18 Products

This is a facsimile edition of Darwin’s work on orchids (1862) which drew on his own experiments to illustrate his argument, in Origin of Species, that ‘organic beings require an occasional cross with another individual’.

After chapters dealing with habitats, conservation and birding locations on the Maltese Islands, this guide presents 130 species accounts, each illustrated with a large colour photograph, followed by a complete species list.

Charles Darwin was fascinated by the way the flowers of orchids had evolved to attract specific insects. Noting the very long spur of Angraecum sesquipedale, he predicted that it could only be fertilized by a moth with a 35cm tongue, a statement that was ridiculed until such a species was discovered after his death. This limited edition facsimile of his seminal 1862 book on the subject is bound in cloth using traditional methods.

Insectivorous plants exercise a curious fascination; their ability to capture living creatures is so alien to anything we expect of a plant. In this classic study, first published in 1875, the author of The Origin of Species explains, by means of detailed observation and experiments, how these curious organisms trap and digest their prey, and absorb nutrients from them. His findings will surprise today’s readers as much as they did the Victorians.

Few creatures can be more emblematic of the Scottish Highlands than the golden eagle, and to catch a glimpse of this magnificent bird is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This book recounts many such encounters over many years. The evocative text and superb colour photographs capture the sights, the sounds and the very texture of the Highlands, as well as the life, the habits and the prey of this mighty raptor.

As readers follow Belle’s story from her birth in an ancient church to the moment when she leaves home, they learn what life is like for barn owls in the UK.

Born in Rotterdam, the wildlife artist Renso Tamse began drawing at the age of five. This book charts his journeys through Europe – from Ireland to Cyprus, from Spain to Scandinavia – in pursuit of its flora and fauna. In his paintings and drawings he captures the wildlife of the continent in all its majesty and mystery: a roe deer in the Black Forest, a golden eagle in the Pyrenees, a wary fox on Dartmoor, and many other magnificent creatures.

After hatching out in Bath, Screamer takes to the sky, travelling south for the winter. He sees African countries, people and animals, but doesn’t touch down until returning to Bath next summer.

John Busby (1928–2015) was a celebrated wildlife artist, illustrator and teacher who became widely known in the 1980s for his groundbreaking RSPB book Drawing Birds. His ability to capture the living essence of birds and other wildlife in deft, often minimal strokes of the pencil or brush is celebrated in this last of his books, in which he explores his favourite subjects from birds in the garden to seaside rock pools and tigers in India.

Newcastle hosts the furthest inland colony of kittiwakes. This story follows a pair as they nest in the city, have babies, enjoy a game of football and head back out to sea.

Horus is born high up on the Houses of Parliament, and takes his fledgling flights over London, where peregrines are a protected species – by hunting pigeons, they help humans to control their numbers.

After hitching a ride home on a cross-Channel ferry, Gowk finds a mate who deposits their egg in a reed-warbler nest. As Gowk returns across the Channel, the warbler raises his chick.

As Fred hatches and grows, readers learn about the history of farming, how its changes have affected the chaffinch and why Fred is lucky to be living on an organic farm.

Combining a lifelong interest in natural history with her passion for drawing, Lisa Hooper turned professional in 2006 and has since exhibited throughout the UK. Reproducing over 100 striking examples of her work, here she examines her fascination with birds and the various print media she uses to depict them, describing and illustrating the process of her work, while touching on aspects of her life that have influenced the direction she has followed.

This inspiring collection of paintings, drawings and writings by artist John Threlfall captures a journey along Britain’s coast, from sandy beaches and sea cliffs in the north, to rocky shores and estuaries in the south. Threlfall’s fascination with the shoreline, its shifting colours and dramatic forms, is outdone only by his attraction to its wildlife: seals, sanderlings, guillemots and curlews are some of the fauna that provide the focal point for his beautiful artwork.

Not only can one find the greatest variety of bird species in Norfolk as well as view spectacular mass migrations, but it is also one of the best spots to find rare birds and infrequent visitors to Britain. This celebration of the county’s avian scene offers research and statistics about the different types of habitats and the resident and visiting bird populations of each, together with almost 200 atmospheric watercolour illustrations by James McCallum.

Since the dawn of humanity, people have carved and painted on rocks and cave walls. The writer, illustrator and naturalist Tony Hopkins has spent 20 years travelling the world, from Ireland to Sudan and from southern France to the Australian desert, sketching these powerful images of humans and animals. This collection of his paintings reaffirms the dynamic connection between art and the environment, while his lucid text explains how these primal artworks were made and describes the societies that produced them.