Books for the Nature Geeks

I occasionally review bird books on my Charm of Finches blog. I recently received some review copies of other books from Princeton University Press. They aren't bird books, so I thought they would be more suitable for some of the readers of this blog, as I know some of the Rolling Plains Texas Master Naturalist follow.

I am a little behind on my reviews, so I am going to put three of them in this one post.

The first book is Bugs Rule! An Introduction to the World of Insects, by Whitney Cranshaw and Richard Redak. This book was originally intended as a basic textbook for nonscience people taking a course in entomology. However, you don't have to sign up for a college course to get, read and enjoy this book. This book is about insects and arthropods (spiders, scorpions, centipedes, millipedes and crustaceans.)

This book is not a field guide, but as a way to get a good general grounding in bugs, it would certainly be a nice supplement to a field guide. Lots of wonderful pictures (830 color photos and additional drawings) help illustrate the information in the text.

Although written as a textbook, there is nothing dry about the writing, if you have any interest in the subject at all. When I originally got the book, I thought it might be a nice giveaway at the local Texas Master Naturalist meeting, but after reading the book, you other Master Naturalists will just have to get your own copy. This beautiful hardback book sells for $55 from Princeton University Press, so it isn't cheap. It is $50.17 from Amazon/$34.09 for your Kindle. But if you have a bug lover on your gift list, you could be a hero with this book.

Another book I have spent hours pouring over is The Kingdom of Fungi by Jens H. Petersen. I have always been fascinated by the fungi and their role as decomposers. For what appears to be such a simple plant is so much more than it appears. Over 800 gorgeous pictures in this book drive home just how beautiful these often overlooked plants are. There isn't a lot of text, but what text there is conveys a lot of interesting information. Even if you didn't have a fascination with fungi, you could enjoy the photographs--they're exquisite. If you also have an interest in this little known family of plants, then you'll spend hours, just like me looking and relooking at the pictures. The book does lead you through some basic taxonomy. Although it is not a field guide, again I can see where this book would help you use your field guide more effectively. You can purchase this book for $29.95 from Princeton University Press or for $19.59 from Amazon.

Another excellent book for you naturalists out there is The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees (2nd Ed.) by David More and John White. This is an awesome resource for identifying trees, although it is way too big and heavy to carry into the field. This comprehensive book catalogs nearly 2,000 tree species in North America and Europe. With some 5,000 illustrations, there are enough illustrations of leaves, twigs, fruit, bark, etc., to help guide even the least knowledgeable among us (like me.) I have trouble identifying trees outside of the few species I have gotten to know through frequent exposure.  I don't do well with most field guides identifying trees. This one has a lot more detail to help compare similar species. In addition to the usual information found in a field guide, however, this book has more information about the origins of the trees and various cultivars. This would be a fine addition to not only a naturalist's library, but that of a gardener. This book is available from Princeton University Press for $49.95 and from Amazon for $38.40.

A Plea from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Well, folks, we all know that the Texas State legislature cut a lot of budgets this year in an unsuccessful attempt to balance the budget (although most of the hoopla out of the legislature made it sound like they balanced the budget--that was all smoke and mirrors.) One of the budgets cut tremendously was the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

State parks are in serious financial trouble. There are some in the state who would like nothing better than to sell off parkland to private persons and entities to raise money for state expenditures. Although the parks are public land held in trust for the public, the legislature doesn't consider them a priority. Therefore, private citizens must come to the rescue. Texas Parks and Wildlife has issued a plea to raise $4.6 million through public donations to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation. I made a small donation today.

If you have the resources, please consider a contribution to this foundation or to your local Friends group.  Many parks have a 501(c)(3) Friends group to raise money for park improvements and to provide volunteer labor for projects the park doesn't have the manpower to do. Our local Lake Arrowhead State Park started a Friends group this past year. It is too new to be listed on the TPWD site yet, but should be soon as the Memorandum was recently signed. The group meets the first Thursday of each month at 7PM. If you don't have a lot of spare money, consider donating time.

Other ways to help are to visit the park and pay the entry fee ($3 per person at Lake Arrowhead) or purchase an annual park pass for admission to all of the state parks for a year.

Other organizations are getting involved to help increase attendance at the parks. For example, the Texas Ornithological Society is sponsoring a series of bird walks in state parks over the next several months to draw attention to the birdwatching opportunities and to bring in additional visitors.  I will be leading monthly bird walks at Lake Arrowhead State Park beginning in March. I'll post reminders in my sister blog, A Charm of Finches.

If we want parks to be here for future generations, we are going to have to make a personal commitment to do what we can to support the parks we have.