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Insects are all around us, from the butterflies in our gardens to the mosquitoes in the woods. About 80 percent of the 1.5 million named species of animals on earth are insects. Without flower-loving bees, wasps, flies and beetles, most crops and wild plants would not be pollinated and would disappear. But insect diversity is largely invisible because most insects are small and difficult to recognize and identify. They are often easy to ignore. A Field Guide to Insects of the Pacific Northwest is a durable, water-resistant eight-fold field guide that describes more than sixty of the most common species that are likely to be encountered in the many habitats of the Pacific Northwest. Full-colo...
Birding and butterfly watching have been popular outdoor activities for decades. Now, dragonfly watching is catching on as a fascinating and enjoyable pursuit. Dragonflies are large, colorful insects with amazing and easily observed behavior. Noted entomologist Dr Robert Cannings introduces students, naturalists and outdoor enthusiasts to the world of dragonflies. In this compact book, he shows readers where to find dragonflies and how to watch and study them in the field. In the introduction, Dr Cannings outlines the natural history of these insects - their structure, life cycles, habitats and behavior. Then he describes the 88 species known in British Columbia and the Yukon, noting habitat preferences and distribution. To make identification easy, each description has one or more color photographs and comparisons with similar species.
This book tells the story of the province's geology and the history of its living creatures. The first edition of Geology of British Columbia, with its accessible but rigorous science, struck a chord with readers. Since it was first published, theories about plate tectonics and the geological history of British Columbia have evolved, and this new edition reflects the current thinking. This book also features updated content throughout, seven new maps, and a number of new photographs. A brand new appendix lists and describes key geological sites in British Columbia, adding a field-guide compon.
Birdwatching is one of America's most popular activities, but many field guides are so comprehensive or advanced that they intimidate novice birders. Covering the region north of the U.S. border, south of Prince George, east of Manning Park and west into the Rockies, Birds of Interior BC and the Rockies is for beginning and intermediate birders who wish to identify the birds they regularly spot in this area. However, the book will also appeal to more experienced local and visiting birders who want to learn more about the behavior, habitat and seasonal occurrence of local birds. Packed with useful information, this handy, portable guide tells you how to identify local birds, find out where they live and what they eat, how to attract birds to your yard and how to select a pair of binoculars. Identification is made easy with more than 400 sharp, full-color photos illustrating over 200 species of birds, in the plumage most likely seen in the region and color-coded by species. There's even a checklist to record your sightings.
R. Yorke Edwards was a pioneer in the field of heritage interpretation in Canada. First with BC Parks and then with the Canadian Wildlife Service, throughout the 1960s Edwards developed an approach to the interpretation of natural and cultural history with a focus on the "real thing"--the object, the place, the process, the person--in front of a visitor. Almost everyone who has visited a Canadian park or museum has been touched by Edwards's legacy--but few know his name. Through essays and photographs, a biography and sections from Edwards's unpublished notebook, The Object's the Thing introduces "the father of nature interpretation in Canada," whose work still affects how we experience our heritage today.
This first volume of a remarkable four-volume set on the birds of British Columbia covers eight-six species of nonpasserines, from loons through to waterfowl. Detailed species accounts provide unprecedented coverage of these birds, presenting a wealth of information on the ornithological history, habitat, breeding habits, migratory movements, seasonality, and distribution patterns. Introductory chapters look at the province’s ornithological history, its environment and the methodology used in the volumes.
This volume completes the nonpasserine species and contains accounts for the diurnal birds of prey through woodpeckers.
Dragonflies (Odonata), represented by over 6000 known species, are unique insects. In more than one feature they differ, at the very first glance, from all other insect superorders including their nearest allies, the mayflies (Ephemeropteroidea). The Zygoptera and Anisoptera, on the other hand, are the dominant groups. Being voracious predators in both immature (aquatic) and adult (aerial) stages they are important elements of all, except the drier (or high alpine) environments in temperate and tropical regions, occupying a position at the apex of the food chain of invertebrate life. Many dragonfly species are tested biological control agents for several disease-transmitting vector mosquitoe...
In these delightful meditations, biologist and bird lover Richard Cannings weaves stories of his personal encounters with birds into fascinating descriptions of their behavior, anatomy, and evolution. He muses over the meadowlarks’ ability to hide their nests so completely that he has seen only two in a lifetime spent searching for them; the trumpeter swan, as picky as a two-year old, devouring potatoes and carrots but turning up its beak at Brussels sprouts; the northern gannet, with its snowy plumage, black wingtips, and startling blue eyes; the little saw-whet owl, which dabbles in bigamy and even trigamy; and more than two dozen other birds. Covering the entire continent, from the cacophony of a seabird colony on the shores of the Atlantic to a symphony of snow geese on the autumn plains to songbird courtship in the alpine tundra of the Rockies, An Enchantment of Birds informs and entertains, in one fell swoop.
Like John Muir, David Pitt-Brooke stepped out for a walk one morning—a long walk of a thousand kilometres or more through the arid valleys of southern interior British Columbia. He went in search of beauty and lost grace in a landscape that has seen decades of development and upheaval. In Crossing Home Ground he reports back, providing a day-by-day account of his journey’s experiences, from the practical challenges—dealing with blisters, rain and dehydration—to sublime moments of discovery and reconnection with the natural world. Through the course of this journey, Pitt-Brooke’s encounters with the natural world generate starting points for reflections on larger issues: the delicat...