The surprising and rich life of tree swallows in nesting season.
Heinrich is sparked one early spring day by a question: Why does a pair of swallows in a nest-box close to his Maine cabin show an unvarying preference for white feathers—not easily available nearby—as nest lining? He notices, too, the extreme aggressiveness of “his” swallows toward some other swallows of their own kind. And he wonders, given swallows’ reputation for feistiness, at the extraordinary tameness and close contact he experiences with his nesting birds.
From the author of the beloved books Ravens in Winter and A Naturalist at Large, this richly engaging view of the lives of wild birds, as always with Heinrich, yields “marvelous, mind-altering” insight and discoveries. (Los Angeles Times)
The surprising, rich life of tree swallows in nesting season-with Heinrich's beautiful illustrations and photographs-by the acclaimed naturalist.
Heinrich is sparked one early spring day by a question: Why does a pair of swallows in a nest-box close to his Maine cabin show an unvarying preference for white feathers-not easily available nearby-as nest lining? He notices, too, the extreme aggressiveness of "his" swallows toward some other swallows of their own kind. And he wonders, given swallows' reputation for feistiness, at the extraordinary tameness and close contact he experiences with his nesting birds.
From the author of the beloved books Ravens in Winter and A Naturalist at Large, this richly engaging view of the lives of wild birds, as always with Heinrich, yields "marvelous, mind-altering" insight and discoveries. -Los Angeles Times
Narrator Rick Adamson is proud to have presented several titles from author Bernd Heinrich. He is an Audie Award winner for his voicing of IN A HEARTBEAT, from the authors of the true story that became the film THE BLIND SIDE. Around NYC and his home studio in New Jersey, he has worked in commercials, corporate and medical media, as well as educational content worldwide, for more than thirty years.
In a book destined to become a classic, biologist and acclaimed nature writer Bernd Heinrich takes listeners on an eye-opening journey through the hidden life of a forest.
A lifetime observer of the natural world shares his vast knowledge and reflections on the trees of the Northeast woodlands and the rhythms of their seasons, from the DNA contained in an apple seed to the great branches beyond reach.
From one of the finest scientists and writers of our time comes an engaging record of a life spent in close observation of the natural world, one that has yielded marvelous, mind-altering (Los Angeles Times) insight and discoveries. In essays that span several decades, Bernd Heinrich finds himself at his beloved camp in Maine, plays host to annoying visitors from Europe (the cluster fly) and more helpful guests from Asia (ladybugs), and unravels the far-reaching ecological consequences of elephants in Botswana bruising mopane trees. Heinrich then turns to his great love-the extraordinary behaviors of ravens-before going on to chronicle a magical sighting of hundreds of loons congregated on a lake in Maine and observing that the human species has biological roots as endurance runners. Finally, he asks Where does a biologist find hope? In A Naturalist at Large, Bernd Heinrich delivers an answer.
Bernd Heinrich involves us in his quest to get inside the mind of the raven. But as animals can only be spied on by getting quite close, Heinrich adopts ravens, thereby becoming a "raven father," as well as observing them in their natural habitat. He studies their daily routines, and in the process, paints a vivid picture of the ravens' world. At the heart of this book are Heinrich's love and respect for these complex and engaging creatures, and through his keen observation and analysis, we become their intimates too. Heinrich's passion for ravens has led him around the world in his research. Mind of the Raven follows an exotic journey-from New England to Germany, and from Montana to Baffin Island in the high Arctic-offering dazzling accounts of how science works in the field, filtered through the eyes of a passionate observer of nature. Each new discovery and insight into raven behavior is thrilling, at once lyrical and scientific.
One of a clutch of redstart warbler babies fledges out of the nest from twenty feet above the ground, and lands on the grass below. It can't fly. What will happen next?
The highly anticipated, intimate, accessible, and eloquent illumination of animal survival in summer, from award-winning nature writer Bernd Heinrich, the bestselling author of Winter World.
