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New at NHBS: Birds of East Asia

The latest Helm Field Guide has arrived at NHBS!

Birds of East Asia is the first single-volume guide ever devoted to the eastern Asian avifauna of Eastern China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Eastern Russia. The eastern Asian region is an important center of endemism, especially the major islands off the continental coast (including Japan and Taiwan) and the immediately adjacent areas of the Asian continent including Kamchatka in the north and the Korean Peninsula.

Birds endemic to this region include representatives of many of the major families, from the world’s largest eagle – Steller’s Sea Eagle – to the tiny Formosan Firecrest. The east Asian continental coast and the offshore islands also form one of the world’s major international bird migration routes, especially for waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors, while the east Asian continental mainland itself is home to a wide range of species little-known to western ornithologists such as Scaly-sided Merganser, Oriental Stork and Mugimaki Flycatcher.

Order your copy of Birds of East Asia today!

Browse Helm Field Guides

For more new birding titles, browse Birding Highlights

Browse our full range of birding titles in Ornithology

Big Garden Birdwatch & Birdwatchingwatching

Radio 4’s Today Programme featured the new birding travelogue Birdwatchingwatching this morning. You can listen to the piece again online here.

This weekend is the 30th Big Garden Birdwatch – the world’s biggest bird survey. This annual event provides invaluable information on species abundance accross the country and is easy for anyone to take part in. All you need to do is record the species you see in your garden for one hour.

Find out more on the RSPB’s website.

To find out more about monitoring bird populations you might be interested in the BTO’s new book about the history of ringing: Bird Ringing: A Concise Guide. For more in-depth information on techniques, see Bird Monitoring Methods and Bird Census Techniques.

NHBS Backlist Bargains 2009 – Over 2600 titles at up to 60% off

It’s that time of year again – Backlist Bargains 2009 is here! Our popular annual sale includes key books from all environment subjects, as well as top birdwatching and wildlife titles. This year we are pleased to offer a wide range of special offers on books from major publishers – over 2600 titles at up to 60% off.

This is the ideal opportunity to purchase major reference titles, get extra copies of heavily-used textbooks, or fill gaps on your wildlife bookshelf. The NHBS Backlist Bargains sale ends March 31st 2009.

Take advantage of these great discounts – Order Now

Happy reading and buying!

Astronomy Special Offers for the New Year

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first look through a telescope and the birth of modern astronomy. To celebrate this anniversary we’ll add more new astronomy books to our database this year and bring you regular book selections and special offers.

In related news, Scotland is planning to establish Europe’s first official Dark Sky Park in Galloway. Find out more at Dark Sky Scotland or get yourself a copy of the Dark Sky Map of the British Isles.

Check out these special offers on astronomy titles, including Mars, A Cosmic Stepping Stone by Kevin Nolan and New Theories of Everything by John D. Barrow.

Browse our full range of astronomy titles in Astronomy and Cosmology

New Naturalist #109: Islands – Order Now and Save 22%

The latest volume from the classic Collins New Naturalist series will be here soon!

In his fourth New Naturalist volume, Professor R. J. Berry takes a broad look at the islands that lie off the shore of Britain and Ireland, exploring their biology, geography, geology and climate, and examining changes that have occurred in the past and how these become relevant for future developments.

Laced throughout with Professor Berry’s expertise and enthusiasm, this all-encompassing, engrossing volume is a lyrical journey of the islands that shape our imagination and our awareness.

Islands will be published in early February 2009. Order now and save 22% (special offer until 30/04/2009).

The next volume in the series will be Wildfowl of Britain and Ireland, which is due to be published in May 2009. This book is also on special offer – Order now

New in Zoo Biology

Zoo Animals is a major new text for all keepers and researchers in the zoo environment and those in training. The authors have extensive experience and tie together both theoretical and practical aspects of behaviour, management and welfare. Just published and in stock now.

Browse our other New Zoo Biology Titles

Browse Zoo Biology Bestsellers

For our full range of zoo biology titles, browse Species Conservation and Care

Browse our wide selection of zoology titles in Botany and Zoology

Birding Highlights – January 2009

New birding titles at NHBS this month include Collins Field Guides for the Birds of Southern Africa and for the Birds of Eastern Africa (both on special offer until March 31), as well as the fully updated Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America.

Also check out Harriers, an in-depth study of the world’s harriers by Don Scott, illustrated with watercolors by Philip Snow. Bestselling bird art books include The Art of Peter Scott and Lars Jonsson’s Birds.

For more new birding titles, browse Birding Highlights

Browse Collins Field Guides

To browse our full selection of birding books, see Ornithology

NHBS Website Temporarily Offline on 6th Jan 2009

All NHBS Environment Bookstore webpages were offline on the 6th of January 2009 for almost 10 hours due to a technical failure with our Internet Service Provider. We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused – if you placed an order on the 6th before our site went offline it should have been processed as usual but please do check with Customer Services if you are concerned.

We are very sorry if you were unable to place an order or lost search results while our site was down. We will be finding a solution with our Internet Service Provider to avoid this happening again in the future. Please don’t hesitate to get in contact if you feel you have been badly affected by this problem.

Again, we’re sorry for this interruption to the service you receive from NHBS.

What Is a Standing Order?

Anneli, our Catalogue Manager, explains:

For collectable books it is reassuring to know that you will automatically receive the first edition of each new book in a series, at the special offer price. Our Customer Services team can set up the standing order for you, and your credit card only gets charged the day each of the volumes goes out to you. Standing orders are especially popular for the New Naturalist and Handbook of the Bird of the World series.

A standing order can be set up by email or phone; please quote your NHBS customer number. You can also pre-order any individual title before it is published; we will send it to you as soon as it arrives at our warehouse.

For more information, see Standing Orders

Top Titles of 2008

Here are the most popular books of 2008 at NHBS: the Top 10 overall and the Top 10 in each of our major subject areas. You’ll find an eclectic mix of geographic and taxonomic interest, with books from publishers all over the world. We’ve also included bestselling wildlife equipment from our new range of field kit.

Enjoy browsing, and please feel free to add your own recommendations for this year’s Top Titles at the bottom of this post.

Top 10
1. Dragonflies
2. Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds
3. Sedges of the British Isles
4. Mammals of the British Isles
5. Life in Cold Blood – DVD
6. Mabberley’s Plant-Book
7. Which Bat Is It?
8. RES Handbook Volume 4 Part 2: The Carabidae
9. Wild China – DVD
10. Guia de Campo: Birds of Amazonian Brazil