FD24 DIY

This guide is packed with practical, interpretative information on the most commonly encountered animals and plants of the Lowveld – information that is usually only available if you have a game ranger or field guide by your side in the bush! It teaches people how to observe, identify and interpret what they see in the bush in a meaningful way, without having to wade through the reams of technical information found in most other field guides. The reader-friendly mind-map layout of the book, with pictures linked to brief but informative text boxes, makes pertinent information accessible at a glance. Other features include colour-coded chapters for ease of reference, while blocked information and icons in the mammals and trees sections provide technical details in a concise form. Hundreds of stunning interpretative images, highlighted keywords and a flowchart structure to each spread direct the eye to the different topics on each featured species, allowing the reader to pick out whatever is of interest to him or her. Game Ranger in your Backpack is an essential companion for amateur naturalists of all descriptions including first-time international visitors to South Africa’s bushveld, annual local holidaymakers or aspiring 'game rangers'.

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The Roberts bird Guide (2nd Edition) has gone to great trouble to concentrate on, and illustrate, difficult-to-identify species and family groups such as raptors, warblers, cisticolas and waders. Special attention has been given to make sure there is far greater coverage of male-female differences and there are also many more juvenile illustrations. Unlike all previously published southern African bird guides, this new edition will be scattered with informative photographs that are incorporated in the text pages and each plate illustration is augmented with an introduction. Apart from the approximately 240 plate spreads, the guide also has 12 photographic and illustrated double spreads that show head enlargements and other details. Plates are annotated far more definitively than other guides - highlighting key identification features, especially for difficult-to-identify species. Plates are richly illustrated with vignettes, which will make any birding experience more informative.

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Brand new and unique, this book works with our free app to play animal and bird calls and sounds simply by pointing a device over the image.Keep track of all your Kruger sightings with a tick box system, including Star ratings for rare animals. Listen to their calls and see what their tracks and spoor look like.Free app download (offers in-app purchases) which works fully offline.All mammals, birds and reptiles of the Kruger are listed, as well as a bonus section on trees. A star rating identifies rare and special sightings.

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Newman’s Birds by Colour offers beginner birders a quick and simple way to identify southern Africa’s most common birds using colour as a starting point. Now in its fourth edition, this handy illustrated guide has been updated to include the latest common names, expanded habitat information, and up-to-date distribution maps. An informative introduction provides practical tips for identifying birds, and includes information on bird anatomy and classification, and guidance on where to look for birds and what you need to go birding. Sales points: Fully revised – now with illustrations PLUS photographs. Use colour to ID birds. Bird names in indigenous languages too. Distribution maps for each species. Ideal for novice birders.

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There is an African proverb: ‘Until the lion has a historian of his own, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.’ This book is an acceptance of that challenge, to write a brand new kind of history, where the author becomes the the lion’s historian. As a species, we are not alone. But for too long our history has been written as though we are. This book insists on a retelling of our more-than-human past, a retelling of a shifting series of significant inter-species relationships – from the odd and quirky connections to those that triggered major changes in history itself. Sandra Swart has scoured the archives to find both the real animal stories and the stories we have told about them for millennia. The animals in this book – elephants, hippos, okapi, lions, jackals, cows, sheep, horses, white ants, quagga, Nazi-bred Heck cattle, police dogs and baboons – are chosen strategically to highlight different facets of our shared past. With this animal-centric lens, decades of research are brought together in a stunning book that take animals seriously. To do this, Swart embraces the natural sciences (biology, ethology, conservation biology, palaeontology) and the social sciences, oral history, indigenous knowledge as well as archival history. This is a book with fangs! It tears through conventional stories to ask: if we are not alone and given our current global crises of mass extinctions, are we prepared to move beyond the convention that ‘history’ is only the story of our own species? Can we, instead, consider a more-than-human past? In our current cataclysmic biodiversity crisis, we humans need to find new ways to live with and relate to other beings. The possibility of our shared future pivots on a reckoning with our shared pasts. This ground-breaking book shows what human–animal history can do, not only to understand our place in the world better but to make our world – however slightly – a better place.

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Is a zebra black with white stripes or white with black stripes? And why do flamingos stand on one leg while bats hang upside down? Did you know that a chameleon’s tongue can shoot out at five times the acceleration of a fighter jet? In The Buck That Buries its Poo, naturalist Quinton Coetzee answers these and many other intriguing wildlife questions. He also dispels countless myths and elucidates some of the legends that surround creatures in the South African bush we thought we knew all about. For example, bats do not get tangled in people’s hair (because they are far too adept at flying) and elephants are not afraid of mice (but they do fear bees!). Other tall tales you might hear around the campfire are that lions roll in animal dung, entrails or carcasses to disguise their scent, and that rhinos have a predilection for stamping out fires. What is true, though, is that hyenas are more closely related to cats than to dogs. This handy guide is based on Coetzee’s own research and that of others, and his experience gleaned over decades living close to nature and wildlife. It seeks to unravel the mysteries of nature in Africa – from mammals and birds to arthropods and plants – with fascinating information and fun trivia. It is a book that will enlighten and entertain. PS: Zebras are black with white stripes!

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2nd Edition Covering nearly 1000 species found in southern Africa, this completely reworked edition of Roberts Bird Guide features all new vivid artwork which details seasonal, age and sexual differences in approximately 240 annotated colour plates. It includes updated distribution maps, breeding and seasonality bars. Concise but informative species texts deal not only with identification but contain delightful and accurate descriptions of call and eating habits. In December 1935, with very little available on birding in South Africa, the South African Bird Book Fund was formed to produce a complete bird guide for southern Africa under the authorship of Austin Roberts, and illustrated by Norman CK Lighton. The successful and popular first edition, titled The Birds of South Africa, was published on 8 June 1940. Now, a lifetime later, seventy-six years to be exact, Roberts Bird Guide brings you, for the first time, a completely newly designed bird guide. With well over 300 000 copies of the Roberts previous guide books sold to date, the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund is committed to remaining the forerunner in the publication of up-to-date bird information in the region, and to making publications as affordable as possible to the southern African birding community.

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Embrace off-grid green living with this all-encompassing guide to self-sufficiency alongside Dick Strawbridge and his son James. Introducing Practical Self-Sufficiency, your new go-to survival guide offering step-by-step instructions on all things environment-friendly, jam-packed with tips and tricks for off-grid living to anyone looking to embrace a life of sustainability. So what are you waiting for?Dive straight in to discover: -Detailed step-by-step guide covering diverse aspects of off-grid living-Featuring fully-illustrated step-by-step projecte visually demonstrating how to achieve key aspects of sustainable living from start to finish.-Encyclopaedic knowledge on a range of eco-friendly tasks such as brewing beer and making soap.Featuring full-page artworks showing how to tailor every environment for self-sufficient livingFeel like becoming a better version of yourself this New Year? Why not stand out from the crowd and challenge yourself to adopting a healthy eco-friendly lifestyle and unleash your endless potential! Whether your goal is to become a green-fingered gardener or you're looking to lower your carbon footprint like never before, this all-encompassing horticulture book has something for everyone to love, with a diverse range of self-sufficiency skills to suit your individual needs and preferences. In fact, this perfect green gift features detailed advice for achieving a self-sufficient lifestyle no matter your outdoor space, and includes specific guides for getting the most out of urban gardens, allotments and much more!At DK, we believe in the power of discovery. From beer brewing to willow weaving, fermented foods to chicken coops, invest in this sustainability book to give green living a new name, and learn some top tips and handy life skills along the way!Join Dick Strawbridge and his son James as they embark on a journey to lead a greener life, and be inspired to revolutionise your relationship with the planet in your new sustainable all-green way of living. Test your limits and push your boundaries with this riveting read, and discover how to adapt to a zero waste lifestyle from here on out.

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