywhere!.
Price: $9.08
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If I Ran the Zoo (Classic Seuss)
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A Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America
Roger Tory Peterson had already made his mark with his innovative field guide when he conducted DDT research during World War II. His friend and fellow naturalist Rachel Carson built on these efforts and eventually wrote Silent Spring, a landmark text that, along with Peterson"s field guide, jump-started the modern environmental movement. By combining the tireless observation of a scientist with the imaginative skills of an artist and writer, Peterson created a field guide that Robert Bateman, in his foreword to the fifth edition, says was the doorway for millions of people into the wonderland of natural history. The Peterson Identification System has been used in the more than fifty books that make up the Peterson Field Guide series. Peterson"s magnum opus, now in its fifth edition, created the trail for countless field guides to follow. They are still following year by year, but his is the standard by which all other field guides are judged. On the morning of July 28, 1996, Roger Peterson was painting his final bird plate. He died peacefully in his sleep later that day. It is fitting that his final work—a culmination of more than sixty years of observing, painting, and writing—should be this one, a revision of the guide that started his legacy..
Price: $11.84
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Equus
“From the outset I felt quite strongly that I wanted to celebrate the horse in its own right.” —Tim Flach, photographer No animal has captured the human imagination quite like the horse, depicted in media from cave drawings thousands of years ago through countless renderings in paint, clay, ink, even film. Award-winning photographer Tim Flach’s quest to document the horse has resulted in Equus, an intensely moving look at an animal—as solitary subject and en masse, from the air and from underwater—whose history is so powerfully linked to our own. From exquisite Arabians in the Royal Yards of the United Arab Emirates to purebred Icelandic horses in their glacial habitat; from the soulful gaze of a single horse’s lash-lined eye to the thundering majesty of thousands of Mustangs racing across the plains of Utah, Equus provides an amazing and unique insight into the physical dynamics and spirit of the horse. .
Price: $33.80
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Out on the Porch Calendar 2009 (Wall Calendars)
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Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America
This new field guide provides a suite of modern tools to effectively aid in the identification of more than 750 species of birds across North America. It introduces a "whole bird" approach by concisely gathering a collection of information about birds into one portable and well-organized volume. - 2,000 stunning color photographs of birds in natural habitats show the most important field marks, regional population differences, life stages, and behaviors
- 700-plus detailed and up-to-date color range maps show summer, migration, winter, year-round, and rare but regular occurrences of every major species
- A DVD of birdsongs for 138 major species (587 vocalizations in all for 5½ hours of play); each high-quality MP3 file is embedded with an image of the bird, perfect to view on home computers and portable MP3 players
- Concise descriptions of habits and ecology, age-related and seasonal differences, regional forms, vocalization, and informative captions pointing out the most important aspects of the bird
- 46 group essays with information outlining taxonomy, feeding, migration, habitats, behaviors, and conservation status
- A thorough and accessible introduction to birds and birding includes sections on parts of a bird, plumage and molt, food and feeding, migration, habitats, conservation, tips on bow to become a better birder, and more
- A detailed glossary of terms, species checklist, and quick index
The new Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America is perfectly designed to give birders the most powerful and user-friendly collection of information to carry into the field or wherever they enjoy learning about birds and nature. A Look (and Listen) Inside the Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America
Click on an image below to sample one of the 587 different downloadable bird songs included with the guide.  |  |  | | American Wigeon | Common Loon | Mallard |  |  |  | | Red-Winged Blackbird | Mourning Dove | Northern Cardinal |
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Price: $13.38
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The Great Minnesota Fish Book
Fishing is one of Minnesota’s consummate pastimes. The North Star state boasts the highest number of anglers per capita in the nation and the most fishing lakes. Minnesota is abundant in knowledge about how to catch game fish, but there is little information on the lore and natural history of such prized species as the walleye and largemouth bass, not to mention lesser-known varieties such as the brook stickleback and pirate perch. From trophies to bait, The Great Minnesota Fish Book tells stories of these aquatic species in rich, colorful detail.
The Great Minnesota Fish Book pairs engaging and revealing stories about the history, habitat, and culture of more than one hundred species with strikingly lifelike depictions by world-renowned fish illustrator Joseph R. Tomelleri. Providing defining features for easy identification, descriptions of habitat, growth patterns, and behavior, as well as historical anecdotes, Dickson makes a convincing case for the appreciation of all fish and their important place within Minnesota’s aquatic ecosystems. Where else can you learn about the American eel, a fish that lives throughout southern Minnesota yet spawns in the Caribbean Sea? Or the Johnny darter, which reproduces upside down? Or the monstrous lake sturgeon that can reach more than 300 pounds and swims in waters from Lake of the Woods to the Mississippi River? Nowhere, until now. Tom Dickson takes us on a lively tour of Minnesota fish—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
An elegant full-color work for everyone from the passionate angler to the up-north cabin dweller, The Great Minnesota Fish Book conveys the love and fascination—and in the case of eelpout, the disdain—that people have for the fishes of our home state. .
Price: $23.07
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