Showing all 5 results
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Europe: The First 100 Million Years
Artist/Author: Flannery, Tim$25.00 Add to cartIt is hard to overstate just how unusual Europe was towards the end of the age of the dinosaurs. It was a dynamic island arc whose individual landmasses were made up of diverse geological types, including ancient continental fragments, raised segments of oceanic crust, and land newly minted by volcanic activity. Yet even at this early stage Europe was exerting a disproportionate influence on the world.
About 100 million years ago, the interaction of three continents—Asia, North America and Africa—formed the tropical island archipelago that would become the Europe of today, a place of exceptional diversity, rapid change and high energy.
Europe: The First 100 Million Years is full of surprises. Over the millennia Europe has received countless immigrant species and transformed them. It is where the first coral reefs formed. It was once home to some of the world’s largest elephants. And it played a vital role in the evolution of our own species.
When the first modern humans arrived in Europe 40,000 years ago, they began to exert an astonishing influence on the continent’s flora and fauna, and now, Europeans lead the way in wildlife restoration—there are more wolves in Europe today than in the USA. This enthralling ecological history is more than the story of Europe and the Europeans, it will change our understanding of life itself.
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The Long Spring: Tracking the Arrival of Spring through Europe
Artist/Author: Rose, Laurence$35.00 Add to cartExploring the wildlife, places, traditions, culture and personalities associated with spring throughout Europe, and introducing readers to cultural, scientific and historical research and his recollections of 30 years of continental travel, Laurence Rose paints a vivid picture of one of the world’s most significant and beautiful natural phenomena: spring.
Laurence begins his journey in the first week of February, arriving in southern Spain with the storks that herald the beginning of Europe’s spring on San Blas Day. Swallows, cranes and, later on, wild swans are his constant companions as he journeys his way north through Spain, France and the UK, eventually crossing over to Sweden, Finland and Norway before finally reaching the Arctic Circle four months later.
While on the road, Laurence follows live data from satellites tracking birds as well as other indicators of spring. Throughout his travels, he meets people living closely with nature. He also encounters new behaviours, such as cranes wintering in France, and explores how they link to climate change.
The further north he travels, the more unpredictable the events of spring become. At the end of his journey, Laurence reflects on what he has learned, as the long Arctic days stretch out into 24 hours of daylight.
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The nature guide to the Bialowieza primeval forest: Poland.
Artist/Author: Hilbers, Dirk.$50.00 Add to cartOn the border of Poland and Belarus lies the famous Bialowieza forest, a last remnant of the primeval vegetation that once covered the larger part of central Europe. From the outside it looks like a dense and forbidding wall of trees, but once inside the forest manifests itself as a spacious cathedral. The Bialowieza actually is a collection of forests, ranging from open oak-linden-hornbeam stands to jungle-like carr woods and mysterious, boggy spruce forests. Massive wood giants rise up from a springy, moss-covered forest floor. The dense foliage and disorderly ruins of damp trunks support a dazzling diversity of plants and animals. Packs of wolves and herds of bison roam the forest. Cranes, pygmy owls, black storks and nearly all European woodpeckers are just some of the birds that first come to mind. Like a wilderness should, the Bialowieza presents itself as an unruly area that hides its treasures well. The hundreds of kilometers of quiet forest tracks are both alluring and overpowering. This guide helps you to explore them to the fullest.
This nature guide is part of a series of innovative new guides for nature enthusiasts. The Crossbill Guides combine interesting and insightful stories with up-to-date and practical tourist information. Detailed descriptions of hiking trails, canoe trips and car routes are conveniently linked to information on everything you want to know about the whats, wheres and whys of splendid nature.
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The nature guide to the Biebrza marshes: Poland.
Artist/Author: Hilbers, Dirk.$45.00 Add to cartIn the far northeastern corner of Poland lies an unexpected natural gem: the Biebrza river valley. The river flows like a shiny ribbon through dense flood forests, mysterious alder woods, flowery river dunes and open sedge marshes. It is the most intact floodplain left in central Europe. Here, in what seems like an anachronism compared to the rest of the central European plain, you still encounter elk, several eagles, cranes and black storks. Even wolves and such avian rarities as aquatic warbler and great snipe are found in the Biebrza marshes. For the visitor the Biebrza’s wild nature, together with the surrounding lovely rural scenery, forms an exciting and living travel destination.
This nature guide is part of a series of innovative new guides for nature enthusiasts. The Crossbill Guides combine interesting and insightful stories with up-to-date and practical tourist information. Detailed descriptions of hiking trails, canoe trips and car routes are conveniently linked to information on everything you want to know about the whats, wheres and whys of splendid nature.
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The nature guide to the Camargue, La Crau and Les Alpilles.
Artist/Author: Hilbers, Dirk.$51.00 Add to cartSome areas just seem to have it all and the Camargue region is among those fortunate ones. Just far enough south to shake off the last edges of the temperate climate, the Camargue and surrounding areas already display some of the best that Mediterranean nature has to offer.
This guidebook describes the nature of three totally different areas that are each others direct neighbours: Camargue, La Crau and Les Alpilles.
The Camargue is a huge complex of meadows, reedbeds, dunes and salt marshes filled with birds. Visitors are treated to grand views over large lagoons with flamingos and waterfowl. The famous Camargue horse roams the open plains. The shimmering steppes of La Crau are inhabited by a Sahara-like birdlife. Les Alpilles have yet another appeal. The forested hills and limestone cliffs are dotted with orchids and inhabited by beautiful butterflies. Combine the three areas and you have a region of incredible diversity. All you have to do is step outside and witness it.This nature guide is part of a series of innovative new guides for nature enthusiasts. The Crossbill Guides combine interesting and insightful stories with up-to-date and practical tourist information. Detailed descriptions of hiking trails, canoe trips and car routes are conveniently linked to information on everything you want to know about the whats, wheres and whys of splendid nature.
