Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs

Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere is in stock now!

Waders are a very popular group among birders of all standards, though their identification is often a challenge. Covering all the species of the northern hemisphere, this new photographic guide provides all the information a birder will need at a glance. Lavishly illustrated with colour photography by the author, Shorebirds of the Northern Hemisphere focuses on specific and subspecific separation and on ageing to provide a complete identification resource.

We are pleased to announce the latest volume in the excellent Wildlife Art Series from Langford Press featuring the watercolours, drawings and prints of Archibald Thorburn.

Archibald Thorburn is one of Britain’s best watercolour artists, particularly known for his pictures of birds and mammals placed in beautiful harmonious landscapes. His style of painting represented a step change in wildlife art around the turn of the century and the lifelike renderings of his subjects brought him early fame and fortune. Not only did Thorburn produce a prolific number of original watercolours, grisailles and prints, he also contributed to scores of natural history books for authors, ornithologists and explorers of the day, while finding time to write and illustrate six books of his own.

Whether the reader is an ardent Thorburn collector or has a general interest in countryside pursuits and birdwatching, this book contains some of the best images ever produced by a British artist.

Order your copy of Archibald Thorburn – Artist and Illustrator today!

Browse other recent and bestselling Wildlife Art books

Birdscapes: Birds In Our Imagination and Experience, written by Jeremy Mynott and published by Princeton University Press, has received high praise from Stephen Moss in The Guardian:

"Birdscapes is, for me, the finest book ever written about why we watch birds."

"Mynott’s lightness of touch, combined with his depth of knowledge, experience and above all perception, create a thought-provoking and compulsively readable book."

"A witty and insightful analysis that had me enthralled and delighted in equal measure."

Order your copy of Birdscapes today

In his review, Moss also has praise for two other birding books – Birdwatchingwatching and While Flocks Last – both available for purchase at NHBS.

See the full review in The Guardian.

Lewisian, Torridonian and Moine Rocks of Scotland has now arrived at NHBS. This is the latest volume in the Geological Conservation Review series from JNCC – order your copy today and save £13.50!

Lewisian, Torridonian and Moine Rocks of Scotland describes the outcrops of Precambrian rocks that lie north-west of the Great Glen in the North-west Highlands of Scotland and in the Outer Hebrides and parts of Shetland. The rocks and their convoluted tectonic and metamorphic histories chart the first 2700 million years of the geological development of Great Britain.

The fully revised and updated second edition of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy introduces the reader to sedimentology and stratigraphic principles, and provides tools for the interpretation of sediments and sedimentary rocks. The text and figures are designed to be accessible to anyone completely new to the subject; all of the illustrative material is provided in the companion CD-ROM.

Sedimentology and Stratigraphy is currently on special offer – order your copy today!

Browse Earth & Planetary Sciences

Browse our full range of Wildlife Equipment for hand lenses, waterproof notebooks, GPS units and all the other field essentials.

NHBS is distributing two new major new titles in the Important Bird Areas series, profiling the Important Bird Areas of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Both of these key conservation titles are now in stock at NHBS.

Important Bird Areas in Kazakhstan: Priority Sites for Conservation provides the results of the IBA inventory and its relations to nature conservation in Kazakhstan, and details the accounts for 121 IBAs identified in Kazakhstan which form part of the Central Asia IBA programme. A Russian edition of this book is also available for purchase.

Important Bird Areas in Uzbekistan: Priority Sites for Conservation provides the results of the IBA inventory and its relations to nature conservation in Uzbekistan, and details the accounts for 48 IBAs identified in Uzbekistan which form part of the Central Asia IBA programme. A Russian edition of this book is also available for purchase.

Browse Conservation, Care and Monitoring

Browse our full range of birding titles in Ornithology

Browse our full range of Wildlife Equipment for ringing pliers, binoculars, waterproof notebooks and all the other field essentials.

Dormouse Nest Tubes are now available from NHBS. These nest tubes provide a cheap and easy method of determining the presence of dormice within a habitat, and provide an effective alternative to using a large number of more expensive wooden nest boxes.

The dormouse nest tube consists of two parts – the wooden ‘tray’ and the ‘nesting tube’. The tray, made from 3-ply, fits securely inside the nesting tube (made from plastic tree guard material), with a wooden block sealing the tube at one end. Dormice make nests in these tubes, and it is these nests that are used as indicators of their presence in the habitat.

We supply the nest tubes as singles, and at discounted prices for 10’s and 100’s.

Find out more about dormice in Natural England’s Dormouse Conservation Handbook and the Mammal Society’s The Dormouse.

Also check out our sturdy wooden Dormouse Nest Box – ideal for long-term dormouse accomodation.

Browse Nest Boxes & Habitats for birds and mammals

New from Christopher Helm is Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea – now in stock at NHBS.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have a fascinating and unique avifauna. Poorly known in comparison to many parts of Africa, knowledge on bird distribution in the two countries is scattered throughout the literature.

For more than 35 years, the authors have been painstakingly collecting bird records in the region. The resulting atlas provides, for the first time, an accurate assessment of the distribution of each of the 870 species known from the two countries, including valuable information on breeding.

This groundbreaking book fills a large hole in the literature for one of the most diverse and least known areas of Africa.

Order Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea today!

Browse other Christopher Helm titles

Browse Ornithology

The latest volume in the classic New Naturalist series, Wildfowl provides a much-anticipated overview of the fascinating birds that have become icons of our diminishing wilderness areas.

David Cabot has been obsessed with wildfowl for nearly sixty years; in this seminal new work, he discusses the 56 species of wildfowl that have been recorded either in a natural state, or that have been introduced and now maintain self-sustaining populations in Britain and Ireland.

Wildfowl (New Naturalist #110) will be published in May 2009 – Order today and save £11!

Browse other new Shorebirds and Waterfowl titles

Our pre-publication special offer for The Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 1: Carnivores has been extended for one week only – this special offer must end 15 April 2009.

Don’t miss the opportunity to get the first volume of this exciting new series from the publishers of the acclaimed The Handbook of the Birds of The World at the pre-publication price!

Order Volume 1: Carnivores today and save £29.50!

Set up a Standing Order today and receive future volumes of The Handbook of the Mammals of the World at the pre-publication special offer price.

Just published in English, Virunga tells the fascinating story of the development and survival of Africa’s first national park.

Under the leadership of Marc Languy and Emmanuel de Merode, 36 conservationists describe the past and present efforts to protect Virunga, Africa’s first National Park. With over 240 color photographs, 60 maps and 45 graphs, the authors also give a detailed overview of the park, its habitats and wildlife and propose practical measures for the protection of this unique conservation area that has been at the heart of some of the bloodiest conflicts in half a century. Combining historic data with the most recent technology, such as high-resolution satellite imagery, this book provides a wealth of information on the dynamics and the current status of the park, home to gorillas, okapis, tropical glaciers and the world’s largest active volcanoes.

Order a copy of Virunga today

Browse our full range of books on Africa

Browse Conservation and Biodiversity