The Seattle Street-Smart Naturalist: Urban Wildlife Field Guide - Perfect for City Hikers, Nature Enthusiasts & Outdoor Explorers

I am loudly and joyously singing the praises of "The Street-Smart Naturalist: Field Notes from Seattle"; this is the sort of book about Seattle's natural history that I was particularly searching for. Keeping mostly within the city limits, David Williams talks about natural boglands and bald eagles, the fossils and stones that make up Seattle's skyscrapers, naturally occuring plants and recent imports, tectonic plates and city planning, radiocarbon dating of the last earthquake by the trees displaced and drowned, local microclimates and how they affect the weather (Capitol Hill gets 11 inches more of rain per year than the University of Washington campus ten minutes away) -- Williams has it all, and recounts his anecdotes with a dry and wonderful sense of humor. He traces creeks and chases crows, catalogues billion year old granite, and tells anyone who will listen about the fine quarries and the fossil beds from whence they came. This is exactly the sort of local history that I wanted to hear, happily jumping from the geological aeons to the conservation programs of the last fifty years. Every Seattleite interested in history or nature should buy this book. Non-Seattleites interested in urban orienteering/nature-in-the-city are also likely to be fans. Go go David Williams.