The Barnacle Goose, a distinctive, handsome black-and-white bird, gets its name from a mediaeval myth that the birds hatched from barnacles – how else to explain their sudden appearance each autumn in northern Britain? We now know, of course, that the birds migrate from Arctic Russia, Norway and Svalbard to winter throughout northern Europe. This book represents a culmination of more than 25 years of Barnacle Goose research. It represents the story of one of Europe's most celebrated long-term behavioral studies, detailing the lives of these social and sociable birds. Chapters include sections on pair formation and bonding, family and population dynamics, brood parasitism, food and feeding, size and shape in different populations, life cycle, survivorship, dispersal, migration, and conservation, with particular regard to climate change. It is a rigorous and thorough examination of the lives of these birds, in fine Poyser tradition.

The author of the bestselling You Are Not So Smart shares more discoveries about self-delusion and irrational thinking, and gives readers a fighting chance at outsmarting their not-so-smart brains David McRaney’s first book, You Are Not So Smart, evolved from his wildly popular blog of the same name. A mix of popular psychology and trivia, McRaney’s insights have struck a chord with thousands, and his blog--and now podcasts and videos--have become an Internet phenomenon. Like You Are Not So Smart, You Are Now Less Dumb is grounded in the idea that we all believe ourselves to be objective observers of reality--except we’re not. But that’s okay, because our delusions keep us sane. Expanding on this premise, McRaney provides eye-opening analyses of fifteen more ways we fool ourselves every day, including: The Misattribution of Arousal (Environmental factors have a greater affect on our emotional arousal than the person right in front of us) Sunk Cost Fallacy (We will engage in something we don’t enjoy just to make the time or money already invested “worth it”) Deindividuation (Despite our best intentions, we practically disappear when subsumed by a mob mentality) McRaney also reveals the true price of happiness, why Benjamin Franklin was such a badass, and how to avoid falling for our own lies. This smart and highly entertaining book will be wowing readers for years to come.

This book is an introduction to the barnacle goose, describing its characteristics, populations and distribution. It outlines the year of the barnacle goose as it migrates long distances between its breeding and wintering areas, using staging posts on the way.

This volume describes how the round of the year, with its cycle of festivals and seasonal work, was observed in the Ireland of yesterday. We follow the rhythm of the year from New Year to Easter, May Day to Harvest and Christmas along the chain of highdays and feastdays, St Brighid's Day, The Borrowed Days, Midsummer, St Swithin's Day, Lunasa, The Pattern Day, Samhain, Martinmas and Christmas. fishing boat - belief and usage - feasting and merrymaking. Picturesque customs are revealed - some forgotten, some forbidden, some still familiar, such as 'the making of St Brighid's cross - marriage divinations - watching the dancing of the sun on a hilltop on Easter morning - going to the Skelligs - cock-throwing - bullbaiting - herring processions - the swimming of the horses on Lunasa - and many others. A multi-coloured tapestry. years experience of research into Irish folk tradition. Irish Country People, Folktales of the Irish Countryside and The Pleasant Land of Ireland