The notion of a vade mecum (it literally means "go with me") has largely disappeared from use, but this ebook is a guide for strangers and locals to carry on phone or tablet when they visit one of Australia's biological wonders, a place where 500 species of plant live on 250 hectares (a square mile in old currency) of desperately poor sandy soil, along with an amazing range of animal and other life forms. The vade mecum is back! People entering Sydney Harbour or taking a ferry to Manly see North Head to starboard, and admire the 80-metre cliffs, but they don't realise that they are looking at a sand-tied island, a piece of rock which is over 200 million years old, and even the locals don't know that we have so many plant species growing there, not to mention ants, pythons, butterflies, weevils, water dragons, ticks, birds, possums, dragonflies, bandicoots, echidnas, tree snakes, lichens, stick insects, snails, spiders, lichens, fungi, colourful bacteria, bird of paradise flies, ant lions, frogs and much more on the 10,000-year-old sandhills that formed in the last Ice Age. Peter Macinnis is biology-trained and cares about rocks, but prefers to call himself a naturalist, and he has played on, and walked over, the headland for more than 70 years (how much more, he won't say, admitting only to being of advanced middle age). This is a revised version (August 2024) of a print book, optimised for reading on your mobile phone or tablet. He has worked as a volunteer on land care projects on North Head since 2013, and his photos of his finds fill this book. He knows where the bodies are buried — and they aren't all in the Third Quarantine Cemetery! Peter wins awards when he writes for children, and while this book is written for teens and up, the clarity is there to allow eight-year-olds who resemble him at that age to learn a great deal about the rocks, plants, animals and lesser life forms, all of which may be found in this naturalists' wonderland.

A BuzzFeed "Best Book of June 2021" From sixteen-year-old Dara McAnulty, a globally renowned figure in the youth climate activist movement, comes a memoir about loving the natural world and fighting to save it. Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of a year in Dara’s Northern Ireland home patch. Beginning in spring?when “the sparrows dig the moss from the guttering and the air is as puffed out as the robin’s chest?these diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees the world are vivid, evocative, and moving. As well as Dara’s intense connection to the natural world, Diary of a Young Naturalist captures his perspective as a teenager juggling exams, friendships, and a life of campaigning. We see his close-knit family, the disruptions of moving and changing schools, and the complexities of living with autism. “In writing this book,” writes Dara, “I have experienced challenges but also felt incredible joy, wonder, curiosity and excitement. In sharing this journey my hope is that people of all generations will not only understand autism a little more but also appreciate a child’s eye view on our delicate and changing biosphere.” Winner of the Wainwright Prize for UK nature writing and already sold into more than a dozen territories, Diary of a Young Naturalist is a triumphant debut from an important new voice.

The Nature of the Beast is a New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache novel from Louise Penny. Hardly a day goes by when nine year old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village. But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true. And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet. And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here. A monster once visited Three Pines. And put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back. Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.

The proceedings of a Cost Effective Biological Surveys and Data Analysis workshop held at the old Quarantine Station, North Head, Sydney, in March 1988, under the auspices of the Council of Nature Conservation Ministers (CONCOM) and the Australian Environment Council (AEC).

Find out where rain comes from and what geysers look like! Read about soil becoming too salty and why greenhouse gases are increasing. Did you know that fog is a cloud sitting on the ground and that ice can tell you about the environment of millions of years ago? And what is lightning anyway? Australian Backyard Earth Scientist is full of fantastic photos and fascinating information that help explain different aspects of earth science - a science that discovered how old the Earth is, what fossils tell us, how mountains were created, what causes earthquakes, what the difference between weather and climate is, and why glaciers are melting. From the beginnings of the planet through to climate change, 'Australian Backyard Earth Scientist' includes interesting and fun facts and projects help develop an understanding and appreciation - like making your own fossils, collecting cloud types, and using tree rings to find out about past weather. Young readers can discover the influences that have fashioned our earth - and are still acting to change it.

Produced by the Australian Beach Safety and Management Program, a joint project of the Coastal Studies Unit, University of Sydney and Surf Life Saving Australia Ltd.