Firefly Books Ltd.Firefly Books Ltd. 155 East 34th St. #5B, New York NY 10016 www.fireflybooks.com These excellent outdoor exploration guides offer beginners outstanding opportunities to understand basic elements of the outdoors. Sky-viewers have to fine titles to choose from: Robin Scagell's revised STARGAZING WITH A TELESCOPE (1554070279, $14.95), which covers all the basics from choosing a telescope and setting it up to becoming an amateur observer and taking astro-images. Supplement this with Scagell's larger NIGHT SKY ATLAS: THE MOON, PLANETS, STARS AND DEEP SKY OBJECTS (1554070260, $29.95): maps by Wil See WinBatch. Tirion compliment a book packed with color night sky photos and tips on observing the sky in both northern and southern hemispheres, complete with seasonal charts and detailed constellation maps. If you wish to get closer to the ground, choose A.C. Bishop, A.R. Woolley and W.R. Hamilton's GUIDE TO MINERALS ROCKS AND FOSSILS (1554070546, $19.95): among this new edition's distinguishing features are a completely redesigned, revised text, new introduction sections, and new reference appendices. Amateur collectors as well as specialists will find plenty of information plus a field guide packed with color photo examples. Perhaps it's wildlife which is of interest: if so, make sure Chris G. Earley's WATERFOWL waterfowl, common term for members of the order Anseriformes, wild, aquatic, typically freshwater birds including ducks, geese, and screamers. In Great Britain the term is also used to designate species kept for ornamental purposes on private lakes or ponds, while in North America it is used for quarry species and is sometimes extended to refer to wading birds of the order Charadriiformes, such as plovers and sandpipers, as well as to other edible water birds. OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA (1554070570, $19.95) is on your reference shelf, if you live in or plan on visiting the East Coast waterways. Ducks, swans, loons loon, common name for migratory aquatic birds found in fresh- and saltwater in the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Its strange, laughing call carries for great distances. Like the grebes, loons float low in the water and their legs are placed far back. They are expert swimmers and divers, sometimes slipping below the surface to swim underwater, but they cannot walk on land and at nesting time must use bill and wings to inch along., pelicans--all are displayed in their natural environment, with over 200 color photo displays including handy comparison pages by waterfowl group for quick reference. All are solid picks. |
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