David George Haskell is a biology professor at The University of the South. In [i]The Forest Unseen[i] he traces the changing seasons on a small patch of Tennessee forest, much of it unseen -- well, at least unnoticed -- by most. There are deer and migratory birds, but there are also the processes by which leaves decompose, insects lay eggs in the bodies of other insects. Professor Haskell has not written a text book. Rather the tale compares with the observations of one of my favorites -- Thoreau.   

sir - i just bought the book at the recommendation of a friend who is a sea kayaker...i enjoy the idea of learning from a sqare yard of land...seems to me that it makes such a grand topic manageable and challenging to an old paddler like me...thanks for the thread