Hoopoe – A blog by nhbs – Page 90 – The NHBS Conservation Hub

NHBS Books of the Year 2010

Here is our annual selection of the best books and wildlife equipment that we have seen at NHBS over the last year from a variety of categories. It’s been a great year with some fantastic new titles so here’s a reminder of some of the highlights:

Five Photographic Guides to the Wildlife of Asia

New Holland have just published five new editions of these pocket-sized photographic guides – the perfect lightweight companion for the wildlife traveller. At £7.99 these guides are great value, with clear colour photographs and concise accompanying text.

Five Reasons to Buy Trees of Panama and Costa Rica

Trees of Panama and Costa Rica

“This is an impressive tour-de-force of tropical plant identification. The lively writing is accessible to nonspecialists, while the broad taxonomic coverage and authoritative species descriptions make this guide useful to professional botanists.” – Brad Boyle, University of Arizona

The only tree guide to cover Panama and Costa Rica together
Covers almost 500 species
Contains 438 high-resolution photographs
Includes 480 colour distribution maps
There are concise and jargon-free descriptions of key characteristics for every species

Richard Condit is a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Rolando Pérez is chief botanist and Nefertaris Daguerre is a forest specialist with the Center for Tropical Forest science at the STRI.

Paramo Clothing – Designed for Nature Professionals

We’ve added Paramo clothing to our unbeatable range of environmental equipment as we believe it to be the perfect choice of clothing for those who spend substantial amounts of time outside. A whole host of nature professionals havealready adopted Paramo for work and leisure including cameramen and sound recordists such as Mark Carwardine, Philip Lovel and Stephen Moss; wildlife enthusiasts and birdwatchers such as John Aitchison and landscape and wildlife photographers including Joe Cornish and Andy Rouse, Charlie Waite and Ben Osborne.

So what makes Paramo clothing so good?

Simple but very clever Paramo fabrics are designed specifically to ‘direct’ water away so you keep comfortable and dry – from reversible, next-to-the-skin, stretchy Parameta T fabric to the ultimate outer all-weather protection of Nikwax Analogy. Nikwax Analogy waterproof fabric is based on mammal fur – just as an otter or bear keeps warm and dry in the very worst of weather, the fabric structure moves water away from you and traps air to keep you warm.

Paramo fabrics work harder….

Keeping the weather out.
Removing perspiration and condensation more effectively when you’re working hard.
Whatever the conditions – even in high humidity when conventional waterproofs give up.

But feel better….

Quieter – they’re soft, supple and rustle-free.
Warmer and cosier – no hard, crisp-packet feel, comfy enough to wear all day or even to sleep in!

And last longer….

No membranes or coatings to break down over time.
Indefinitely renewable with Nikwax aftercare.
Repairable with a needle and thread.
Puncture doesn’t compromise performance.

And the best bit – it’s even ethically produced!

Paramo’s production facility was established in 1992 in Bogotá, Colombia, as part of a valuable social programme from the charitable Miquelina Foundation. The little sewing machine workshop set up by a nun has grown into an efficient garment factory, providing employment, training and practical help for ‘at risk’ women wanting to improve their lives. The factory profits are reinvested in equipment but also are able to fund a housing project, a virtual library, a kindergarten and a canteen for local children.

For every Paramo jacket bought a sapling is donated to Trees for Life to help reforestation of the Caledonian forest.

Hal con Jacket

Available in Mens and Ladies versions.
Nine pockets, including large front pockets for binoculars, camera gear, etc.
Soft, quiet, waterproof Nikwax fabric.
Fleece-lined collar, handwarming pockets, upper arm vents and two way zips.

Taiga Fleece

A cosy fleece perfect for long days in the hide.
Unisex design with water-repellent outer layer.
Two large chest pockets to hold maps, guidebooks, camera equipment, etc.

Cambia Zip Neck Top

Available in Mens and Ladies versions.
An excellent base layer that will keep you warm and dry.
Superb wicking properties.

A Choice of Waterproof and Weatherproof Trousers

Mens Pajaro Trousers: waterproof legwear comfortable enough for all day use.

Unisex Torres Trousers: weatherproof trousers with excellent insulation.

Ladies Cascada Trousers: waterproof legwear designed to be worn all day next to the skin.

Click here to view the entire range of Paramo clothing.

Browse the NHBS Festive Catalogue

Browse the NHBS Catalogue below, or (download as a .pdf document 5.9MB).

We’re offering a free gift to all customers this Christmas.

Order from NHBS before 12th December 2010 and get a FREE set of 4 Luxury Wildlife Greetings Cards (worth £4.99) featuring pictures from Robert Gillmor and Andrew Haslen. Sets of cards will automatically be added to your order when processed by NHBS.

Dinosaurs: A Field Guide, and other paleontology highlights

Dinosaurs: A Field Guide

Author and illustrator Gregory S. Paul has been fascinated with dinosaurs from a young age, and his success as a dinosaur artist, including a stint as a consultant and designer for Jurassic Park, is paralleled by his career as a scientist – the perfect candidate, then, to compile a compendium of facts and figures about these fascinating creatures – including a series of in-depth introductory essays – and provide the pictures that bring them to life…

Save £5 on Dinosaurs: A Field Guide – offer ends 31/1/2011

Other new paleontology titles:

Biodiversity of Fossils in Amber from the Major World Deposits

First Life (Save £5 – offer ends 31/1/2011)

The Proterozoic Biosphere: A Multidisciplinary Study – 2 Volume Set

One to watch out for in December:

The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution

Looking ahead to next month, The Rise of Fishes is an updated version of the definitive reference on early fishes, described by New Scientist as “Exceptionally lucid and comprehensively illustrated.”

Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats

This very generously illustrated two-volume set is the product of eight years of intensive travel and research on the part of the author, naturalist Stewart McPherson. It’s packed full of detail about the natural history and ecology of these fascinating plants – the 1441 pages include 799 colour photographs! Horticulturalists and botanists are presented with unparalleled information about all the carnivorous plant genera, including four species of Nepenthes described here for the first time.

Colour Identification Guide to Caterpillars – new reprint edition in stock

This comprehensive guide remains the most thorough source of information on the larval stage of the majority of the lepidoptera of the British Isles. This new reprint edition maintains the photographic quality of the original, and continues to be an indispensible companion to Bernard Skinner’s Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles. Also new from Apollo Books this week, Microlepidoptera of Europe, Volume 6: Gelechiidae II (Gelechiinae: Gnorimoschemini) carries on the excellent series of European micro-moth identification guides.

Coming soon… Butterflies of Britain and Ireland: A Field and Site Guide which covers all residents and vagrant species in Britain and Ireland and includes a site guide and accurate maps. Illustrated with hundreds of colour photos.

Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History

From the crops that have fed billions of people over the centuries to the plants highly regarded for their medicinal qualities, this fascinating offering from garden expert Bill Laws unearths the stories behind some of the world’s best-known plants. The plants are assessed by their influence in the categories of edible, medicinal, practical and commerical, allowing the reader to discover how each of the fifty featured plants has earnt its right to be regarded as changing the course of history. Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History draws upon some fascinating sources from ancient wall paintings to old Japanese wood blocks, depicting traditional methods of harvesting and preparing crops.

Our favourite plant from this book? Coffee

Coffea arabica – black gold. Thought to have been brought to the West by Marco Polo in the 13th Century, coffee is an economic, cultural and social phenomenon without parallel globally… and particularly in the office at NHBS.

Reed and Bush Warblers in stock at NHBS

Reed and Bush Warblers has just arrived at NHBS.

This detailed and comprehensive identification guide follows in the mould of “Sylvia Warblers” and “Pipits and Wagtails“. It primarily covers the genera Acrocephalus, Locustella, Cettia and Bradypterus together with a few smaller related genera.

Peter Kennerley & David Pearson’s authoritative handbook covers warbler identification in considerable detail, illustrated with line drawings, sonograms, colour plates and photographs. It is destined to become the ultimate reference for these challenging birds.

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