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From Eared Grebes, Tundra Swans, and Peregrine Falcons to Lesser Yellowlegs, and Snowy Owls, Pennsylvania is home to a magnificent array of birds. In the first comprehensive summary and analysis in over a century of the birds of that state, Gerald M. McWilliams and Daniel W. Brauning provide a wealth of information for both the professional ornithologist and the amateur birder. This book treats all 428 species seen in the state, including breeding and wintering birds, migrants, and vagrants. Each entry provides the general status of a species; the locations where it is most commonly found; its natural habitat, migratory patterns, breeding habits, and seasonal status and distribution; and a summary of the bird's history in Pennsylvania. With clear descriptions of physiographic regions as well as 44 breeding distribution maps for the most commonly seen birds and 67 photographs of many rare and hard-to-find species, this volume is an indispensable resource about Pennsylvania's bird life.
Like her popular Appalachian Spring, Marcia Bonta's new book offers a day-by-day account of the changing world of nature in the mountains of central Pennsylvania. This time she chronicles the beauties of the autumn months as she walks the familiar roads and trails of her 500-acre mountain-top farm, noting the minute transformations of the season as well as the more dramatic ones. But her quiet sojourn in the natural world is shattered by the intrusion of a lumberman who insists upon clear-cutting a neighboring property. The massive bulldozers and skidders crush every tree and shrub, weed, and wildflower, leaving only rubble in their wake. The Bontas become involved in a lawsuit challenging t...
In this journal, the author describes his year-long walking adventures at the Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, a rare prairie remnant just seven miles northwest of Baltimore, Maryland. In his quest to make this wild place his "natural home" throughout the course of four distinct seasons, Wennerstrom examines and contemplates rocks and minerals, plants, animals, prairies, floodplains, woodlands, lakes, ponds, pastures, mines and mills, Indian artifacts, as well as local legends and folklore.
The understanding of nature was Ralph Simpson's consuming passion, which he pursued with unmatched vigor and high spirits. In Grass Flats, 1890--1923, Simpson meticulously documents 218 species accounts of bird life in Warren County, Pennsylvania, including notes on other species observed at Presque Isle on Lake Erie. Simpson speaks of habitat preferences and population shifts, while at the same time offering a view of the natural world with a bit of whimsy, as in the following 1909 observations of the Screech Owl. "I knew of an old Flicker's hole nearby, and on going past I saw feathers about the edges, so I investigated and found a Gray Screecher at home. She made no resistance, so I reached in and counted five eggs under her, petted her, and left her." Join this noted naturalist, as he seeks adventure birding in the virgin timber of Wild Cat Run, navigating a steep precipice in the wilds of Goshawk Basin, or climbing 70 feet up a giant Eastern Hemlock to peer into a Sharp-shinned Hawk's nest. From his exploits, Simpson learned early on that, with nature, every moment instructs. Simpson, with feet on terra firma, beckons you to his stomping ground--Grass Flats.
The Delaware Valley is a distinct region situated within the Middle Atlantic states, encompassing portions of Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. With its cultural epicenter of Philadelphia, its surrounding bays and ports within Maryland and Delaware, and its conglomerate population of European settlers, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans, the Delaware Valley was one of the great cultural hearths of early America. The region felt the full brunt of the American Revolution, briefly served as the national capital in the post-Revolutionary period, and sheltered burgeoning industries amidst the growing pains of a young nation. Yet, despite these distinctions, the Delaware Valle...
Throughout Pennsylvania, within the state forest system, are 61 officially designated Natural Areas, each offering a bit of wildness deemed worthy of protection: rare-bird breeding sites, stands of old-growth trees, fragile wetlands, ice age remnants, mineral-rich mountainsides. To experience first-hand the unique features of each natural area, nature writer Charles Fergus spent a year visiting all 61. In this information-filled book, he reports on what he found, offering readers a guided tour of some of natural Pennsylvania's most distinctive places. He also provides information on how to visit the areas, each of which is open to the public.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Theres no way to guess Quail Lakes was a surface mine. Aside from two deep lakes, theres no evidence that massive earthmoving machines once rumbled across these rolling 1,200 acres of Illinois farmland, lakes, wetlands, and native prairie plants. But the same Quail Lakes that today is home to endangered bird species and hundreds of other wild creatures was a coal mine a surface mine with pits as deep as 75 feet. Despite what you have heard about about surface mining, Quail Lakes points to something very different. The Quail Lakes you will read about in this book is a microcosm of the realistic and responsible use of land that is possible today. The same property that has yielded crops to fee...
At the biological crossroads of the Americas, Costa Rica hosts an astonishing array of plants and animals—over half a million species! Ecotourists, birders, and biologists come from around the world to immerse themselves in the country's unspoiled rain forests, mountains, and beaches, drawn by the likelihood of seeing more than three or four hundred species of birds and other animals during even a short stay. To help all of these visitors and local residents identify and enjoy the wildlife of Costa Rica, this field guide presents nearly three hundred species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, moths, and other invertebrates. Carrol Henderson, an experienced wildlife biolo...