The common loon is a graceful and reclusive bird whose eerie, tremolo call is said to capture the spirit of the wild. Call of the Loon offers a stunning, full-color life history of this gorgeous animal while unveiling its mysteries via a unique question-and-answer format authored by two leading experts on loon biology. Both casual and professional natural historians will benefit from this highly informative yet browsy and accessible volume. Packaged with the book is a unique DVD that features the video footage gathered by the BioDiversity Research Institute. Their ""loon cam" has captured exceptional footage of loon nest building, mating, egg hatching, and chick rearing. Along with the breathtaking images, viewers will hear the haunting calls of these beautiful birds.
The nature of the common loon, from biology to behavior, from one of the world’s foremost observers of the revered waterbird Even those who know the loon’s call might not recognize it as a tremolo, yodel, or wail, and may not understand what each call means, how it’s made, and why. And those who marvel at the loon’s diving prowess might wonder why this bird has such skill, or where loons go when they must leave northern lakes in winter. For these and so many other mysteries, Loon Lessons provides evolutionary and ecological explanations that are curious and compelling. Written by one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, the book is a compendium of knowledge about the common loon and an engaging record of scientific sleuthing, documenting more than twenty-five years of research into the great northern diver. James D. Paruk has observed and compared loons from Washington and Saskatchewan to the coasts of California and Louisiana, from high elevation deserts in Nevada to mountain lakes in Maine. Drawing on his extensive experience, a wealth of data, and well-established scientific principles, he considers every aspect of the loon, from its plumage and anatomy to its breeding, migration, and wintering strategies. Here, in the first detailed scientific account of the common loon in more than thirty years, Paruk describes its biology in an accessible and entertaining style that affords a deeper understanding of this beautiful and mysterious bird’s natural history and annual life cycle.
The fantastic Legend team of Kathy-jo Wargin and Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen have another beautiful book to add to the Sleeping Bear and Mackinac Island stories. A Grandmother's love for her grandchildren is magically portrayed in "The Legend of the Loon". A perfect addition to your collection, this book remains true to the heartwarming qualities you've come to expect from these legendary storytellers.
A gorgeously illustrated, lyrical non-fiction picture book about loons. It’s summertime, and as darkness falls there is a haunting sound from the lake — Ooh-hoo-oo, ooh-hoo-oo. It is a loon calling to its family across the water. This lyrical story follows the life cycle of two loon chicks. We see them breaking out of their eggshells, then learning to swim, find food and avoid predators such as snapping turtles and big bass fish. After they learn to fly, they migrate to the ocean. And when their striking black-and-white feathers finally emerge, they fly inland, each to find a new lake territory and mate. Accompanying Susan Vande Griek’s poetic text are Karen Reczuch’s gorgeous illustrations, which show the loons as they grow from tiny downy chicks to majestic adult birds. An afterword provides more information on loons, including their amazing diving ability, the meanings of their calls, and the environmental threats that they face. Also illustrated are five different types of loons and other animals that can be found in their lake habitat. The illustrations were researched in the Ornithology Collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, and Ron Ridout of Bird Studies Canada consulted on the text. Key Text Features illustrations author’s note further reading labels Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.5 Explain major differences between books that tell stories and books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
The Way of the Loon tells of a spring and summer in a loon family’s life on a lake in the boreal forest. When LaLa and Dapper return to the northern lake to raise a family, challenges lie ahead: hungry eagles, rowdy humans, and a large fish threaten their peace and security. But the loving couple are soon the proud parents of little Chortle, and spend the warm seasons helping him grow and teaching him about the ways of the loon. As he strengthens and matures, Chortle learns that his parents will soon leave him for the south. He will need to learn to listen to the breezes—the breezes will tell him when it’s time to journey on by himself. From their home, two young boys hearing the call of the loons, watch and learn about the birds. Through this watchful, gentle childhood presence, young readers are beckoned into the beautiful, poignant “way of the loon” and the inevitability of growing up.
This special edition of the award-winning Just Loons features a new introduction by David Evers, PhD, a leading researcher of loons, and an interpretive bound-in CD of the haunting calls for which loons are so admired and beloved. The audio CD runs approximately 25 minutes and contains various calls that are referenced on the CD jacket. Featuring stunning photography and insightful natural history text, Just Loons, with its new and extraordinary audio component, remains the ultimate guide to finding, watching, and understanding loons.
In the dark, soft night, the haunting call of a single loon echoes over a moonlit lake. All through the day, only one magnificent black and white bird scribes ripples across the surface. Why is he so alone? Moon Loon is an evocative, gentle bedtime story about a girl who is fascinated by this solitary loon. Through richly layered colored-pencil illustrations, we follow the girl's musings on the loon from spring through fall.
“Kids like me didn’t go to Vietnam,” writes Jack McLean in his compulsively readable memoir. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, but decided to put college on hold. After graduation in the spring of 1966, faced with the mandatory military draft, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for a two-year stint. “Vietnam at the time was a country, and not yet a war,” he writes. It didn’t remain that way for long. A year later, after boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, and stateside duty in Barstow, California, the Vietnam War was reaching its peak. McLean, like most available Marines, was retrained at Camp Pendleton, California, and sent to Vietnam as a grunt to serve in an infantry company in the northernmost reaches of South Vietnam. McLean’s story climaxes with the horrific three-day Battle for Landing Zone Loon in June, 1968. Fought on a remote hill in the northwestern corner of South Vietnam, McLean bore witness to the horror of war and was forever changed. He returned home six weeks later to a country largely ambivalent to his service. Written with honesty and insight, Loon is a powerful coming-of-age portrait of a boy who bears witness to some of the most tumultuous events in our history, both in Vietnam and back home.
