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  Running to standstill! The Stones in a photoshoot from 1976. The band at this point of their career were starting to play some of the largest shows and biggest venues.  ––––––––––––––––––––––– Available now as an ebook! John Stanley If anyone tells you they saw the Rolling Stones on their first tour of America be prepared to either think they were very lucky or they may be confused. The Stones’ tour in June 1964 was a handful of gigs, watched by just a few fans. Yet, within less than a year, America became their second home, as the tours got longer and many of their iconic hits were recorded there. The Stones’ huge US tour in 1969 culminated in the fiasco of the Altamont Festival that could have finished a lesser band, yet it galvanized them into becoming a touring machine. Their 1970s shows became ever more lavish, decadent even, and their increasingly long tours of North America in the last three decades have taken touring to an industrial scale.  Today, “The gre...

  A group of King penguins swim near a melting glacier at Gold Harbor on the island of South Georgia. The King penguin is the second largest of the species and have four layers of feathers for insulation.  ––––––––––––––––––––––– Available now as an ebook! Lisa Hughes Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds, which live almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere. Antarctica, where a few species can be found, shows that these fascinating birds are highly adapted for life in the water. The majority of species are found in the temperate zone, and the Galapagos live close to the equator. Rather than wings, penguins have evolved dark flippers, which match their outer body color and complement their white plumage to the front.  They are expert “fishermen” who feed on fish, squid, krill, and other sea creatures while they swim underwater. About half their time is spent in the sea, while the other half is spent on land. The Emperor penguin is the largest species and can grow to ...

Great white sharks often breach the sea, in their quest for prey. ––––––––––––––––––––––– Available now as an ebook! Jessica Toyne Sharks have existed on earth for more than 400 million years, surviving the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. They are highly evolved apex predators that are essential in keeping the balance of the ecosystem they thrive in.  Sharks are often characterized by their highly distinctive triangular dorsal fin and jaws lined with sharp teeth. They vary greatly between species and while some such as the tiger shark and bull shark deserve the reputation for being aggressive hunters, there are many species that are docile and peaceful, such as the whale shark, a gentle giant that feeds on plankton and krill. They have keen senses that make them extremely skilled hunters. Aside from their acute sense of smell, sharks are able to detect electrical signatures in the water through special electroreceptors called the ampullae of Lorenzini. Sharks ha...

  An Eurasian eagle owl perched on a snow laden branch. This powerful owl is often referred to as the world's largest owl. ––––––––––––––––––––––– Available now as an ebook! Rebecca Martin These fascinating specialized birds with their rounds heads and “dished-shaped” faces, have forward-facing eyes, short hooked bills, and are mainly nocturnal. Some owls, however, are active at dawn or dusk and others may be seen during the day. Owls are found in temperate and tropical parts of the world. The barn owl is a popular countryside bird. It has a heart-shaped face, and pure white feathers on the underside of its body. It is at the heart of the countryside although it has suffered a decline since the 20th century. The long-eared owl is medium size, but smaller than a woodpigeon. Unlike other species it appears long and thin, and sports head feathers, known as ear tufts (although they are not ears), which it raises when alarmed. Short-eared owls are also medium in size. They have mot...