Customer Reviews

Stokes Guide to Nature in Winter

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A Guide to Nature in Winter is an un paralleled introduction to the wintertime natural world. Nature is never dormant: on close observation, a silent, snow- blanketed winter landscape reveals itself as the setting for intense and purposeful activity in the plant and animal worlds. Because natural activity is greatly simplified in winter, though, it is the ideal season to introduce oneself to the complex series of relationships that tie the natural world together.

Perhaps this volume is better described as eight comprehensive field guides in one. Donald Stokes covers thoroughly the eight prominent aspects of winter most easily studied in the field: winter weeds, snow crystals, wintering trees, evidence of in sects, birds and abandoned nests, winter mushrooms, tracks in the snow, and ever green plants. For each topic, he provides a general introduction, a key to field identification of items within the topic, and a natural history description of each item (arranged alphabetically, by common name).

The 485 stunning pen-and-ink drawings that grace these pages make accurate field identification easy and convey a feeling for nature in its entirety. A Guide to Nature in Winter will inform and entertain nature lovers, winter walkers, cross-country skiers, campers, birdwatchers, armchair naturalists - in short, everyone interested in understanding the marvels held by nature in winter. The combination of an expertly organized text and splendid illustrations enables readers to see, clearly and piercingly, the winter landscape as a bountiful whole.

Donald Stokes is a naturalist and teacher. Deborah Prince is a freelance artist. Both live in Massachusetts.

Donald Stokes has many field guides which give one or two page descriptions of interesting details about various species. I would recommend any of them. This guide covers virtually anything you would be likely to notice in the winter. It is divided into chapters on: weeds, snow, trees, insects, birds & nests, musrooms, tracks, and evergreens. In each chapter various species are arranged alphabetically by common name. The book is simply chock full of fascinating information. I will read several sections (or even chapters) at a time, and then am dying to get outside and look for these things. Highy recommended.

I originally owned one of these, and liked it so much that I bought two of my sisters the same copy, and they love it as much as I do. Great for nature lovers of all ages. Very interesting as it explains, that while everything may look dead in the middle of winter, there IS life inside of tree bark, galls on weeds & seed pods...very nice.