The Coon-Sanders Nighthawks


Book Description

Carleton A. Coon, Sr., and Hoe L. Sanders formed the Coon-Sanders Orchestra in 1919 in Kansas City, Missouri. Three years later, under the name "Nighthawks," the band began broadcasting experimental, highly-popular midnight radio programs over Kansas City's WDAF. Their music was played all over the world, and the band remained one of America's top bands until Coon's death in 1932. Here is the complete history of the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, the band whose saucy, and bustling music and carefree and extravagant musicians symbolized the era between World War I and the Great Depression.




The Nighthawk's Evening


Book Description

In her late thirties, Gretchen Newberry left her office job in Portland, Oregon, to become a wildlife biologist studying nighthawks. The common nighthawk, Chordeiles minor, has long fascinated birders, scientists, farmers, and anyone who has awoken to its raspy calls on a hot city night. In The Nighthawk's Evening, Newberry charts her journey across North America to study these birds, from the islands of British Columbia to rooftops in South Dakota, Oregon sagebrush, and Wisconsin forests. This acrobatic, night-flying bird nests on rooftops and flocks in the thousands as it migrates from Alaska to Argentina and back every year. Nighthawks are strange animals, reptiles with feathers, sleepy during the day, but quick, agile, and especially adept at survival. They have the ability to withstand extreme temperatures and adapt to many habitats, but they are struggling for survival in the Anthropocene. Newberry's story focuses on the bird itself--its complex conservation status and cultural significance--and the larger, often hidden world of nocturnal animals. Along the way, she gives readers insight into the daily life of a scientist, especially one who works primarily at night. The Nighthawk's Evening uses one scientist and one species to explore the challenges, disappointments, and successes of scientific research and conservation efforts. An accessible work of science, it will appeal to birders, students, wildlife managers, and anyone who is fascinated by urban wildlife.







Catesby's Birds of Colonial America


Book Description

With this lovely and informative volume, Alan Feduccia preserves the pathbreaking work of Mark Catesby, the English naturalist and illustrator who founded natural history and bird art in America. First published by UNC Press in 1985, the book features all




Henry's Night


Book Description

When Henry cannot sleep, he takes the night jar and tries to capture the song of the night bird.




Universe


Book Description

Twisting and Turning J. Larry Nance’s Universe stimulates thought about the way the world works—from life and death to nature and the cosmos. Through Nance’s poetry, the reader gets the sense that even when we are long gone, the universe will continue to run its course. With imagery such as, “in the sky, in the flying of clouds”—we sense that life is fleeting. “Twisting and Turning,” in particular, presents the forces of the universe that are in motion, working together seamlessly. This poem glorifies the complex nature of the universe, while questioning where do life and death fall into place in the grand scheme of things? Contemplating the universe often results in utter amazement and sheer bewilderment. What we know is amazing, yet there is still so much we don’t know about our universe that is thoroughly perplexing. There are plenty of questions about life, death, and what makes the cosmos tick, and while Nance’s Universe doesn’t seek to provide pat answers to all of our questions, it does stimulate thought. To be sure, this compilation is a must-read. The precision and clockwork with which the universe operates is likened unto the inner working of a clock in “Twisting and turning,” as it impels one to think that there is an underlying force that controls the universe. With such images as spirals, as in spiral galaxies, and the double twisting of a dna strand reflected in the image of a clock’s springs, and the circular figures that are found throughout nature, Nance presents a universe that operates with mind boggling precision. The following is a sneak peak at Nance’s captivating talent: Twisting and turning, the spiral tracks there, in the sky, in the flying of clouds writing the natural secret ... and in the gentle shell, twisting ever this way and that, slowly turning in the spiral marked force mystery that writes the foundation of the universe, every upward goes the gyre, twisting and turning the advent of life and perhaps too, but hidden still, in death, the reverse spiral to twist toward life and reverse again. Cycles and measures of circles infinite, circles of whatever devices are God‘s seeing, scattered everywhere as reminders or maybe just universal watch springs, main springs, forcing the movement, the circle, they cycle, waxing and waning by the micro second to the infinite time measures ... around and around, smoke in nature, twisting and turning in blind acknowledgment of the ultimate mystery beyond gravity, the ultimate force that sends the earth around ... the moon













Birds of Houston


Book Description

No matter where you see birds in the city—in parks or woodlands, on power lines or in parking lots—they are the natural soul of the urban landscape. They enhance the city and the lives of those who watch them. Nature writer B. C. Robison and wildlife photographer John Tveten have teamed up to produce this field guide for birders who want to identify the birds most commonly seen in Houston. Fifty-five species are included, ranging from such well-known favorites as the mockingbird and cardinal to the more exotic yellow-crowned night heron. A full-color photograph for each bird appears alongside warm and often witty description. For quick reference, a summary of the primary field marks of the adult bird is also provided. This summary includes not only identifying features of the bird but also its habitats, the time of year it can be found, and its distinctive behavioral traits. Aimed at the beginning birder, the guide also gives tips on buying binoculars and on attracting birds to your yard.