The Eastern Curlew by Harry Saddler

$29.99 AUD

Category: Nature

Every year around August, large flocks of Eastern Curlews leave their breeding grounds in the Arctic and embark on a perilous 10,000km journey to the coast of Australia. The birds cannot swim; if they become exhausted and fall into the ocean, they die. But it’s a journey they have taken for tens of thousands of years, tracing invisible flyways in the sky in what is one of the most spectacular mass migrations in the animal kingdom. Following the Eastern Curlew along its migratory path, award-winning nature writer Harry Saddler explores how these incredible birds have impressed themselves on the cultures of the countries they fly through, the threat to their survival posed by development, and the remarkable ways these birds and humankind may be entwined. The Eastern Curlew is a delightful and vivid portrait of a fascinating natural phenomenon. ...Show more

Water Colour by Greg French

$29.99 AUD

Category: Nature

A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings by Helen Jukes

$35.00 AUD

Category: Nature

''This book has found a special place in my heart. It''s as strange, beautiful and unexpected, as precise and exquisite in its movings, as bees in a hive. I loved it'' HELEN MACDONALD, author of H IS FOR HAWK ''Everyone should own A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings, which moved and delighted me more than a book about insects had any right to ... Jukes is a gloriously gifted writer and her book ought to become a key text of this bright moment in our history of nature writing'' Observer ''Written finely and insightful'' Guardian   A fascinating, insightful and inspiring account of a novice beekeeper''s year of keeping honeybees, which will appeal to readers of H is For Hawk and The Outrun Entering her thirties, Helen Jukes feels trapped in an urban grind of office politics and temporary addresses - disconnected, stressed. Struggling to settle into her latest job and home in Oxford, she realises she needs to effect a change if she''s to create a meaningful life for herself, one that can accommodate comfort and labour and love. Then friends give her the gift of a colony of honeybees - according to folklore, bees freely given bring luck - and Helen embarks on her first full year of beekeeping. But what does it mean to ''keep'' wild creatures? In learning about the bees, what can she learn of herself? And can travelling inside the hive free her outside it?   As Helen grapples with her role in the delicate, awe-inspiring ecosystem of the hive, the very act of keeping seems to open up new perspectives, deepen friendships old and new, and make her world come alive. A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings is at once a fascinating exploration of the honeybee and the hive, the practices of honey-gathering and the history of our observation of bees; and a beautifully wrought meditation on responsibility and care, on vulnerability and trust, on forging bonds and breaking new ground. ''This is classic modern nature-writing; a synthesis of scientific learning, observation and the author''s response. If you care for the wellbeing of bees and the planet and for the state of the human heart, then this book, with its deft and beautiful prose, is for you... And like all good nature writing, it also - quietly, clearly and insistently - requires us, too, to respond'' Countryfile Magazine ''An intimate exploration of the heart and home, and a tantalising glimpse into an alien culture. A brave and delicate book, rich and fascinating'' Nick Hunt, author of Where the Wild Winds Are ''Subtly wrought personal journey into the art and science of beekeeping. Helen Jukes evokes both the practical minutiae of the work, and the findings of researchers who have illuminated bee ethology over the centuries'' nature ''A mesmeric, lovely, quietly powerful book. A gentle but compelling account of the redemption that comes from relationship and attention'' Charles Foster, author of Being a Beast ''A profound, funny and sometimes deeply moving book that describes a year of inner city bee keeping, while dancing between the history of bees and us and what it means to be human in our modern world''  Julia Blackburn, author of Threads: The Delicate Life of John Craske ''A very human story about the aliens gathering  in her back garden - bees, fascinating but almost unknowable. Their wildness and her duty to them help open up a desk rat''s uninspiring life to all the possibilities of love, care, connection and sheer wonder. It is a lovely, entirely personal journey into the very heart of the hive'' Michael Pye ''I raced through this really terrific, down-to-earth read. The existential threat to our entire ecosystem posed by the problems facing bees can be hard to grasp, but Helen manages to make this a very personal, human story that, hopefully, might inspire others to action'' Luke Turner, The Quietus ...Show more

Tamed: Ten Species That Changed Our World by Alice Roberts

$24.99 AUD

Category: Nature

**'A masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling.' BRIAN COX** **'Will appeal to fans of Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens'.Mail on Sunday ** The extraordinary story of the species that became our allies. Dogsbecame our companions Wheatfed a booming population Cattlegave us meat and milk Maizefuelled the growth of empires Potatoesbrought us feast and famine Chickensled us to wonder about tomorrow Ricepromised us a golden future Horsesgave us strength and speed Applestravelled with us HUMANS TAMED THEM ALL For hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors depended on wild plants and animals to stay alive - until they began to tame them. Combining archaeology and cutting-edge genetics, Tamed tells the story of the greatest revolution in human history and reveals the fascinating origins of ten crucial domesticated species; and how they, in turn, transformed us. In a world creaking under the strain of human activity, Alice Roberts urges us to look again at our relationship with the natural world - and our huge influence upon it. AN ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY 'BOOK OF THE YEAR' 2017 ...Show more

Birds in Their Habitats: Journeys with a Naturalist by Ian Fraser

$39.95 AUD

Category: Nature

Everywhere we go there are birds, and they all have mysteries to be unravelled. These mysteries include the way they look, from bizarre to apparently mundane, why they live where they live, and the things they do, many of which are far too incredible ever to be imagined as fiction.Birds in Their Habitat s is a collection of stories and experiences, which introduce fascinating aspects of birdlife, ecology and behaviour. Informed by a wealth of historical and contemporary research, Ian Fraser takes the reader on a journey through four continents: from places as unfamiliar as the Chonos Archipelago of southern Chile and the arid Sahel woodlands of northern Cameroon to those as familiar as a suburban backyard. This is a book of discovery of birds and the places they live. And with humour and personal insight, it is a book about the sometimes strange world of the people who spend a life absorbed in birds. ...Show more

How to Live Plastic-Free by Luca Bonaccorsi; Marine Conservation Society

$26.99 AUD

Category: Nature

Thank you for choosing this book - it shows that you care about the future of our planet. Whether you decide to go plastic free for an hour, a day or a year, this book will equip you with little steps we can each take to make a big difference. Let's turn the tide on plastic now - our oceans will thank you for it.   Choking. Starving. Poisoning. This is what plastic litter is doing to marine life. Our oceans are, quite simply, facing environmental disaster. Yet by taking some simple steps and making a few changes to your daily routine, YOU can help to change this. How to Live Plastic Free will teach you everything you need to know about reducing your plastic usage on a daily basis. The chapters start with a typical morning routine and take you through your day, giving you tips and practical advice for removing unnecessary plastic at every possible opportunity. From the moment you wake up to the time you go to bed, you will learn how easy it can be to use plastic-free cosmetics, how to have plastic-free mealtimes, how to change your shopping habits and how to consider your use of plastic items at work. These simple, practical methods will show that small changes to your lifestyle can make a huge change to the future of our planet. #StopThePlasticTide ...Show more

The Wasp and The Orchid by Danielle Clode

$39.99 AUD

Category: Nature

'Have you met Mrs Edith Coleman? If not you must - I am sure you will like her - she's just A1 and a splendid naturalist.'In 1922, a 48-year-old housewife from Blackburn delivered her first paper, on native Australian orchids, to the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria. Over the next thirty years, Edith Coleman would write over 300 articles on Australian nature for newspapers, magazines and scientific journals. She would solve the mystery of orchid pollination that had bewildered even Darwin, earn the acclaim of international scientists and, in 1949, become the first woman to be awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion. She was 'Australia's greatest orchid expert', 'foremost of our women naturalists', a woman who 'needed no introduction'. And yet, today, Edith Coleman has faded into obscurity. How did this remarkable woman, with no training or connections, achieve so much so late in life? And why, over the intervening years, have her achievements and her writing been forgotten? Zoologist and award-winning writer Danielle Clode sets out to uncover Edith's story, from her childhood in England to her unlikely success, sharing along the way Edith's lyrical and incisive writing and her uncompromising passion for Australian nature and landscape. ...Show more

The Cow Book by John Connell

$29.99 AUD

Category: Nature

The intimate account of a year on his family farm in Ireland - and a fascinating history of man's long relationship with the cow, by a Walkley Award-winning investigative reporter.

Shark Drunk - The Art of Catching a Large Shark from a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean by Morten Strøksnes

$34.95 AUD

Category: Nature

** BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week ** Shark Drunk is, in part, the tale of two men in a very small boat on the trail of a very big fish. It is also a story of obsession, enchantment and adventure. A love song to the sea, in all its mystery, hardship, wonder and life-giving majesty. In the great depths surr ounding the remote Lofoten islands in Norway lives the Greenland shark. Twenty-six feet in length and weighing more than a tonne, it can live for 200 years. Its fluorescent green, parasite-covered eyes are said to hypnotise its prey, and its meat is so riddled with poison that, when consumed, it sends people into a hallucinatory trance. Armed with little more than their wits and a tiny rubber boat, Morten Strøksnes and his friend Hugo set out in pursuit of this enigmatic creature. Together, they tackle existential questions, experience the best and worst nature can throw at them, and explore the astonishing life teeming at the ocean's depths. ...Show more

Birds Of Aireys Inlet And Anglesea On The Great Ocean Road by MARG LACEY

$55.00 AUD

Category: Nature

Fingers in the Sparkle JarA Memoir by Chris Packham

$22.99 AUD

Category: Nature

The memoir that inspired Chris Packham's BBC documentary, Asperger's and Me Every minute was magical, every single thing it did was fascinating and everything it didn't do was equally wondrous, and to be sat there, with a Kestrel, a real live Kestrel, my own real live Kestrel on my wrist! I felt like I 'd climbed through a hole in heaven's fence. An introverted, unusual young boy, isolated by his obsessions and a loner at school, Chris Packham only felt at ease in the fields and woods around his suburban home. But when he stole a young Kestrel from its nest, he was about to embark on a friendship that would teach him what it meant to love, and that would change him forever. In his rich, lyrical and emotionally exposing memoir, Chris brings to life his childhood in the 70s, from his bedroom bursting with fox skulls, birds' eggs and sweaty jam jars, to his feral adventures. But pervading his story is the search for freedom, meaning and acceptance in a world that didn't understand him. Beautifully wrought, this coming-of-age memoir will be unlike any you've ever read. ...Show more

The Wisdom of Trees: A Miscellany by Max Adams

$19.99 AUD

Category: Nature

A passionate and informative celebration of trees and of man's ingenuity in exploiting their resources: the perfect gift for anyone who cares about the natural worldTrees are marvels of nature, still-standing giants of extraordinary longevity. In a beautifully written sequence of essays, anecdotes, and profiles of species from yew to scots pine, Max Adams explores both the amazing biology of trees and humanity's relationship with wood and forest across the centuries. Embellished with images from John Evelyn's classic Sylva (1664), this beautifully designed gift book offers both a natural and a cultural history of trees, and will delight anyone who cares about the natural world and our interaction with it. ...Show more