Nature on the Doorstep, Angela E. Douglas
Nature on the Doorstep, Angela E. Douglas
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Nature on the Doorstep
A Year of Letters

Author: Angela E. Douglas

Narrator: Marisa Calin

Unabridged: 6 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/16/2023

Synopsis

Nature on the Doorstep reveals the simple pleasures of paying attention to the natural world in one’s own backyard over the course of a year. Angela Douglas shares the joys and curiosities of a decidedly ordinary patch of green in upstate New York cultivated through the art of “strategic neglect"―sometimes taking a hand to manage wildlife, more often letting nature go its own way.From the first flowers of spring and the fireflies of high summer to a hoarding chipmunk in the fall and cardinals singing in the winter, Douglas shows us the magic of welcoming unexpected plant life and animal life into one’s backyard. Along the way, she weaves intimate observations of wildlife with morsels of natural history; a surprise visit from a Cooper’s hawk, for instance, prompts reflection about why bird eye colors vary.A paean to the richness we find when we stop to look and let be, Nature on the Doorstep celebrates the role humble backyards play both in conservation efforts and in an expanded appreciation of the living world.

About Angela E. Douglas

Angela E. Douglas is the Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor emerita of insect physiology and toxicology at Cornell University. She is the author of several books, including Symbiotic Interactions, Insects and Their Beneficial Microbes, and Fundamentals of Microbiome Science.

About Marisa Calin

Marisa Calin is an actress, novelist, and multiple Earphones Award–winning narrator born in England and educated in New York at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts. An artist with a flair for everything literary, she has written a young adult novel, You & Me, which received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sue on June 15, 2023

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am thoroughly impressed with the author's powers of observation and ability to write simply, beautifully and engagingly about what happens in her backyard. It's also a happy coincidence that she is an instructor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where Anna C......more

Goodreads review by nat on March 05, 2024

Such a cute book & an easy read! Learned a lot about different wildlife and creatures!......more

Goodreads review by Laura on December 31, 2023

In March of 2020, Angela Douglas started writing a weekly letter for friends and family (most of whom were in the UK) about her observations of the natural world in her backyard in Ithaca, NY. In Nature on the Doorstep, she collected these letters and reading through the collection gives you a sense......more

Goodreads review by Sue on January 20, 2025

It took me a few pages to realize the author Angela is a bug woman by profession so she comes by her descriptive nature and attention to detail rightly. If you know a bit about birds, plants, trees or bugs, you will thoroughly enjoy Angela's witty description of her own backyard creatures that she's......more

Quotes

“Filled with wide-eyed wonder, the lighthearted letters charm…This has plenty to offer those looking to discover the magic in one’s own backyard.” Publishers Weekly

“With these delightful letters about an unexceptional garden that yet teems with life, Douglas shows us how to see the ordinary anew. Even those well versed in natural history will find something to learn in this book.” Susan Fox Rogers, author of Learning the Birds

“Brings to life the rarely noticed wonders of a backyard wilderness. Through Angela E. Douglas’s keen eyes, we see anew even the most familiar creatures, from crows to crickets. They all have stories to tell, and Douglas’s wit and sensitivity make her a delightful interpreter.” Nancy Lawson, author of The Humane Gardener

“Bursting with insight, sensitivity, and warm, wry humor, these letters vividly bring to life the memory of how nature on our doorstep became the inspiration and therapy that kept so many of us going through a global pandemic that plunged each of us into our own tiny world.” Ian Owens, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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