An all-access guide to the abundant natural splendor of Sonoma County Wild Sonoma celebrates the spectacular and resilient natural landscapes of Sonoma County, which along with its neighboring counties is one of the world's premier winegrowing regions. Our exploration launches with an entertaining primer on ecology basics, including the impact of fire, before a fun fact-filled survey of sixty-two of the area's iconic and commonly encountered species-from vivacious acorn woodpeckers to disease-neutralizing Western fence lizards. It caps off with a tour of six sites to experience Sonoma's diverse natural beauty, with a special emphasis on access. Written by Wild LA author Charles Hood, introduced by renowned naturalist Jane Goodall, and illustrated by John Muir Laws, Wild Sonoma offers residents and tourists from eight to eighty a sense of wonder and cause for hope.

Don’t be afraid of the dark: grab a flashlight and rediscover your sense of adventure! Darkness is something humans strive to keep at bay, but under the glow of twilight a nocturnal universe stirs to life. Nightshade blossoms bloom, javelinas parade down city streets, fox eyes gleam under the cover of the forest, and tiny sparrows fly incredible distances, guided by the stars. Naturalist Charles Hood and bat biologist José Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca unravel these enigmas in Nocturnalia, inviting readers on an environmental romp through the wonders of the Wild West. Their sundown dispatches, featuring over 100 photographs from California and the American Southwest, take us from the astronomical canopy overhead, to the flora that unfurl under moonshine, to the creatures that go bump in the night. With practical tips for the budding nighttime naturalist, the authors invite citizen scientists of all stripes to expand our knowledge of this final frontier and our understanding of life on Earth. Exploring the evolutionary adaptations of owls, bats, and other nightlife animals; the natural history of nighttime plants; and the celestial patterns that regulate this after-dark kingdom, Hood and Martínez-Fonseca lift their lanterns to illuminate the exquisite and intricate inner workings of nature after nightfall.

"For families wanting to explore their local wildlife as well as an engaging read for those with a general interest in the subject." --Booklist The American West is home to a wide array of reptiles and amphibians-from the rare and curious to those that can be found in parks and backyards. With this user-friendly guide in hand, discover the most likely-to-be-encountered lizards, snakes, turtles, and amphibians native to Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, plus the western parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Whether you are a dedicated herper or simply have a keen interest in wildlife and natural history, Sea Turtles to Sidewinders--from Charles Hood, Erin Westeen, and Jose Gabriel Martfnez-Fonsec--will help you appreciate and celebrate the amazing diversity represented by reptiles and amphibians of the West.

As its sister title, A Californian's Guide to the Trees Among Us, did for arboreal varieties, this new guidebook introduces casual birders to 120 of California's most easily seen bird species—native and exotic alike—as found in a mix of urban, suburban, and traditionally natural habitats. Full-color images and clear, direct descriptions make identification easy, and author Charles Hood supplements the essential information with surprising facts and trivia, including endangered-species recovery stories and the world record for grasshoppers eaten by one flycatcher in a single day. In sections addressing which gear to buy, where to go birdwatching, and how to read a birdsong transcription, Hood encourages readers to take ownership of their experiences, no matter their level of ornithological expertise. This accurate, lively, and even quotable guide will inspire people to notice nature more closely and find joy in interacting with the astounding diversity of avian life in California.

At its current tally of 212 species, California's mammal list is the largest of all the United States'. This new guidebook joins its sister titles A Californian's Guide to the Birds among Us and A Californian's Guide to the Trees among Us in introducing naturalists of all levels to over forty varieties of the Golden State's fascinating warm-blooded wildlife. Full-color images and evocative descriptions make identification fun and intuitive: a bobcat, for example, has “a Civil War look, with old-fashioned sideburns framing the face in black and white,� while a blue whale is named for its coloration of not “old jeans or dull paint, but a luminous, 'how can water catch on fire?' kind of blue.� Author Charles Hood supplements essential information with strange but true facts like voles' predilection for deer antlers as a source of calcium, and Mexican free-tailed bats' ability to live in gaseous environments that would kill most other animals. With refreshingly pragmatic commentary (“the fact is, even for experienced naturalists, most chipmunks look pretty much alike�) and sound advice for where to see mammals in urban and wilderness settings alike, this lively and even quotable guide will inspire people to connect with their environments wherever they are.

Winner of the Hollis Summers Poetry Prize. A vivid and insightful look at the culture and terrain of Antarctica, as well as the people who choose to live and work there, South x South celebrates and explores life at the extreme edge of our planet. Blending travel narrative, historical research, and the surprises of magical realism, Hood presents life in Antarctica and the history of polar aviation as both a miracle of achievement yet also as a way to understand humanity's longing to be creatures of the heavens as well as the earth. South x South is poetry at its most inventive and surprising, insisting that the world is stranger and more glorious than we ever might have guessed.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone