SEARCH THE
Look up and celebrate International Dark Sky Week
Monday, April 21 marks the beginning of International Dark Sky Week, which is dedicated to celebrating the night. Dark skies and natural light harbour a world of wonders: star-strewn skies, migrating birds, fireflies finding each other, and so much more!
When we turn our lights off at night, we safeguard beautiful views and all of the natural processes that go on in the dark.
Visit the Kenneth Carmen Veitch Local History Room at the Bracebridge Library to view our historical newspaper clippings about the Torrance Barrens Conservation Area and Dark Sky Reserve – the world’s first permanent dark sky park – or pick something out of our circulating collection to discover the night with!
Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector Telescope
A perfect telescope for beginning amateur astronomers, the StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector is manufactured with the kind of quality you’d expect only to find in much more expensive models.
Everyone in the family will enjoy using the telescope thanks to its uncomplicated, simple design and high level of performance. The StarBlast 4.5 will give beginning amateur astronomers hour after hour of fun under the stars and also nurture their interest in the night sky, thanks to its exceptional, high-quality optics.
Ontario Parks permit and backpack
The day-use permit provides complimentary access for 1 vehicle and its occupants to more than 100 provincial parks.
It includes: 1 backpack, 1 Ontario Parks day-use permit, 1 Ontario Parks guide, 1 field guide, 1 Muskoka Trails map clip, 1 binocular with case, and 1 compass.
Stargazing with Binoculars
Robin Scagell
A practical, concise beginner’s guide to viewing the night sky through binoculars.
Stargazing with Binoculars is ideal for newcomers to astronomy. The book guides the beginner through the first steps of using binoculars to observe the night sky, describes what will be visible, and shows how to find specific objects. Illustrated throughout and filled with handy tips, the book Stargazing with Binoculars is a practical, easy-to-read handbook for newcomers to astronomy, whatever their age.
Space Activity Lab: Exciting Space Projects for Budding Astronomers.
Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc.
Uncover the mysteries of space with 25 creative projects and stargazing activities that are out of this world!
Each of the super-fun make-and-do projects in this book comes with simple step-by-step photographs and instructions that will inspire your imagination and reveal some of the secrets of space. Perfect for kids who are interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), Space Activity Lab features projects that explore the solar system to asteroids and from the Milky Way to moon buggies. You will combine astronomy with art and craft by launching your own rocket, building a moon lander to learn how astronauts touch down safely on the moon’s surface, making a pinhole camera to observe a solar eclipse, designing your own orrery to understand how planets orbit the sun, and creating a cardboard model to explore the phases of the moon.
And for when darkness falls, there’s a star finder section that shows you how to spot incredible constellations in the night sky, from The Big Dipper to Orion.
The First Astronomers: How Indigenous Elders Read the Stars
Duane Hamacher
The First Astronomers is the first book to reveal the rich knowledge of the stars and the planets held by First Peoples around the world.
Our eyes have been drawn away from the skies to our screens. We no longer look to the stars to forecast the weather, predict the seasons or plant our gardens. Most of us cannot even see the Milky Way. But First Nations Elders around the world still maintain this knowledge, and there is much we can learn from them. These Elders are expert observers of the stars. They teach that everything on the land is reflected in the sky, and everything in the sky is reflected on the land. How does this work, and how can we better understand our place in the universe?
Atlas Obscura Wild Life: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Living Wonders
Cara Giaimo
Visit a 44,000 year old shrub, float along flying rivers, and explore a garbage dump teeming with endangered storks.
There are first-person interviews: hear from a honey hunter and his avian partners, a scientist working to understand the hidden language of prairie dogs, an offshore radio DJ who is at the heart of the local fishing community. Examine old examples of bird song notation written on sheet music.
Featuring over 500 extraordinary plants, animals, and natural phenomena with illustrations and photos on every page, first-person interviews, and engaging infographics, the book takes readers around the globe, with stops in every continent – from Arctic deserts to lush jungles, to the deepest fathoms of the ocean, and into the heart of our densest cities.
In a time where the world that feels more knowable than ever, where can access anything with the click of a mouse or a swipe of a finger, and where nature documentaries are a dime a dozen, Wild Life finds a way to reinvigorate our send of wonder about the natural world.
Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle
There are thousands of moth species in the northeast of North America, and while it might seem that they are all drab grays and browns, there is actually a startling variety.
They come in a rainbow of colors, from brilliant oranges and pinks to soft greens and violets. There are moths with colorful leopard-like spots, and ones that look more like B-movie aliens; some that are as large as your hand, and others the size of a grain of rice.
With helpful tips on how to attract and identify moths, range maps and season graphs showing when and where to find each species, and clear photographs that use the unique Peterson arrow system for easy identification, this guide provides everything an amateur or experienced moth-watcher needs
What It’s Like to be a Bird: From Flying to Nesting, Eating to Singing – What Birds Are Doing, And Why
David Sibley
“Can birds smell?” “Is this the same cardinal that was at my feeder last year?” “Do robins ‘hear’ worms?”
In What It’s Like to Be a Bird, David Sibley answers the most frequently asked questions about the birds we see most often. This special, large-format volume is geared as much to nonbirders as it is to the out-and-out obsessed, covering more than two hundred species and including more than 330 new illustrations by the author.
While its focus is on familiar backyard birds – blue jays, nuthatches, chickadees – it also examines certain species that can be fairly easily observed, such as the seashore-dwelling Atlantic puffin.
Amazing Animals: Sea Turtles
Kate Riggs
A basic exploration of the appearance, behavior, and habitat of sea turtles, the migrating shelled reptiles. Also included is a story from folklore explaining how sea turtles cause monsoons.
Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species
Marianne Taylor
From the Giant Golden Crowned Flying Fox, a megabat with a wingspan of more than five feet, to the aptly named Bumblebee Bat, the world’s smallest mammal, the number and diversity of bat species have proven to be both rich and underestimated.
Nocturnal, fast-flying, and secretive, bats are difficult to observe and catalog.
This richly illustrated handbook presents bats’ evolution, biology, behavior, and ecology. It offers in-depth profiles of four hundred megabats and microbats and detailed summaries of all the species identified to date. Complete with an introduction exploring bats’ natural history and their unique adaptations to life on the wing, Bats includes close-up images of these animals’ delicate and intricate forms and faces, each shaped by evolution to meet the demands of an extraordinarily specialized life.