Florence Page Jaques and her husband, Francis Lee Jaques, who illustrates this classic with beautiful black-and-white nature drawings, experience an unusually thrilling winter vacation following the waterfowl migration. Beginning with a duck-hunting trip in Minnesota, Florence writes a lively and detailed account of their trip down the Mississippi flyway, through the White River bottom swamps in Arkansas, and around the Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary in the marshlands of Louisiana.
“Papa Goose is destined to become a classic. This book has everything in it I love: great animals beautifully portrayed as individuals; cool science; drama, discovery, and personal transformation.” —Sy Montgomery, author of Birdology and The Soul of An Octopus The charming true story of one man’s journey to raise seven goslings in the name of science. In Papa Goose, Michael Quetting shares the hilarious and moving true story of how he became a father to seven rambunctious goslings—and the surprising things he learned along the way. Starting right at the beginning, with the eggs, his journey takes him from the incubator all the way to the airstrip, where he must attempt to teach the geese to fly as part of an ambitious scientific research initiative for the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, which tracks animal migrations around the world. For the next eleven months, we follow the newly minted dad as he takes the goslings on daily swims in the lake, tracks them down when they go astray, and watches their personalities develop: feisty, churlish, and lovable. Packed with charm and humor, Papa Goose quickly draws us into the adventure as Gloria, Nemo, and the rest of the crew conquer land, water, and air.
This is the only authoritative textbook on metabolic measurement of animals, ranging in mass from fruit flies to whales. It integrates a rigorous theoretical background with detailed practical guidelines for making actual measurements in the field and laboratory.
When I needed God to show up in my life and let me know that He was listening and knew what was going on in my frazzled mind and heart, He did. I can say that it was in the most unusual way. I saw a beautiful flock of geese fly over the freeway in front of my car. I had seen geese flying many times before in my life but never like this. It was at that moment that God "spoke up" and told me just what I needed to hear. We read in His Word of some very interesting and unique ways that He chose to speak to men and women. But does He still speak to His children today in this high-tech world of our push-button society? Yes, He does! Warning: after you read this book you will never look at a flock of geese in the same way again!
One hundred entertaining and informative essays from the popular public radio feature program, BirdNote, accompanied by original illustrations throughout--an illuminating volume for bird and nature lovers across North America. Here are the best stories about our avian friends from the public radio show BirdNote, each brief essay illuminating the life, habits, or songs of a particular bird. Why do geese fly in a V-formation? Why are worms so good for you--if you're a robin? Which bird calls, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?" From wrens that nest in cactuses to gulls that have a strange red dot on their bills--these digestible and fascinating bird stories are a delightful window to the winged world. A foreword by John W. Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and an introduction by Gordon Orians, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Washington, are also included. Contains web links to the audio version of each story, with bird sounds.
Naturalist Stephen Moss digs beneath the surface of some of our most popular Christmas carols in an ornithological celebration of the Festive Season. Using the structure of the carol as a jumping off point, he explores the place of twelve fascinating British birds in our history, culture and landscape. Some of the birds are obvious, there's the swan and of course the partridge. Other chapters are loose interpretations of a verse: for drummers drumming he delves into the woodpecker's distinctive drumming tap. Woodpeckers, he explains, have special padded skulls to mitigate against using its head like hammer drills. They carefully select dead trees for the most hollow, sonorous sound. With brilliant anecdotes and insights, Stephen Moss weaves history, culture, bird behaviour and folklore into a compelling narrative for each species, tracing its fortunes over the past two centuries. 'A superb naturalist and writer' Chris Packham author of Finger in the Sparkle Jar 'Moss has carved out an enviable niche as a chronicler of the natural world' Daily Mail
