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Find out moreSee below for a selection of the latest books from Wildlife: general interest category. Presented with a red border are the Wildlife: general interest books that have been lovingly read and reviewed by the experts at Lovereading. With expert reading recommendations made by people with a passion for books and some unique features Lovereading will help you find great Wildlife: general interest books and those from many more genres to read that will keep you inspired and entertained. And it's all free!
The beginning of the author's adventure with a camera - filming wildlife across the world for the BBC Natural History Unit and other major TV companies - began in 1978 when he joined the RSPB's film unit. Untangling the Knot gives an in-depth look into what is involved in capturing the sequences needed for a natural history film, using comprehensive diaries and over 200 photographs. Mike describes the stresses of international flying with 20 cases of film equipment, sometimes alone, to distant corners of the world. The hardships of living and working for weeks in remote regions, avoiding tropical diseases, the onslaught of forest insects, long hours of waiting from dawn to dusk, and of frustration and disappointment when the elements or circumstances conspired against him. There are times of great elation too, when animal behaviour never seen before is captured on film. Working with top biologists and highly-experienced pilots was an essential partnership in understanding the subject to be filmed, often in remote regions where the challenge was reaching the subject in rainforest canopies, on remote islands or in featureless arctic tundra. In a career spanning 35 years, several of the programmes in which he was involved have won major awards. He describes filming Attenborough in Paradise in New Guinea with Sir David Attenborough as a career highlight, where he filmed behaviour of Birds of Paradise that had never been seen before. His last programme, Jewelled Messengers was the fulfilment of an ambition to make the ultimate film on hummingbirds with producer Paul Reddish, using the latest high-speed, high-definition cameras, and which was shot mainly in Brazil and Ecuador. The story concludes when he realizes his dream of visiting the Ross Sea region of the Antarctic. Mike considers himself lucky to have worked in so many spectacular regions of the world and this book enables readers to travel with him and share his incredible experiences.
'A dramatic saga forged by passion, honesty and a rare skill as a naturalist and film-maker. Twelve men have walked on the moon. But how many have spent an entire season with the Emperors in Antarctica? Maybe more, likely less. Lindsay McCrae has - and this is his wonderful and frank story. There are lines of penguins and blizzards, but there's also the emotional turmoil of being separated from his home, his new wife and his unborn child. All his musings and observations combine to produce a compelling tale of the man, those extraordinary birds and that lonely place at the end of the earth. So turn off the heating, put on your gloves and head deep south into a frozen land of dreams and nightmares, all played out in the world of beautiful Emperors' --Chris Packham Emperor penguins have the most extraordinary lifecycle. They march up to 100 miles over solid ice to reach their breeding grounds. They choose to breed in the depths of the worst winter on the planet; and in an unusual role reversal, the males incubate the eggs, fasting for over 100 days to ensure they introduce their chicks safely into their new frozen world. My Penguin Year recounts award-winning cameraman Lindsay McCrae's adventure to the end of the Earth, spending a year filming the most resilient creatures in nature. He had to overcome the inevitable sacrifices that came with living his childhood dream; facing down the personal obstacles of being over 15,000km away from the comforts of home almost proved too much. Out of that experience he has written an unprecedented portrait of Antarctica's most extraordinary residents.
David Attenborough is well known as a leading naturalist and explorer, travelling in little-known countries in search of the rare and exotic, and writing his extrememly popular books about strange encounters and unforgettable scenes. This is the full account of four months he spent travelling several thousand miles throughout the island of Madagascar to meet the varied peoples whose origin stems from the Far East rather than from nearby Africa, study their local customs, and film some of the remarkable animals which occur nowhere else in the world. Spectacular chamaeleons, nearly three feet in length and gaudily coloured, geckos so well camouflaged they are almost impossible to find, millipedes the size of golf-balls, the ceremonies of turning of the dead and sacrificing to crocodiles-these are some of the things described in this fascinating book. But the principal objective of the expedition was to film and observe the unique, and uniquely charming, lemurs. He saw brown lemurs, gentle lemurs, ruffed lemurs, ringed lemurs and mouse lemurs. He spent days tracking the snow-white sifakas which few naturalists have observed in the wild, witnessed their prodigious leap, watched them play and writes about their affectionate family life. Finally, he heard the weird, deafening wail of the legendary indris and day after day returned to the same place in the dense rain forest in the hope of seeing this magnificent lemur. At last he was rewarded with the sight of a big male sitting astride a branch like a child on a see-saw , two youngsters and an old female carrying a baby on her back. For a week he watched this family, entranced by the indris which of all the creatures we filmed in Madagascar was the rarest, the least known scientifically, and the most enduring . David Attenborough is a lively writer with an incredible understanding of nature and acute powers of observation. Whether he is describeding the emergence from its large cocoon of the spectacular Malagasy comet moth, or telling the amusing story of how a tenrec was lost in and recovered from the coachwork of a car, or writing about his painstaking search for the egg fragments of an extinct bird, he brings to bear his vivid descriptive talents which makes this a most rewarding and entertaining book to read.
Indoor Wildlife is a book that looks at our houses and other buildings from the point of view of wild animals and plants. Some come indoors to hibernate, some come indoors to find food and others come indoors to set up home. Still others use the walls and roofs of our homes, as well as our garages, sheds and outhouses. All-in-all, we share our homes with all kinds of fauna and flora. Some species can be tolerated, while others can be a nuisance or even harmful. Ultimately, our homes offer artificial habitats to these species, so they accept the invitation. Controlling them is a matter of understanding their ecological requirements.
A selection of nature's greatest imposters, tricksters and magicians. Whether to escape predators or to surprise their prey, the talented strategists of nature in The Champions of Camouflage survive using visual trickery and fascinating biology. Some simply change their clothing to suit the seasons, such as the willow ptarmigan who appears pure white in winter snow and golden-brown-red in the summer. Others, like the satanic leaf-tailed gecko (on the jacket), who disguises itself amidst leaves to blend into its surroundings, are the same year-round but their appearance seamlessly blends them into the environment. Grasshoppers of the genus Paraphidnia and the African mantis Popa spurca perfectly imitate the small branches of trees, becoming virtually invisible to predators and prey. Some species use incredible stratagems to get rid of their enemies, the frog Physalaemus, for example. When this amphibian is threatened, he turns his back to his opponent and shows his hindquarters on which is painted a pair of large black eyes. If the mask is not enough to intimidate the opponent, the fake eyes will emit an impressive white secretion. That usually does the trick. The book is organized by the manner of camouflage: The Art of Camouflage: Invisibility cloak; Seasonal clothes; Quick colours. Changing Shapes: Leaf imposters; Moving twigs; The watery art of disappearing; Deception. Game of Illusion: At the masquerade ball: In the eye of the beholder: Trojan Horse; Identity theft; Bait and switch.
'A dramatic saga forged by passion, honesty and a rare skill as a naturalist and film-maker. Twelve men have walked on the moon. But how many have spent an entire season with the Emperors in Antarctica? Maybe more, likely less. Lindsay McCrae has - and this is his wonderful and frank story. There are lines of penguins and blizzards, but there's also the emotional turmoil of being separated from his home, his new wife and his unborn child. All his musings and observations combine to produce a compelling tale of the man, those extraordinary birds and that lonely place at the end of the earth. So turn off the heating, put on your gloves and head deep south into a frozen land of dreams and nightmares, all played out in the world of beautiful Emperors' --Chris Packham Emperor penguins have the most extraordinary lifecycle. They march up to 100 miles over solid ice to reach their breeding grounds. They choose to breed in the depths of the worst winter on the planet; and in an unusual role reversal, the males incubate the eggs, fasting for over 100 days to ensure they introduce their chicks safely into their new frozen world. My Penguin Year recounts award-winning cameraman Lindsay McCrae's adventure to the end of the Earth, spending a year filming the most resilient creatures in nature. He had to overcome the inevitable sacrifices that came with living his childhood dream; facing down the personal obstacles of being over 15,000km away from the comforts of home almost proved too much. Out of that experience he has written an unprecedented portrait of Antarctica's most extraordinary residents.
Take this book with you on your next trip to the Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos Islands or keep it close to hand in your travel library. The Natural History of the Bahamas offers the most comprehensive coverage of the terrestrial and coastal flora and fauna on the islands of the Bahamas archipelago, as well as of the region's natural history and ecology. Readers will gain an appreciation for the importance of conserving the diverse lifeforms on these special Caribbean islands. A detailed introduction to the history, geology, and climate of the islands. Beautifully illustrated, with more than seven hundred color photographs showcasing the diverse plants, fungi, and animals found on the Bahamian Archipelago.
Penguins. We love them. They are instantly recognizable. Seemingly upright caricatures of us, it is easy to bond with these black and white 'little people.' They have become perennial favourites of cartoonists, because they are fun. Comical. They put a smile on our faces. Of course, real penguins are a lot more than just funny. They are tough. Penguins are the world's only '100-degree birds,' breeding in environments with temperatures from -60C to +40C (-76F to 104F). They can dive to great depths and exist for long periods in water so cold that it would kill us within minutes. They have all the grace and agility of ballet dancers in water, but it is the way they comport themselves on land that so endears them to us: they waddle. This compilation of quotations about penguins - each quote accompanied by gorgeous photography - keeps the focus on fun. You can dip in and out of the book at your leisure, but also read it from cover to cover for some added pleasure. The intention of Waddle is to put a grin on your face and a warm feeling in your heart - all thanks to these delightful creatures that don't just walk, but waddle.
See those animal signs on the trail? Was that footprint left by a fox or a wolf? Was that pile of droppings deposited by a moose, a mouse, or a marten? Scats and Tracks of the Midwest will help you determine which mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have passed your way and could still be nearby in Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. Clearly written descriptions and illustrations of scats, tracks, and gait patterns will help you recognize species across America's heartland.
See those animal signs on the trail? Was that footprint left by a fox or a wolf? Was that pile of droppings deposited by a moose, a mouse, or a marten? Scats and Tracks of the Mid-Atlantic will help you determine which mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have passed your way and could still be nearby. Clearly written descriptions and illustrations of scats, tracks, and gait patterns will help you recognize species across Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
See those animal signs on the trail? Was that footprint left by a fox or a wolf? Was that pile of droppings deposited by a moose, a mouse, or a marten? Scats and Tracks of North America will help you determine which mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have passed your way and could still be nearby. Clearly written descriptions and illustrations of scats, tracks, and gait patterns will help you recognize species across the entire continent.
See those animal signs on the trail? Was that footprint left by a fox or a wolf? Was that pile of droppings deposited by a moose, a mouse, or a marten? Scats and Tracks of Alaska will help you determine which mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have passed your way and could still be nearby. Clearly written descriptions and illustrations of scats, tracks, and gait patterns will help you recognize species across the entire region.
