Des Thompson – författare

This text presents the tundra plovers, comprising of the grey plover and the Eurasian, Pacific, and American golden plovers. Breeding on tundra or northern heaths and moorland, they migrate far south to coastal mudflats, saltings and agricultural landscapes. The text examines the taxonomy, appearance, behaviour, ecology and conservation of golden and grey plovers, and compares and contrasts their natural history and biogeography. It also gives accounts on all aspects of their lifestyle including feeding, mating, parental care, moults, migration and avoidance of predators.

Notwithstanding the importance of modern technology, fieldwork remains vital, not least through helping to inspire and educate the next generation. Fieldwork has the ingredients of intellectual curiosity, passion, rigour and engagement with the outdoor world - to name just a few. You may be simply noting what you see around you, making detailed records, or carrying out an experiment; all of this and much more amounts to fieldwork. Being curious, you think about the world around you, and through patient observation develop and test ideas. Forty contributors capture the excitement and importance of fieldwork through a wide variety of examples, from urban graffiti to the Great Barrier Reef. Outdoor learning is for life: people have the greatest respect and care for their world when they have first-hand experience of it. The Editors are donating all royalties due to them to the environmental charity, The Field Studies Council, to support student fieldwork at the Council's field centres.

Notwithstanding the importance of modern technology, fieldwork remains vital, not least through helping to inspire and educate the next generation. Fieldwork has the ingredients of intellectual curiosity, passion, rigour and engagement with the outdoor world - to name just a few. You may be simply noting what you see around you, making detailed records, or carrying out an experiment; all of this and much more amounts to fieldwork. Being curious, you think about the world around you, and through patient observation develop and test ideas. Forty contributors capture the excitement and importance of fieldwork through a wide variety of examples, from urban graffiti to the Great Barrier Reef. Outdoor learning is for life: people have the greatest respect and care for their world when they have first-hand experience of it. The Editors are donating all royalties due to them to the environmental charity, The Field Studies Council, to support student fieldwork at the Council's field centres.

An Illustrated Guide to British Upland Vegetation is the first comprehensive, single book on plant communities in the British uplands. It provides concise descriptions of all currently recognised British upland vegetation types. Written by a team comprising some of the most experienced upland field botanists and ecologists in the UK, the book brings together all of the upland communities described in the National Vegetation Classification together with a number of previously undescribed assemblages of plant species.A key enables the reader to classify vegetation in the field. Each vegetation type is described clearly and vividly, with guidance on how to differentiate between similar looking communities. There are detailed sections on the ecology, conservation and management of each community, and up-to-date distribution maps.This is the outcome of many years of field work in the British uplands, much of it supported by the UK Government conservation agencies. The book will be an indispensable guide for anyone with a keen interest in the uplands, notably ecologists, land managers, lecturers, and students, as well as the many organisations actively involved in this special environment.'Using the Rodwell classification, the authors have blended in their own ecological expertise to produce - at last - an account of British upland vegetation which is readable, visual and comprehensive. Its value to nature conservation will be immense.' Dr Derek Ratcliffe, former Chief Scientist, Nature Conservancy Council'Here is an outstanding companion and rich information-source for all whose occupations and interests lead them to the uplands. It not only furnishes a clear and ‘user-friendly’ guide to the diversity of vegetation types, but also provides a masterly overview of the upland environment.' Professor Charles H. Gimingham, Former Regius Professor of Botany, University of AberdeenThis book is a reprint edition of ISBN-10 1-86107-553-7 (2004).

Donald Watson was a seminal figure in the wildlife art and ornithological world from the late 1950s onwards. Since his death in 2005, his work has lived on through active public demand for his outstanding paintings of birds and the continued reading of his books. This is the first time his status and standing in the world of bird art and ornithology has been assessed.This definitive book is a series of biographical essays written by those who knew him and his outstanding contributions. There are so many perceptive insights about him and his work, and many previously untold stories that enliven the text. Reading the stories will bring back memories for all who knew him and hopefully inspire those who didn’t but who follow in his footsteps.Readers will find detailed accounts of his life, his character, his work ethic, his link with his ornithologist son Jeff, his high standing in the world of raptor workers written by his daughter Louise, his daughter-in-law Vanessa and by his close friend and neighbour Chris Rollie. His high standing in raptor protection and especially his outstanding Hen Harrier work is updated by Des Thompson and Colin Galbraith. The author reviews his writing skills and describes how his conservation campaigns are still relevant today. They will also learn so much about his art from the perceptive in-depth account by John Threlfall, himself a very successful wildlife artist.Beautifully illustrated with his outstanding paintings, examples of his exquisite scraper board sketches and family photographs, readers will want this book for its images alone.