About Me

My photo
Canberra-based naturalist, conservationist, educator since 1980. I’m passionate about the natural world (especially the southern hemisphere), and trying to understand it and to share such understandings. To that aim I’ve written several books (most recently 'Birds in Their Habitats' and 'Australian Bird Names; origins and meanings'), run tours all over Australia, and for the last decade to South America, done a lot of ABC radio work, chaired a government environmental advisory committee and taught many adult education classes – and of course presented this blog, since 2012. I am the recipient of the Australian Natural History Medallion, the Australian Plants Award and most recently a Medal of the Order of Australia for ‘services to conservation and the environment’. I live happily in suburban Duffy with my partner Louise surrounded by a dense native garden and lots of birds.

Wednesday 7 March 2018

My New Book!

Hello again. I don't normally advertise here - especially not for myself - but my new book on birds, Birds in their Habitats; journeys with a naturalist, has just been released, and if you enjoy my blog it occurs to me that you might well enjoy it too. It was a long time in incubation, and covers a fair bit of the Southern Hemisphere, though obviously enough with a strong emphasis on Australia. Here's a link to the chapter contents; they're reasonably detailed so a browse through them might give you a reasonable idea of the contents.

My idea was to introduce you to seven major habitats, and some of the birds I've encountered in them. It's not a book about me, but about the birds, and my idea was to tell stories, with the hope that you'll enjoy the read and at the end of it discover that you've learned things you didn't know - about aspects of ecology, behaviour, evolution and conservation. It's also a bit about the people who study birds and the amazing things they're discovering, and a bit of a delve here and there into the sometimes slightly strange world of the people who watch birds.

Here's what it looks like from the outside.

And here's a link to the publisher's page, with a bit more blurb and the option of ordering if you so choose. However it's also available through other on-line sources and even good old-fashioned bookshops (especially in Australia) if you're so inclined.

And finally as a small bonus a couple of pics from the book, with their captions.
A pair of Waved Albatrosses, in a breeding colony on Española, Galápagos, performs an elaborate bill-clashing bond reinforcement ceremony as one returns from a fishing expedition. Their sole chick is the object of intensive care.

Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Jerrabomberra Wetlands, Canberra. This bird is preening, running each feather in turn through its bill to clean it and ‘rezip’ the barbules; this is an immense task, which every bird undertakes every day.
Thanks for reading, and if you do choose to buy the book, thank you for that too!

MY NORMAL SCHEDULED POSTING WILL APPEAR TOMORROW
(THURSDAY 8 MARCH) AS USUAL

Posted by at

2 comments:

Susan said...

How exciting for you. I hope sales are good.

7 March 2018 at 21:02
Ian Fraser said...

Thanks for that Susan, much appreciated. Me too, though I may be biased! Early signs suggest that cautious optimism may not be too inappropriate.

10 March 2018 at 14:00

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)