Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs

A concise overview of the world’s 107 spider families is an impressive undertaking and this fine book by two devoted arachnologists does justice to such a project. This is certainly timely as it’s being over a century since the last overview and this will be a must-have title for anyone with a passion for spiders.

Each family is beautifully illustrated with a splendid black and white representation of the whole spider, accompanied by small details of distinguishing features. There are also 32 pages of colour plates at the back of the book depicting the spiders in their natural habitat. With such comprehensive visual reference all back up with text highlighting habits and characteristics this is an indispensable reference work.

I’m not too sure what to make of Antarctic Fishes. On the one hand, you’ve got a guide to the fish of the Southern Ocean which, whilst clearly well researched and entertainingly informative, depicts species which would be of interest primarily to Patagonian fishermen, hardy Antarctic ecologists and the occasional geographically-challenged scuba diver. On the other hand, however, is an enthralling book held together not by words but by the unique art of leading Japanese gyotaku exponent, Boshu Nagese.

The full-page gyotaku illustrations within Antarctic Fishes have been painstakingly created by moulding a moistened sheet of paper over the top of the subject and applying colour using a fine cotton bud. The resulting effect is (as pointed out by one individual in the NHBS Office) not unlike a high fidelity fish rubbing, in that the texture of the actual fish is present in the final image. It sounds weird, I know, but personally I’ve never seen anything like it before and it’s undeniably fantastic. Containing nearly 150 illustrations, this title will make a wonderful addition to the bookshelf or coffee table of anybody with even a passing fascination in marine creatures. In every sense of the word, this book is a unique portrait of some of the world’s least-observed marine species.

In this new and beautifully illustrated guide to finding butterflies D.E. Newland takes us to some of his favourite butterfly hotspots.

Sent off with our appropriate OS map number and grid reference, guided by photographs and detailed descriptions in how to find the exact path or plant to watch, you feel it almost impossible to miss the tricksy butterfly you are seeking.

Each area’s natural environment is briefly described to help us understand the nature of our butterfly’s habitat and we are also guided in how to protect against our own actions being any cause of damage.

A truly delightful guide, perfect for sunny days and/or British holidays.

This first standardised English-language nomenclature of all living birds is the result of a decade of hard work from Frank Gill, Minturn Wright and their co-researchers to produce and justify a list of over 10,000 names.

As someone who can’t remember scientific names, likes to spot a bird or two when travelling but is aware that names can change frequently in guidebooks this is an amazing and happy feat, one I see being equally well received by any global birder, government official and let’s not exclude the many employees of all those publishing housing and bookshops.

‘Birds of the World’ is endorsed by the pre-eminent International Ornithological Conference. It lists names in taxonomic order, along side species names, and brief descriptions of the bird’s geographical location and breeding range. And for those of you more technologically minded, an accompanying CD contains the full text in Excel format to enable you to search, sort, edit and export to your hearts content.

Since its conception in 1945, the New Naturalist series has provided some of the great highlights of natural history publishing and we are very pleased to announce that this great old oak is still just as strong as ever. Next week sees the release of the 100th title in the series, Woodlands by evergreen ecologist Oliver Rackham, and it looks as though this landmark title is going to be amongst the most popular to date.

At NHBS, we are currently offering a 22% discount on hardback copies or a 28% discount on the paperback. And, with only a limited number of hardback copies available, Woodlands looks set to become an instant collectable classic, not to mention an entertaining and informative read. It’s also going to give the dispatch team here a rigorous work-out next week as we process advance orders. No wonder they’ve been looking so pale.

Next year should see 3 more titles added to the New Naturalist series: Galloway and the Borders, Garden Natural History and The Isles of Sciliy. More information on these titles will be available closer to their publication dates, so watch this space.

Such was the pre-publication buzz surrounding this, the second edition of Deodato Souza’s ornithological guide, that, like many of our readers, I’ve been itching to see whether the book could justify all the fuss. To my frustration however, I have found copies of All the Birds of Brazil to be nearly as elusive as some of the rare species it documents. Only now, following a week of efforts, have I finally been able to locate a stray copy in the NHBS warehouse and sit down to flick through its pages…

And (…drum roll, please…) I’m happy to announce that it’s immediately clear to see why this book has been quite so successful: There’s no nonsense, no filler, just birds, birds and more birds. All the descriptions are as they should be, logically organised and complemented by distribution maps and detailed colour illustrations.

As the only English-language field guide dedicated to Brazilian birds, this book was always going to do well. Whilst this updated All the Birds of Brazil isn’t by any means the final word on Brazilian fieldguides, it is however the best currently available. We’re very intersted to hear the opinions of anyone who has given it the litmus test and used it in the field.

We also recommend the excellent Birds of Brazil/Aves do Brasil and the new Collins Field Guide to the Birds of South America: Non-Passerines

Hola! Bonjour! Buon Giorno! Konichiwa! Al Salaam A’Alaykum! God Dag! Bom Dia! and Hi!

Monday morning, a new week and the ideal time to welcome all of our readers to the NHBS Biblio-Blog. For those of you who, like me, are new to this type of thing, allow me to explain: Unlike some of the on-line shops I think we’ve all encountered, here at NHBS we love talking to our customers. It is through your comments that we are able to learn and grow. So, the purpose of the Biblio-Blog is to give you a place where you can express your opinions – not just to us, but to all of our readers. Whether you wish to write about a book, share and discuss knowledge or just say what’s on your mind, we want to hear it. Meanwhile, we’ll be using the Biblio-Blog to let you know about the books which are making waves at NHBS and also to give you the inside-line on points of interest.

We are aware of the wealth of information and experiences that our readers hold and we hope that the Biblio-Blog will offer a space for these to be shared. So, at the bottom of every blog, where you see a box saying ‘leave a comment’, please feel free to do just that. There’s no need to register and we don’t need your details, we just want to hear what you have to say.

Wishing you all a good week,

The NHBS Team 

I was looking through the pages of A Diver’s Guide to Reef Life this morning and suddenly (well, 2 hours later actually) my inbox was looking rather daunting. The underwater photography in this book is, quite simply, inspiring. I’ve suddenly got an urge to invest 2 months salary in fins, cylinders, confusing watches and a one-way flight to French Polynesia. I’m almost tempted to contact the publisher and suggest that they print a financial warning on the front cover.

I’ve only ever been scuba-diving once before and I should probably confess that I was in a swimming pool – so it doesn’t really count. I certainly didn’t see any angelfish and, even if I had done, I wouldn’t have known that they were angelfish. Now, however, I can tell you the difference between 1200 different species of reef fauna. If you want to know, for example, how to distinguish all the species of grouper from one another, or just the difference between parrotfish and pipefish, you really can’t go far wrong with this book. It’s certainly on my itinerary, just above a waterproof housing for my camera. Right then, I’m off to talk to the boss about getting that advance on my wages…

Most people who are lucky enough to have seen a marine mammal in the flesh would certainly class their experience as memorable. Some have even been known to consider it life-changing. Certainly, the intelligently playful nature of dolphins and the majestic grace of whales makes such species both compelling and endearing to observers. However, due to pollution and hunting, the place of marine mammals in our waters is becoming increasingly fragile.

Whales, Dolphins and Seals is not only a first-rate field guide but its accessible style of writing and eye-catching presentation will have any casual reader lost amidst its pages, dreaming of first-hand encounters. If you get a chance to check this book out, I highly recommend it. I also recommend doing whatever it takes to witness as many marine mammals in the wild when and wherever you possibly can. Personally, I’m lucky enough to have surfed with a seal on the South Devon coast a couple of years ago – that was a fantastic but all-too-brief event. Please post your stories below, I love hearing interesting accounts of wildlife encounters from our readers

Have you ever felt depressed at the sight of a ‘legoland lawn’? You know the kind of garden I mean? One of those perfectly trimmed and lifeless looking rectangles of grass completely free of insect, frog or bird? A lawn you walk beside, instead of on, in case you ruffle it? You might even have a legoland lawn outside your door. I do. But that’s only because I’ve just moved into a new house. What I’d really like to see is something wild inside my garden fence – a hedgehog or a butterfly…

No Nettles Required is a guidebook for for anyone with the lego-lawn blues. It shows us how easy it is to fill our gardens with everything from foxes, frogs and mice to butterflies, ladybirds and literally thousands of fascinating creepy-crawlies. Why should we? Because we’ll be promoting the biodiversity of the UK, we’ll be reconnecting with nature, getting more from our gardens, and we’ll be doing our plants a favour.

“‘Fantastic science writing for a lay audience, with sentences such as, “Hoverfly larvae look like lumps of animated snot…but they look far worse if you’re an aphid.”‘ – From a review by Steve Head in the New Scientist