{"id":1212,"date":"2020-01-06T09:07:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T09:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetforyou.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2019-12-31T16:17:42","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T16:17:42","slug":"dorset-history-centres-big-archive-birdwatch-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2020\/01\/06\/dorset-history-centres-big-archive-birdwatch-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorset History Centre’s Big Archive Birdwatch 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

With it being the RSPB\u2019S Big Garden Birdwatch<\/a> in January, it got us thinking about how we could join in by keeping our eyes peeled for different birds in our archive. While on the lookout we came across a variety of different feathery friends hiding amongst the shelves. These are just some of our favourites.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We have a number of designs from the Poole Pottery collection that feature birds. Amongst these we have spotted a lovely set of colour transparencies of limited-edition British bird plates from 1978 (D-PPY\/D\/6\/8\/3\/46<\/a>). These plates depict birds such as blue tits, robins and blackbirds that are still very common today and were in the top ten birds recorded in the 2019 birdwatch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

In our reference library you can also catch a glimpse of some lovely books on Dorset Birds. If you are looking for somewhere to birdwatch beyond your garden, why not have a read of \u2018Where to Watch Birds in Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of White<\/em><\/a>\u2019 by George Green and Martin Cade. Alternatively, if you are trying to identify a bird you have already seen, \u2018Birds of Dorsetshire<\/em><\/a>\u2019 by John Mansel-Pleydell may be a good place to start.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"\"
Long eared owl<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you are looking for more of a rare sighting, try our rare books collection. If you look closely you might just catch sight of a copy of ‘The Book of Baby Birds’, <\/em>written by Florence E. Dugdale. Florence Dugdale was Thomas Hardy\u2019s second wife, and this was the first book that she published in 1912, she then went on to write several other children\u2019s books. This book features a number of different baby birds, including the long-eared owl, the yellow hammer, and the cygnet. Each bird is accompanied by a delightful coloured illustration by E. J. Detmold and a poem and description by Florence. One description that we particularly enjoyed was that of the Skua bird;<\/p>\n

\u2018He is a pirate, this strong and bold sea-bird. He is well called the \u201cHighwayman of the Ocean,\u201d for he robs other birds of the prey that they catch for themselves. When some poor, innocent Gull has caught a fish, and is starting for home with the family meal, the Skua will chase him, demanding in dumb show: \u201cYour fish or your life.\u201d\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Baby Skua chicks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

—<\/p>\n

While hunting through our series of Record Office Notes<\/a> , we stumbled upon a collection of newspaper and magazine cuttings on the topic of birds. We particularly liked an article titled \u2018Peacock Pilgrimage\u2019 by Muriel V. Searle about the Peacocks on Brownsea Island (RON\/2\/2\/Brownsea Island\/33). In this amusing article the author comments on how<\/p>\n

\u2018A Peacock\u2019s bottom is a miracle of natural engineering, a symmetrical half-circle of struts and braces, the coloured plumes being mounted on stiff quills as long as a man\u2019s arm in a great fan\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

—<\/p>\n

We have had a hoot finding these various birds in our collections. That’s all for Dorset History Centre’s Archive Birdwatch for this year, we hope you are inspired to visit us in 2020 to find out more information, and we encourage you to take part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch between 25-27 January 2020!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With it being the RSPB\u2019S Big Garden Birdwatch in January, it got us thinking about how we could join in by keeping our eyes peeled for different birds in our archive. While on the lookout we came across a variety of different feathery friends hiding amongst the shelves. These are just some of our favourites.… Read more Dorset History Centre’s Big Archive Birdwatch 2020<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[82,125,126],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1218,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions\/1218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}