View allAll Photos Tagged Eyton
Dendrocygna eytoni - Dendrocygne d'Eyton - Plumed whistling duck or Grass whistling duck
L'espèce affectionne les prairies humides, les marais et les lagunes.
Le nid est un creux dans les hautes herbes toujours près de l'eau
St Mary's at Walpole was mostly rebuilt in the Victorian period and its present appearance with a dainty little tower and spire at the west end is the work of architect H.M.Eyton. Some ancient features were retained such as the Norman south doorway and the font too is medieval though not original to the church.
Of the many churches I visited this day this one probably required the shortest visit, though it is a building of some charm and is kept open and welcoming to visitors.
The nene (Branta sandvicensis), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiian name nēnē comes from its soft call. The specific name sandvicensis refers to the Sandwich Islands, a former name for the Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomy
The holotype specimen of Anser sandvicensis Vigors (List Anim. Garden Zool. Soc., ed.3, June 1833, p.4.) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T12706. The specimen was collected from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and came to the Liverpool national collection via the Museum of the Zoological Society of London collection, Thomas Campbell Eyton’s collection, and Henry Baker Tristram’s collection.
It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. This ancestor is the progenitor of the nene as well as the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax) and nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes). The nēnē-nui was larger than the nene, varied from flightless to flighted depending on the individual, and inhabited the island of Maui. Similar fossil geese found on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi may be of the same species. The giant Hawaiʻi goose was restricted to the island of Hawaiʻi and measured 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length with a mass of 8.6 kg (19 lb), making it more than four times larger than the nene. It is believed that the herbivorous giant Hawaiʻi goose occupied the same ecological niche as the goose-like ducks known as moa-nalo, which were not present on the Big Island. Based on mitochondrial DNA found in fossils, all Hawaiian geese, living and extinct, are closely related to the giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) and dusky Canada goose (B. c. occidentalis).
Description
The nene is a large-sized goose at 41 cm (16 in) tall. Although they spend most of their time on the ground, they are capable of flight, with some individuals flying daily between nesting and feeding areas. Females have a mass of 1.525–2.56 kg (3.36–5.64 lb), while males average 1.695–3.05 kg (3.74–6.72 lb), 11% larger than females. Adult males have a black head and hindneck, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. The neck has black and white diagonal stripes. Aside from being smaller, the female Nene is similar to the male in colouration. The adult's bill, legs and feet are black. It has soft feathers under its chin. Goslings resemble adults, but are a duller brown and with less demarcation between the colors of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced.
Habitat and range
The nene is an inhabitant of shrubland, grassland, coastal dunes, and lava plains, and related anthropogenic habitats such as pasture and golf courses from sea level to as much as 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Some populations migrated between lowland breeding grounds and montane foraging areas.
The nene could at one time be found on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Today, its range is restricted to Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Kauaʻi. A pair arrived at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oʻahu in January 2014; two of their offspring survived and are seen regularly on the nearby golf courses at Turtle Bay Resort.
Ecology and behavior
The breeding season of the nene, from August to April, is longer than that of any other goose; most eggs are laid between November and January. Unlike most other waterfowl, the nene mates on land. Nests are built by females on a site of her choosing, in which one to five eggs are laid (average is three on Maui and Hawaiʻi, four on Kauaʻi). Females incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 days, while the male acts as a sentry. Goslings are precocial, able to feed on their own; they remain with their parents until the following breeding season.
Diet
The nene is a herbivore that will either graze or browse, depending on the availability of vegetation. Food items include the leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers of grasses and shrubs.
Conservation
The nene population stands at 3,862 birds, making it the world's rarest goose. It is believed that it was once common, with approximately 25,000 Hawaiian geese living in Hawaiʻi when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. Hunting and introduced predators, such as small Indian mongooses, pigs, and feral cats, reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. The species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 800 birds in the wild, as well as 1,000 in wildfowl collections and zoos. There is concern about inbreeding due to the small initial population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge, in England, was instrumental in the successful breeding of Hawaiian geese in captivity. Under the direction of conservationist Peter Scott, it was bred back from the brink of extinction during the 1950s for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaiʻi. There are still Hawaiian geese at Slimbridge today. They can now be found in captivity in multiple WWT centres. Successful introductions include Haleakala and Piʻiholo ranches on Maui. NatureServe considers the species Imperiled.
We came across this beautiful little cottage surrounded by wild flowers, near the village of Eyton in the Herefordshire countryside.
"The Still Alarm" is a 1918 American silent film
adapted from an 1887 play by Joseph Arthur.
-- Wikipedia
----------
"A Sure Fire, Hit-Action, and Thrills a Plenty"
advertisement with a horse-drawn fire wagon.
Acrylic on wood panel 16" x 23.75" 2013 -2018. www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Eyton-upon-the-Weald-Moor...
American postcard by Kline Poster Co. Inc., Phila. Illustration: Metro.
Harold Lockwood (1887-1918) was an American silent film actor, director, and producer. During the 1910s, he was one of the most popular matinee idols and formed with May Allison one of the earliest screen romantic teams. He worked for such companies as Nestor, Selig, Flying A, Famous Players, and Metro. Unfortunately, Lockwood became a victim of the worldwide flu epidemic of 1918 and died at the age of 31.
Harold A. Lockwood was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1887. He was raised and educated in Newark, New Jersey. Lockwood's father was a horse trainer and breeder. Being very athletic, he went on to become an expert horseman and excelled in swimming, track, and football. At some point during these early years, he also developed an interest in the theatre, attending plays as often as possible. As a result, Lockwood was delighted when he and his family moved to Manhattan during his teens. Upon graduating, he began working as a drygoods salesman. Lockwood quickly discovered that he did not enjoy exporting and quit to become an actor. He spent the next seven years working regularly in musical comedy, vaudeville, and Eastern stock. According to Wikipedia, Lockwood joined the Selig Company in 1908 and signed on with a stock company for David Horsley in 1910 and appeared in Western shorts. Tim Lussier at Silents are Golden writes that in 1911, Lockwood took a letter of introduction to Edwin S. Porter at his Rex Company. Porter recognised the handsome young man's potential, and the director regularly placed him in leading roles in such short silent Westerns as The White Red Man (Edwin S. Porter, 1911). After only a few months, Lockwood moved to Nestor who was also headquartered in New York. In the latter part of 1911 when Nestor opened a studio in California, Lockwood went with the troupe. In the spring of 1912, Lockwood made the move to Thomas Ince's "101 Ranch" playing leads in Westerns and Civil War stories. After nine months, he signed with Selig where he was guaranteed regular leading man status. His tenure with Selig contributed to his experience and popularity, as well as being very profitable, with Lockwood playing a variety of roles in everything from comedies to dramas and costume romances to action melodramas. In Two Men and a Woman (Lem B. Parker, 1913), he was a rich banker in a love triangle that included his wife (Kathlyn Williams) and another man (Henry Otto). In The Millionaire Vagabonds (Lem B. Parker, 1912), he was part of a comedic group of rich men who become "knights of the road." Margarita and the Mission Funds (Lem B. Parker, 1913) was a romance of Old Mexico, while in The Tie of the Blood (Lem B. Parker, 1913), he was "Deer Foot," an Indian brave. Edwin S. Porter had moved to Famous Players, and when he needed a leading man for an upcoming Mary Pickford feature he was directing, he thought of Lockwood. Porter was able to gain Lockwood's release from Selig and co-starred him in two features opposite Pickford, Hearts Adrift (Edwin S. Porter, 1914) and Tess of the Storm Country (Edwin S. Porter, 1914). Porter recommended to Adolph Zukor that he hire Lockwood as a leading man for Famous Players.
While at Famous Players, Harold Lockwood was cast opposite actress May Allison in the romantic film David Harum (Allan Dwan, 1915). American Flying "A" director Thomas Ricketts saw potential in this first romantic match-up and hired the couple from Zukor to star in a series of features that caught fire with the public. In The House of a Thousand Scandals (Tom Ricketts, 1915), Lockwood is the owner of a rich estate who falls in love with a poor farm girl (Allison). The Gamble cast Lockwood as a farmer who neglects his wife (Allison) for his farm. All were not dramas, either. In The Man in the Sombrero (Tom Ricketts, 1916), Lockwood is the son of a rich hatter who poses for a sombrero ad and wins Allison for his wife. In April 1916, the couple began making pictures for Fred Balshofer's Yorke-Metro. The two would appear in over 22 or 23 (the sources differ) films together during the World War I era and became one of the first celebrated on-screen romantic duos. However, the two were never romantically involved off-screen. When the film couple split in 1917, Lockwood's popularity did not wane. He co-starred with such popular actresses as Carmel Myers, Ann Little, and Bessie Eyton, and the audiences still flocked to see his pictures. On 19 October 1918, Lockwood died at the age of 31 of Spanish influenza at the Hotel Woodward in New York City. He had contracted the illness during the production of the silent thriller Shadows of Suspicion (Edwin Carewe, 1919), which had some scenes completed using a double shot from behind. Lockwood's funeral was held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, after which he was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Lockwood was married to Alma Jones in 1906. The couple had a son, Harold Lockwood, Jr. (born 1908), who later appeared in silent and sound films.
Sources: Tim Lussier (Silents are Golden), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
The monument includes a multi-span road bridge crossing the river Severn situated at the western end of the village of Atcham. It is built of grey sandstone ashlar and is approximately 115m in length and 6m wide, humped-back with 7 graded round arches with banded rusticated soffits and voussoirs, triple keystones consisting of fluted outer stones flanking a central stone with vermiculated rustication, and separated by breakwaters with concave caps. The outer pedestrian arches have banded rusticated surrounds and keystones with vermiculated rustication. Coped parapets ramp up to central pedimented datestones and are buttressed by small carved scrolls at the approaches where the lower parapets curve out to pyramidal end-piers. There is evidence of former railings flanking the central parapet datestones. A bypass bridge was built immediately to the north in 1929 and Atcham Bridge (old) was closed to traffic. According to Eyton, there is a record of a bridge at Atcham as early as the C13th and timber piles of this bridge may have been discovered during the construction of the new bridge. However, an alternative location may be just north of St. Eata’s church where a medieval bridge abutment was identified. In 1550 Sir Rowland Hill built a stone bridge with 18 arches which was replaced by the present bridge which dates from 1769-71 and designed by John Gwynne.
Images used:
Eyton Z Clouds
www.flickr.com/photos/eytonz/2678026387/in/faves-14433150...
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
boy
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Acrylic on wood panel 16" x 23.75" 2013 -2018. www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Eyton-upon-the-Weald-Moor...
Welcome to the Cadfael guide at TV.com. Brother Cadfael is a twelfth-century Anglo-Welsh monk created by the late Edith Pargeter, writing under the pen name of Ellis Peters. A retired crusader disappointed in love, now a herbalist in charge of the gardens of Shrewsbury Abbey, Cadfael (played by Derek Jacobi) is often called on to solve murders and other crimes in and around Shrewsbury, Shropshire, in the border country where England meets Wales. The producers decided to film the series on location in Hungary, seemingly on the grounds that it looks more medieval than present-day England. This is why quite a number of Hungarian actors appear as guests. The original Cadfael books are: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977), One Corpse Too Many (1979), Monk's-Hood (1980), Saint Peter's Fair (1981), The Leper of Saint Giles(1981), The Virgin in the Ice (1982), The Sanctuary Sparrow (1983), The Devil's Novice (1983), Dead Man's Ransom (1984), The Pilgrim of Hate (1984), An Excellent Mystery (1985), The Raven in the Foregate (1986), The Rose Rent (1986), The Hermit of Eyton Forest (1987), The Confession of Brother Haluin (1988), The Heretic's Apprentice (1989), The Potter's Field (1989), The Summer of the Danes (1991), The Holy Thief (1992) and Brother Cadfael's Penance (1994).
How many of you remember ?
info from:
Music at Midnight ; The Life and Poetry of GEORGE HERBERT / By JOHN DRURY. - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS. - Copyright © 2013 John Drury. - All rights reserved. - ISBN: 978-0-226-13444-4
:
"While she was at Eyton, Magdalen Herbert set about erecting a tomb for her late husband Richard and herself (both husband and wife again) in Montgomery Church.
Nothing else in that church is so grandiose. Indeed even by the high Elizabethan standards of display the tomb is magnificent. A large semi-circular arch, its main feature, has two painted figures in its spandrels: Old Father Time with his hourglass and sickle and a naked woman who might be Truth. Above this, heraldry abounds to display the family's connections. A row of shields above the arch supports a gigantic strapwork pediment with Richard Herbert's arms in the middle. Above them, to subdue the pomp a little, are two skulls with bones and the inscription 'olim fui: sic eritis': 'I was once, you will be so.' The great arch forms the front of a vaulted canopy over the recumbent effigies of Richard and his wife Magdalen. But only he is buried there, with a sculpted representation of his corpse below the table on which the two effigies lie. Magdalen died thirty-one years later, having married again, and was buried at Chelsea.
"Sir Richard, 'black-haired and bearded' as Edward remembered him, is in full armour. The armour is conventional, but apt enough. As an enforcer of law and order in the disorderly Welsh Marches, deputy lieutenant and principal justice of the peace, he needed to be prepared to fight. But in his monument it is his wife Magdalen, George's mother, who predominates. Her effigy is at the front, richly gowned. Her face above her ruff is youthful and alert, surmounted by the coiffure which also appears in her portrait: her hair pulled up from her forehead in two high rolls. Her maternity is displayed by a row of little kneeling figures of their children (not likenesses, more like dolls) behind the two effigies: six boys and two girls, for some reason a boy and a girl short of her total of ten. George was her fourth son. It is in the inscription, in gilded gothic lettering above the arch, that Magdalen's control is most blatantly asserted. Although it is her husband's tomb, most of the text is about her and her family, to which she referred in capital letters. [NB not true!]
"Heare Lyeth the Body of Richard Herbert Esquire whose Monument was Made at the Coste of Magdalene his wife Daughter of Sir Richard NEWPORT of High Arcoall in the County of Salop, Knighte (deceased) & of Dame Margaret his wife Daughter & Sole heyr to Sir Thomas BROMLEY Knighte Late Lord Chiefe Justice of England & one of the Executors of the Late Kinge of Most Famous Memorye Kinge Henry the Eighte Ano Dom 1600.
"Verses in Latin, advertising learning, are in a cartouche over the effigies. They celebrate Magdalen's virtue, piety and love in erecting the monument and the couple's fidelity.
"Richard Herbert's tomb is, then, more a monument to his formidable widow and her family than to him and his. For its design and making Magdalen employed the builder Walter Hancock. Her brother, Sir Francis Newport, Member of Parliament for Shropshire, was an enthusiastic patron of Hancock. In 1595 he recommended him strongly to the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury for the building of their new Market House as 'a Mason of approved skill and honesty ... you cannot match the man in these parts with any of his occupation, neither in science and judgement of workmanship, nor in plainness and honesty to deal withal'. Hancock got the job and built the Market House on broad semi-circular arches like the one on the monument in Montgomery Church. In his will of 1599 he referred to '£4.19s. owed to Wm. Reed wh. he is to receive of Mrs. Magd. Herbert out of that work which he and others have done by my appointment at Montgomery'."
-------------------
info from archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh37shro/transactionsofs... :
"Quid virtus Pietas, amorve recti.
Tunc cum vita fugit juvare possunt ~
In Cœlo relevent perenne nomen.
Hoc saxum doceat, duos recludens,
Quos uno thalamo fideque junctos,
Heic unus tumulus, lapisve signat.
Jam longum sape, Lector et valeto,
Æternum venerans ubique nomen"
jvu.txt
[text corrected by groenling]
It is believed that the the only previous time one of this species has been seen in the Lane Cove River catchment was a headless decomposed bird at North Ryde in 1957.
info from:
Music at Midnight ; The Life and Poetry of GEORGE HERBERT / By JOHN DRURY. - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS. - Copyright © 2013 John Drury. - All rights reserved. - ISBN: 978-0-226-13444-4
:
"While she was at Eyton, Magdalen Herbert set about erecting a tomb for her late husband Richard and herself (both husband and wife again) in Montgomery Church.
Nothing else in that church is so grandiose. Indeed even by the high Elizabethan standards of display the tomb is magnificent. A large semi-circular arch, its main feature, has two painted figures in its spandrels: Old Father Time with his hourglass and sickle and a naked woman who might be Truth. Above this, heraldry abounds to display the family's connections. A row of shields above the arch supports a gigantic strapwork pediment with Richard Herbert's arms in the middle. Above them, to subdue the pomp a little, are two skulls with bones and the inscription 'olim fui: sic eritis': 'I was once, you will be so.' The great arch forms the front of a vaulted canopy over the recumbent effigies of Richard and his wife Magdalen. But only he is buried there, with a sculpted representation of his corpse below the table on which the two effigies lie. Magdalen died thirty-one years later, having married again, and was buried at Chelsea.
"Sir Richard, 'black-haired and bearded' as Edward remembered him, is in full armour. The armour is conventional, but apt enough. As an enforcer of law and order in the disorderly Welsh Marches, deputy lieutenant and principal justice of the peace, he needed to be prepared to fight. But in his monument it is his wife Magdalen, George's mother, who predominates. Her effigy is at the front, richly gowned. Her face above her ruff is youthful and alert, surmounted by the coiffure which also appears in her portrait: her hair pulled up from her forehead in two high rolls. Her maternity is displayed by a row of little kneeling figures of their children (not likenesses, more like dolls) behind the two effigies: six boys and two girls, for some reason a boy and a girl short of her total of ten. George was her fourth son. It is in the inscription, in gilded gothic lettering above the arch, that Magdalen's control is most blatantly asserted. Although it is her husband's tomb, most of the text is about her and her family, to which she referred in capital letters. [NB not true!]
"Heare Lyeth the Body of Richard Herbert Esquire whose Monument was Made at the Coste of Magdalene his wife Daughter of Sir Richard NEWPORT of High Arcoall in the County of Salop, Knighte (deceased) & of Dame Margaret his wife Daughter & Sole heyr to Sir Thomas BROMLEY Knighte Late Lord Chiefe Justice of England & one of the Executors of the Late Kinge of Most Famous Memorye Kinge Henry the Eighte Ano Dom 1600.
"Verses in Latin, advertising learning, are in a cartouche over the effigies. They celebrate Magdalen's virtue, piety and love in erecting the monument and the couple's fidelity.
"Richard Herbert's tomb is, then, more a monument to his formidable widow and her family than to him and his. For its design and making Magdalen employed the builder Walter Hancock. Her brother, Sir Francis Newport, Member of Parliament for Shropshire, was an enthusiastic patron of Hancock. In 1595 he recommended him strongly to the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury for the building of their new Market House as 'a Mason of approved skill and honesty ... you cannot match the man in these parts with any of his occupation, neither in science and judgement of workmanship, nor in plainness and honesty to deal withal'. Hancock got the job and built the Market House on broad semi-circular arches like the one on the monument in Montgomery Church. In his will of 1599 he referred to '£4.19s. owed to Wm. Reed wh. he is to receive of Mrs. Magd. Herbert out of that work which he and others have done by my appointment at Montgomery'."
-------------------
info from archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh37shro/transactionsofs... :
"Quid virtus Pietas, amorve recti.
Tunc cum vita fugit juvare possunt ~
In Cœlo relevent perenne nomen.
Hoc saxum doceat, duos recludens,
Quos uno thalamo fideque junctos,
Heic unus tumulus, lapisve signat.
Jam longum sape, Lector et valeto,
Æternum venerans ubique nomen"
jvu.txt
[text corrected by groenling]
American postcard by White, Brooklyn, N.Y. Photo: Metro. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.
Harold Lockwood (1887-1918) was an American silent film actor, director, and producer. During the 1910s, he was one of the most popular matinee idols and formed with May Allison one of the earliest screen romantic teams. He worked for such companies as Nestor, Selig, Flying A, Famous Players, and Metro. Unfortunately, Lockwood became a victim of the worldwide flu epidemic of 1918 and died at the age of 31.
Harold A. Lockwood was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1887. He was raised and educated in Newark, New Jersey. Lockwood's father was a horse trainer and breeder. Being very athletic, he went on to become an expert horseman and excelled in swimming, track, and football. At some point during these early years, he also developed an interest in the theatre, attending plays as often as possible. As a result, Lockwood was delighted when he and his family moved to Manhattan during his teens. Upon graduating, he began working as a drygoods salesman. Lockwood quickly discovered that he did not enjoy exporting and quit to become an actor. He spent the next seven years working regularly in musical comedy, vaudeville, and Eastern stock. According to Wikipedia, Lockwood joined the Selig Company in 1908 and signed on with a stock company for David Horsley in 1910 and appeared in Western shorts. Tim Lussier at Silents are Golden writes that in 1911, Lockwood took a letter of introduction to Edwin S. Porter at his Rex Company. Porter recognised the handsome young man's potential, and the director regularly placed him in leading roles in such short silent Westerns as The White Red Man (Edwin S. Porter, 1911). After only a few months, Lockwood moved to Nestor who was also headquartered in New York. In the latter part of 1911 when Nestor opened a studio in California, Lockwood went with the troupe. In the spring of 1912, Lockwood made the move to Thomas Ince's "101 Ranch" playing leads in Westerns and Civil War stories. After nine months, he signed with Selig where he was guaranteed regular leading man status. His tenure with Selig contributed to his experience and popularity, as well as being very profitable, with Lockwood playing a variety of roles in everything from comedies to dramas and costume romances to action melodramas. In Two Men and a Woman (Lem B. Parker, 1913), he was a rich banker in a love triangle that included his wife (Kathlyn Williams) and another man (Henry Otto). In The Millionaire Vagabonds (Lem B. Parker, 1912), he was part of a comedic group of rich men who become "knights of the road." Margarita and the Mission Funds (Lem B. Parker, 1913) was a romance of Old Mexico, while in The Tie of the Blood (Lem B. Parker, 1913), he was "Deer Foot," an Indian brave. Edwin S. Porter had moved to Famous Players, and when he needed a leading man for an upcoming Mary Pickford feature he was directing, he thought of Lockwood. Porter was able to gain Lockwood's release from Selig and co-starred him in two features opposite Pickford, Hearts Adrift (Edwin S. Porter, 1914) and Tess of the Storm Country (Edwin S. Porter, 1914). Porter recommended to Adolph Zukor that he hire Lockwood as a leading man for Famous Players.
While at Famous Players, Harold Lockwood was cast opposite actress May Allison in the romantic film David Harum (Allan Dwan, 1915). American Flying "A" director Thomas Ricketts saw potential in this first romantic match-up and hired the couple from Zukor to star in a series of features that caught fire with the public. In The House of a Thousand Scandals (Tom Ricketts, 1915), Lockwood is the owner of a rich estate who falls in love with a poor farm girl (Allison). The Gamble cast Lockwood as a farmer who neglects his wife (Allison) for his farm. All were not dramas, either. In The Man in the Sombrero (Tom Ricketts, 1916), Lockwood is the son of a rich hatter who poses for a sombrero ad and wins Allison for his wife. In April 1916, the couple began making pictures for Fred Balshofer's Yorke-Metro. The two would appear in over 22 or 23 (the sources differ) films together during the World War I era and became one of the first celebrated on-screen romantic duos. However, the two were never romantically involved off-screen. When the film couple split in 1917, Lockwood's popularity did not wane. He co-starred with such popular actresses as Carmel Myers, Ann Little, and Bessie Eyton, and the audiences still flocked to see his pictures. On 19 October 1918, Lockwood died at the age of 31 of Spanish influenza at the Hotel Woodward in New York City. He had contracted the illness during the production of the silent thriller Shadows of Suspicion (Edwin Carewe, 1919), which had some scenes completed using a double shot from behind. Lockwood's funeral was held at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, after which he was buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Lockwood was married to Alma Jones in 1906. The couple had a son, Harold Lockwood, Jr. (born 1908), who later appeared in silent and sound films.
Sources: Tim Lussier (Silents are Golden), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
© All rights reserved
Explore #160 on Friday, November 28, 2008
Plumed Whistling Duck (aka Eyton's tree duck)
Dendrocygna eytoni
IUCN Status: Least concern
To view this series of photos as a slideshow: flickr.com/photos/macfudge/sets/72157607684478500/show/
On 3 October 1888, a privately-organised rugby team called The New Zealand Natives was the first to play in the United Kingdom. They were also the first to wear the silver fern and an all-black uniform.
As NZ History notes, “originally called New Zealand Maori, their name was changed after organiser and captain Joe Warbrick (Ngāti Rangitihi) and promoter Thomas Eyton added five Pākehā to strengthen the team. The 26-man squad included six former students of Te Aute College, five Warbrick brothers, and future New Zealand captain Thomas Ellison. During a marathon 15-month tour of New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, the Natives played 107 rugby matches – winning 78 – and another 11 under Australian rules.”
This photograph of the team was sent in to the Copyright Office by Edward B.S. Mercer in July 1888. It shows the team with both the British flag and a version of the United Tribes flag. Note: this version has been converted to black and white from the sepia original.
Archives New Zealand Reference: PC4 Box 3/ 1888/45
collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search#/?q=R26186543
For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ
Material from Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
British postcard in the Selig Player Series, no. 10. Caption: Your favourite Film Artistes.
Kathlyn Williams (1879-1960) was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics. She performed on stage as well as in early silent film, in particular at the company Selig Polyscope in the early 1910s. There she was known as "The Selig Girl".
Kathlyn Williams was born Kathleen Mabel Williams, in 1879 in Butte, Montana. Williams began her career on stage in her hometown, where she was sponsored by local copper magnate William A. Clark to study acting in New York City. In 1908 Williams began her film career at the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago, Illinois and she made her first film under the direction of Francis Boggs: On Thanksgiving Day (1908). By 1910, she was transferred to the company's Los Angeles film studio. A popular star at the Selig Polyscope Company in 1910 (she was at first publicised as "The Selig Girl"), she appeared in assorted jungle adventures for the studio as well as a number of Westerns opposite cowboy star Tom Mix. She made history, however, with the very first serial adventure, The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913). The film contained a number of wild animals, and it saved the faltering studio from bankruptcy. This serial was but one in a number of melodramas and jungle adventures teaming the actress with the Selig Polyscope Company's famous stable of wild animals (the nucleus for what would later become the Los Angeles Zoo). Williams proceeded to remain a popular item after being handed the lead in the Selig epic The Spoilers (1914), based upon Rex Beach's 1906 novel. Williams played her signature role of Cherry Marlotte, opposite William Farnum and Tom Santschi.
Once the Selig Studio folded, Kathlyn Williams signed with Paramount Pictures following her marriage to Paramount executive Charles F. Eyton in 1916. Eyton was a former actor, who later became the studio's General Manager. At Paramount, she appeared as the star of several early dramas for both Cecil B. DeMille and his brother William C. de Mille. These films included The Whispering Chorus (1918), We Can't Have Everything (1918), The Tree of Knowledge (1920), and Conrad in Quest of His Youth (1920). Her numerous co-stars included veteran matinée idols (Thomas Meighan, Theodore Roberts, Tyrone Power Sr.), young established stars (Wallace Reid), and Western heroes (Roy Stewart). Kathlyn's fair, spunky, coquettish looks grew suddenly grim and matronly by the early 1920s and she moved swiftly into stately dramatic efforts, backing up such celebrity femmes of the day as May McAvoy, Betty Compson, Anita Page, Greta Garbo and even Joan Crawford before the advent of sound. She retired from films in 1935 after only a handful of talkies and, though comebacks were bantered about from time to time in the gossip mill, nothing came of it. A tragic car accident in 1949 resulted in the loss of a leg, ending any chances whatsoever of revitalizing her career. She was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of her life. Kathlyn Williams married and divorced three times. Her only child was Victor Hugo Kainer, from her first marriage to import/export businessman Otto Kainer. He was born in 1905 but died a young teenager after developing influenza and succumbing to septic poisoning in 1922. After a brief marriage to actor Frank R. Allen, she married Charles Eyton. That marriage ended in 1931. Due to the loss of her leg, Kathlyn became a wheelchair-bound invalid in the last decade of her life. She succumbed to a massive heart attack in her Hollywood apartment in 1960, at age 81.
The Desmet Collection at EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam holds Kathlyn Williams' adventure films Captain Kate (1911), The Rose of Old St. Augustine (1911), and Lost in the Jungle, all by Otis Turner. EYE also holds fragments of The Adventures of Kathlyn. The Desmet films can be found online now at EYE's Desmet Playlist at YouTube
Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
north Shropshire point-to-point at eyton-on- severn,
approaching bend after finish fist time round, and eventually finishing 1st,2nd,3rd,
info from:
Music at Midnight ; The Life and Poetry of GEORGE HERBERT / By JOHN DRURY. - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS. - Copyright © 2013 John Drury. - All rights reserved. - ISBN: 978-0-226-13444-4
:
"While she was at Eyton, Magdalen Herbert set about erecting a tomb for her late husband Richard and herself (both husband and wife again) in Montgomery Church.
Nothing else in that church is so grandiose. Indeed even by the high Elizabethan standards of display the tomb is magnificent. A large semi-circular arch, its main feature, has two painted figures in its spandrels: Old Father Time with his hourglass and sickle and a naked woman who might be Truth. Above this, heraldry abounds to display the family's connections. A row of shields above the arch supports a gigantic strapwork pediment with Richard Herbert's arms in the middle. Above them, to subdue the pomp a little, are two skulls with bones and the inscription 'olim fui: sic eritis': 'I was once, you will be so.' The great arch forms the front of a vaulted canopy over the recumbent effigies of Richard and his wife Magdalen. But only he is buried there, with a sculpted representation of his corpse below the table on which the two effigies lie. Magdalen died thirty-one years later, having married again, and was buried at Chelsea.
"Sir Richard, 'black-haired and bearded' as Edward remembered him, is in full armour. The armour is conventional, but apt enough. As an enforcer of law and order in the disorderly Welsh Marches, deputy lieutenant and principal justice of the peace, he needed to be prepared to fight. But in his monument it is his wife Magdalen, George's mother, who predominates. Her effigy is at the front, richly gowned. Her face above her ruff is youthful and alert, surmounted by the coiffure which also appears in her portrait: her hair pulled up from her forehead in two high rolls. Her maternity is displayed by a row of little kneeling figures of their children (not likenesses, more like dolls) behind the two effigies: six boys and two girls, for some reason a boy and a girl short of her total of ten. George was her fourth son. It is in the inscription, in gilded gothic lettering above the arch, that Magdalen's control is most blatantly asserted. Although it is her husband's tomb, most of the text is about her and her family, to which she referred in capital letters. [NB not true!]
"Heare Lyeth the Body of Richard Herbert Esquire whose Monument was Made at the Coste of Magdalene his wife Daughter of Sir Richard NEWPORT of High Arcoall in the County of Salop, Knighte (deceased) & of Dame Margaret his wife Daughter & Sole heyr to Sir Thomas BROMLEY Knighte Late Lord Chiefe Justice of England & one of the Executors of the Late Kinge of Most Famous Memorye Kinge Henry the Eighte Ano Dom 1600.
"Verses in Latin, advertising learning, are in a cartouche over the effigies. They celebrate Magdalen's virtue, piety and love in erecting the monument and the couple's fidelity.
"Richard Herbert's tomb is, then, more a monument to his formidable widow and her family than to him and his. For its design and making Magdalen employed the builder Walter Hancock. Her brother, Sir Francis Newport, Member of Parliament for Shropshire, was an enthusiastic patron of Hancock. In 1595 he recommended him strongly to the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury for the building of their new Market House as 'a Mason of approved skill and honesty ... you cannot match the man in these parts with any of his occupation, neither in science and judgement of workmanship, nor in plainness and honesty to deal withal'. Hancock got the job and built the Market House on broad semi-circular arches like the one on the monument in Montgomery Church. In his will of 1599 he referred to '£4.19s. owed to Wm. Reed wh. he is to receive of Mrs. Magd. Herbert out of that work which he and others have done by my appointment at Montgomery'."
-------------------
info from archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh37shro/transactionsofs... :
"Quid virtus Pietas, amorve recti.
Tunc cum vita fugit juvare possunt ~
In Cœlo relevent perenne nomen.
Hoc saxum doceat, duos recludens,
Quos uno thalamo fideque junctos,
Heic unus tumulus, lapisve signat.
Jam longum sape, Lector et valeto,
Æternum venerans ubique nomen"
jvu.txt
[text corrected by groenling]
American postcard in the Selig Players series. Photo: Selig Polyscope Co.
Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams, May 31, 1879 – September 23, 1960) was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics, who performed on stage as well as in early silent film, in particular at the company Selig Polyscope in the early 1910s.
Williams began her career onstage in her hometown of Butte, Montana, where she was sponsored by local copper magnate William A. Clark to study acting in New York City. In 1908 Williams began her film career at the Selig Polyscope Company in Chicago, Illinois and made her first film under the direction of Francis Boggs: On Thanksgiving Day (1908) . By 1910, she was transferred to the company's Los Angeles film studio. A popular star at the Selig Polyscope Company in 1910 (she was at first publicized as "The Selig Girl"), she appeared in assorted jungle adventures for the studio as well as a number of westerns opposite cowboy star Tom Mix. She made history, however, with the very first serial adventure, The Adventures of Kathlyn (1913), which contained a number of wild animals, and it saved the faltering studio from bankruptcy.
The first chapter play with holdover action, Kathlyn's adventure serial was but one in a number of melodramas and jungle adventures teaming the actress with the Selig Polyscope Company's famous stable of wild animals (the nucleus for what would later become the Los Angeles Zoo). Williams proceeded to remain a popular item after being handed the lead in the Selig epic The Spoilers (1914), based upon Rex Beach's 1906 novel. Williams played her signature role of Cherry Marlotte, opposite William Farnum and Tom Santschi.
Once the Selig Studio folded, Kathlyn signed with Paramount Pictures following her marriage to Paramount executive Charles F. Eyton in 1916 (a former actor, he later became the studio's General Manager), and while there appeared as the star of several early dramas for both Cecil B. DeMille and his brother William C. de Mille, including The Whispering Chorus (1918), We Can't Have Everything (1918), The Tree of Knowledge (1920) and Conrad in Quest of His Youth (1920). Her numerous co-stars included veteran matinée idols (Thomas Meighan, Theodore Roberts, Tyrone Power Sr.), young established stars (Wallace Reid) and western heroes (Roy Stewart). Kathlyn's fair, spunky, coquettish looks grew suddenly grim and matronly by the early 1920s and she moved swiftly into stately dramatic efforts, backing up such celebrity femmes of the day as May McAvoy, Betty Compson, Anita Page, Greta Garbo and even Joan Crawford before the advent of sound. She retired from films in 1935 after only a handful of talkies and, though comebacks were bantered about from time to time in the gossip mill, nothing came of it. A tragic car accident in 1949 resulted in the loss of a leg, ending any chances whatsoever of revitalizing her career. She was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of her life.
Married and divorced three times, her only child, Victor Hugo Kainer, from her first marriage to import/export businessman Otto Kainer, was born in 1905 but died a young teenager after developing influenza and succumbing to septic poisoning in 1922. After a brief marriage to actor Frank R. Allen, she married Charles Eyton. That marriage ended in 1931. Due to the loss of her leg, Kathlyn became a wheelchair-bound invalid in the last decade of her life. She succumbed to a massive heart attack in her Hollywood apartment on September 23, 1960, at age 81.
The Dutch Desmet Collection at EYE Filmmuseum holds Williams' adventure films Captain Kate (1911), The Rose of Old St. Augustine (1911), and Lost in the Jungle, all by Otis Turner. EYE also holds fragments of The Adventures of Kathlyn. The Desmet films can be found online now at EYE's Desmet Playlist: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQr5oaajRw8OvEX7Y5zN0RncTe...
Sources: IMDB (including biography by Gary Brumburgh), English Wikipedia.
The nene (Branta sandvicensis), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiian name nēnē comes from its soft call. The specific name sandvicensis refers to the Sandwich Islands, a former name for the Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomy
The holotype specimen of Anser sandvicensis Vigors (List Anim. Garden Zool. Soc., ed.3, June 1833, p.4.) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T12706. The specimen was collected from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and came to the Liverpool national collection via the Museum of the Zoological Society of London collection, Thomas Campbell Eyton’s collection, and Henry Baker Tristram’s collection.
It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. This ancestor is the progenitor of the nene as well as the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax) and nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes). The nēnē-nui was larger than the nene, varied from flightless to flighted depending on the individual, and inhabited the island of Maui. Similar fossil geese found on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi may be of the same species. The giant Hawaiʻi goose was restricted to the island of Hawaiʻi and measured 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length with a mass of 8.6 kg (19 lb), making it more than four times larger than the nene. It is believed that the herbivorous giant Hawaiʻi goose occupied the same ecological niche as the goose-like ducks known as moa-nalo, which were not present on the Big Island. Based on mitochondrial DNA found in fossils, all Hawaiian geese, living and extinct, are closely related to the giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) and dusky Canada goose (B. c. occidentalis).
Description
The nene is a large-sized goose at 41 cm (16 in) tall. Although they spend most of their time on the ground, they are capable of flight, with some individuals flying daily between nesting and feeding areas. Females have a mass of 1.525–2.56 kg (3.36–5.64 lb), while males average 1.695–3.05 kg (3.74–6.72 lb), 11% larger than females. Adult males have a black head and hindneck, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. The neck has black and white diagonal stripes. Aside from being smaller, the female Nene is similar to the male in colouration. The adult's bill, legs and feet are black. It has soft feathers under its chin. Goslings resemble adults, but are a duller brown and with less demarcation between the colors of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced.
Habitat and range
The nene is an inhabitant of shrubland, grassland, coastal dunes, and lava plains, and related anthropogenic habitats such as pasture and golf courses from sea level to as much as 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Some populations migrated between lowland breeding grounds and montane foraging areas.
The nene could at one time be found on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Today, its range is restricted to Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Kauaʻi. A pair arrived at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oʻahu in January 2014; two of their offspring survived and are seen regularly on the nearby golf courses at Turtle Bay Resort.
Ecology and behavior
The breeding season of the nene, from August to April, is longer than that of any other goose; most eggs are laid between November and January. Unlike most other waterfowl, the nene mates on land. Nests are built by females on a site of her choosing, in which one to five eggs are laid (average is three on Maui and Hawaiʻi, four on Kauaʻi). Females incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 days, while the male acts as a sentry. Goslings are precocial, able to feed on their own; they remain with their parents until the following breeding season.
Diet
The nene is a herbivore that will either graze or browse, depending on the availability of vegetation. Food items include the leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers of grasses and shrubs.
Conservation
The nene population stands at 3,862 birds, making it the world's rarest goose. It is believed that it was once common, with approximately 25,000 Hawaiian geese living in Hawaiʻi when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. Hunting and introduced predators, such as small Indian mongooses, pigs, and feral cats, reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. The species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 800 birds in the wild, as well as 1,000 in wildfowl collections and zoos. There is concern about inbreeding due to the small initial population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge, in England, was instrumental in the successful breeding of Hawaiian geese in captivity. Under the direction of conservationist Peter Scott, it was bred back from the brink of extinction during the 1950s for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaiʻi. There are still Hawaiian geese at Slimbridge today. They can now be found in captivity in multiple WWT centres. Successful introductions include Haleakala and Piʻiholo ranches on Maui. NatureServe considers the species Imperiled.
American postcard in the Selig Players series, 1914. Photo: Selig Polyscope Co.
American actress Bessie Eyton (1890-1965) starred in at least 200 melodramas, Westerns, and crime films. She was one of Selig's most popular stars.
Bessie Eyton was born Bessie Harrison in Santa Barbara in 1890. Her father Edgar Thomas Harrison was a musician. In 1910 she was visiting the Selig Film studios with a party of friends when a director saw and liked her red hair. He said it would photograph a beautiful black, so he offered her a minor role. Bessie had no formal stage training, as did many early film actors. However, she was talented and soon rose to be one of Selig's most popular stars. Her first major role as a leading actress was opposite Tom Mix in The Sheriff of Tuolomne (Francis Boggs, 1911). Bessie is perhaps best remembered as Helen Chester in The Spoilers (Colin Campbell, 1914) with co-star William Farnum and as Virginia Carvel in The Crisis (Colin Campbell, 1916), with George Fawcett and based on Winston Churchill's sprawling novel. Bessie remained with Selig until 1918.
Bessie Eyton was last seen in a supporting role as Ada Tremaine in The Girl of Gold (John Ince, 1925) starring Florence Vidor and Malcolm McGregor for the Regal Film Co. She returned to the screen in the 1930s as an extra. Bessie reportedly had a terrible argument with her mother Claribel, walked out of her Hollywood home, and was never seen or heard from again. Her brother Elbert spent years searching for her but was unsuccessful. In 1908, the 19-years-old Bessie married Selig film producer Charles Eyton. They divorced in 1915. The following year, she married Clark B. Coffey, but they divorced in 1923. In 1965, Bessie Eyton died from congestive heart failure in Thousand Oaks, California, at the age of 74.
Sources: Paul Rothwell-Smith (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
The nene (Branta sandvicensis), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiian name nēnē comes from its soft call. The specific name sandvicensis refers to the Sandwich Islands, a former name for the Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomy
The holotype specimen of Anser sandvicensis Vigors (List Anim. Garden Zool. Soc., ed.3, June 1833, p.4.) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T12706. The specimen was collected from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and came to the Liverpool national collection via the Museum of the Zoological Society of London collection, Thomas Campbell Eyton’s collection, and Henry Baker Tristram’s collection.
It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. This ancestor is the progenitor of the nene as well as the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax) and nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes). The nēnē-nui was larger than the nene, varied from flightless to flighted depending on the individual, and inhabited the island of Maui. Similar fossil geese found on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi may be of the same species. The giant Hawaiʻi goose was restricted to the island of Hawaiʻi and measured 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length with a mass of 8.6 kg (19 lb), making it more than four times larger than the nene. It is believed that the herbivorous giant Hawaiʻi goose occupied the same ecological niche as the goose-like ducks known as moa-nalo, which were not present on the Big Island. Based on mitochondrial DNA found in fossils, all Hawaiian geese, living and extinct, are closely related to the giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) and dusky Canada goose (B. c. occidentalis).
Description
The nene is a large-sized goose at 41 cm (16 in) tall. Although they spend most of their time on the ground, they are capable of flight, with some individuals flying daily between nesting and feeding areas. Females have a mass of 1.525–2.56 kg (3.36–5.64 lb), while males average 1.695–3.05 kg (3.74–6.72 lb), 11% larger than females. Adult males have a black head and hindneck, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. The neck has black and white diagonal stripes. Aside from being smaller, the female Nene is similar to the male in colouration. The adult's bill, legs and feet are black. It has soft feathers under its chin. Goslings resemble adults, but are a duller brown and with less demarcation between the colors of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced.
Habitat and range
The nene is an inhabitant of shrubland, grassland, coastal dunes, and lava plains, and related anthropogenic habitats such as pasture and golf courses from sea level to as much as 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Some populations migrated between lowland breeding grounds and montane foraging areas.
The nene could at one time be found on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Today, its range is restricted to Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Kauaʻi. A pair arrived at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oʻahu in January 2014; two of their offspring survived and are seen regularly on the nearby golf courses at Turtle Bay Resort.
Ecology and behavior
The breeding season of the nene, from August to April, is longer than that of any other goose; most eggs are laid between November and January. Unlike most other waterfowl, the nene mates on land. Nests are built by females on a site of her choosing, in which one to five eggs are laid (average is three on Maui and Hawaiʻi, four on Kauaʻi). Females incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 days, while the male acts as a sentry. Goslings are precocial, able to feed on their own; they remain with their parents until the following breeding season.
Diet
The nene is a herbivore that will either graze or browse, depending on the availability of vegetation. Food items include the leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers of grasses and shrubs.
Conservation
The nene population stands at 3,862 birds, making it the world's rarest goose. It is believed that it was once common, with approximately 25,000 Hawaiian geese living in Hawaiʻi when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. Hunting and introduced predators, such as small Indian mongooses, pigs, and feral cats, reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. The species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 800 birds in the wild, as well as 1,000 in wildfowl collections and zoos. There is concern about inbreeding due to the small initial population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge, in England, was instrumental in the successful breeding of Hawaiian geese in captivity. Under the direction of conservationist Peter Scott, it was bred back from the brink of extinction during the 1950s for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaiʻi. There are still Hawaiian geese at Slimbridge today. They can now be found in captivity in multiple WWT centres. Successful introductions include Haleakala and Piʻiholo ranches on Maui. NatureServe considers the species Imperiled.
Lesser Scaup, Porrón Menor, By Luis Vargas, San José, Costa Rica, diciembre 2015.
Reino: Animalia
Filo: Chordata
Clase: Aves
Superorden: Galloanserae
Orden: Anseriformes
Familia: Anatidae
Subfamilia: Aythyinae
Género: Aythya
Especie: A. affinis
(Eyton, 1838)
Sinonimia
Fuligula affinis Eyton, 1838
Juvenile Paddyfield Pipit (Anthus rufulus)
The paddyfield pipit, or Oriental pipit,[2] (Anthus rufulus) is a small passerine bird in the pipit and wagtail family. It is a resident (non-migratory) breeder in open scrub, grassland and cultivation in southern Asia east to the Philippines. Although among the few breeding pipits in the Asian region, identification becomes difficult in winter when several other species migrate into the region. The taxonomy of the species is complex and has undergone considerable changes.
Description
This is a large pipit at 15 cm, but is otherwise an undistinguished looking bird, mainly streaked grey-brown above and pale below with breast streaking. It is long legged with a long tail and a long dark bill. Sexes are similar. Summer and winter plumages are similar. Young birds are more richly coloured below than adults and have the pale edges to the feather's of the upper parts more conspicuous with more prominent spotting on the breast. The population waitei from north-western India and Pakistan is pale while the population malayensis from the Western Ghats is larger, darker and more heavily streaked with the nominate rufulus intermediate.
In winter some care must be taken to distinguish this from other pipits that winter in the area, such as Richard's pipit, Anthus richardi and Blyth's pipit, Anthus godlewskii. The paddyfield pipit is smaller and dumpier, has a shorter looking tail and has weaker fluttering flight. The usually uttered characteristic chip-chip-chip call is quite different from usual calls of Richard's pipit (an explosive shreep) and Blyth's pipit (a nasal pschreen). The tawny pipit has less streaking on the mantle and has a black loreal stripe and a longer tail. The Western Ghats population can appear very similar to the Nilgiri pipit.
Taxonomy and systematics
Some of the subspecies in the group were formerly treated as a subspecies of the Australasian pipit Anthus novaeseelandiae and the grouping has been in state of flux. Considerable colour and morphological variation with age and latitude make the species difficult to identify from museum specimens. Six subspecies are now included in this species.
- rufulus described by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1818 - found in most of Indian Subcontinent (except for the north-west, north and extreme south-west) east to southern China, south to southern Thailand and Indochina
- waitei described by Hugh Whistler in 1936 (not always recognized) is found in the dry zone of the north-western part of the Indian Subcontinent
- malayensis described by Thomas Campbell Eyton in 1839 is the dark form of the wet zone of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
- lugubris described by Viscount Walden in 1875 - found in Philippines; possibly also northern Borneo.
- albidus described by Erwin Stresemann in 1912 - found in Sulawesi, Bali and the western Lesser Sundas (Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Padar, Rinca, Flores, Sumba).
- medius described by Wallace in 1864 - found in the eastern Lesser Sundas (Sawu, Roti, Timor, Kisar, Leti, Moa, Sermata).
Some authorities consider paddyfield pipit to be a subspecies of Richard's pipit, A. richardi.
Behaviour and ecology
A widespread species found in open habitats, especially short grassland and cultivation with open bare ground. It runs rapidly on the ground, and when flushed, does not fly far.
The paddyfield pipit reeds throughout the year but mainly in the dry season. Birds may have two or more broods in a year. During the breeding season, it sings by repeating a note during its descent from a short fluttery flight, a few feet above the ground. It builds its nest on the ground under a slight prominence, a tuft of grass, or at the edge of a bush. The nests are woven out of grass and leaves and are normally cup shaped. Exposed nests are sometimes domed or semi-domed, the long grass at the back and sides extending over the top. Nests are lined with finer grass or roots and sometimes with a little dry moss, bracken or other material at the base of the nest. The usual clutch is three or four eggs with greenish ground colour and numerous small brown specks at the larger. When disturbed near the nest, the birds flutter nearby with weak tsip-tsip-tsip calls. Parent birds may also feign injury to distract predators.
It feeds principally on small insects but consumes larger beetles, tiny snails, worms etc. while walking on the ground, and may pursue insects like mosquitoes or termites in the air.
A species of Haemoproteus, H. anthi, has been described from this species.
[Credit: en.wikipedia.org/]
info from:
Music at Midnight ; The Life and Poetry of GEORGE HERBERT / By JOHN DRURY. - THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS. - Copyright © 2013 John Drury. - All rights reserved. - ISBN: 978-0-226-13444-4
:
"While she was at Eyton, Magdalen Herbert set about erecting a tomb for her late husband Richard and herself (both husband and wife again) in Montgomery Church.
Nothing else in that church is so grandiose. Indeed even by the high Elizabethan standards of display the tomb is magnificent. A large semi-circular arch, its main feature, has two painted figures in its spandrels: Old Father Time with his hourglass and sickle and a naked woman who might be Truth. Above this, heraldry abounds to display the family's connections. A row of shields above the arch supports a gigantic strapwork pediment with Richard Herbert's arms in the middle. Above them, to subdue the pomp a little, are two skulls with bones and the inscription 'olim fui: sic eritis': 'I was once, you will be so.' The great arch forms the front of a vaulted canopy over the recumbent effigies of Richard and his wife Magdalen. But only he is buried there, with a sculpted representation of his corpse below the table on which the two effigies lie. Magdalen died thirty-one years later, having married again, and was buried at Chelsea.
"Sir Richard, 'black-haired and bearded' as Edward remembered him, is in full armour. The armour is conventional, but apt enough. As an enforcer of law and order in the disorderly Welsh Marches, deputy lieutenant and principal justice of the peace, he needed to be prepared to fight. But in his monument it is his wife Magdalen, George's mother, who predominates. Her effigy is at the front, richly gowned. Her face above her ruff is youthful and alert, surmounted by the coiffure which also appears in her portrait: her hair pulled up from her forehead in two high rolls. Her maternity is displayed by a row of little kneeling figures of their children (not likenesses, more like dolls) behind the two effigies: six boys and two girls, for some reason a boy and a girl short of her total of ten. George was her fourth son. It is in the inscription, in gilded gothic lettering above the arch, that Magdalen's control is most blatantly asserted. Although it is her husband's tomb, most of the text is about her and her family, to which she referred in capital letters. [NB not true!]
"Heare Lyeth the Body of Richard Herbert Esquire whose Monument was Made at the Coste of Magdalene his wife Daughter of Sir Richard NEWPORT of High Arcoall in the County of Salop, Knighte (deceased) & of Dame Margaret his wife Daughter & Sole heyr to Sir Thomas BROMLEY Knighte Late Lord Chiefe Justice of England & one of the Executors of the Late Kinge of Most Famous Memorye Kinge Henry the Eighte Ano Dom 1600.
"Verses in Latin, advertising learning, are in a cartouche over the effigies. They celebrate Magdalen's virtue, piety and love in erecting the monument and the couple's fidelity.
"Richard Herbert's tomb is, then, more a monument to his formidable widow and her family than to him and his. For its design and making Magdalen employed the builder Walter Hancock. Her brother, Sir Francis Newport, Member of Parliament for Shropshire, was an enthusiastic patron of Hancock. In 1595 he recommended him strongly to the Bailiffs of Shrewsbury for the building of their new Market House as 'a Mason of approved skill and honesty ... you cannot match the man in these parts with any of his occupation, neither in science and judgement of workmanship, nor in plainness and honesty to deal withal'. Hancock got the job and built the Market House on broad semi-circular arches like the one on the monument in Montgomery Church. In his will of 1599 he referred to '£4.19s. owed to Wm. Reed wh. he is to receive of Mrs. Magd. Herbert out of that work which he and others have done by my appointment at Montgomery'."
-------------------
info from archive.org/stream/transactionsofsh37shro/transactionsofs... :
"Quid virtus Pietas, amorve recti.
Tunc cum vita fugit juvare possunt ~
In Cœlo relevent perenne nomen.
Hoc saxum doceat, duos recludens,
Quos uno thalamo fideque junctos,
Heic unus tumulus, lapisve signat.
Jam longum sape, Lector et valeto,
Æternum venerans ubique nomen"
jvu.txt
[text corrected by groenling]
The nene (Branta sandvicensis), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiian name nēnē comes from its soft call. The specific name sandvicensis refers to the Sandwich Islands, a former name for the Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomy
The holotype specimen of Anser sandvicensis Vigors (List Anim. Garden Zool. Soc., ed.3, June 1833, p.4.) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T12706. The specimen was collected from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and came to the Liverpool national collection via the Museum of the Zoological Society of London collection, Thomas Campbell Eyton’s collection, and Henry Baker Tristram’s collection.
It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. This ancestor is the progenitor of the nene as well as the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax) and nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes). The nēnē-nui was larger than the nene, varied from flightless to flighted depending on the individual, and inhabited the island of Maui. Similar fossil geese found on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi may be of the same species. The giant Hawaiʻi goose was restricted to the island of Hawaiʻi and measured 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length with a mass of 8.6 kg (19 lb), making it more than four times larger than the nene. It is believed that the herbivorous giant Hawaiʻi goose occupied the same ecological niche as the goose-like ducks known as moa-nalo, which were not present on the Big Island. Based on mitochondrial DNA found in fossils, all Hawaiian geese, living and extinct, are closely related to the giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) and dusky Canada goose (B. c. occidentalis).
Description
The nene is a large-sized goose at 41 cm (16 in) tall. Although they spend most of their time on the ground, they are capable of flight, with some individuals flying daily between nesting and feeding areas. Females have a mass of 1.525–2.56 kg (3.36–5.64 lb), while males average 1.695–3.05 kg (3.74–6.72 lb), 11% larger than females. Adult males have a black head and hindneck, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. The neck has black and white diagonal stripes. Aside from being smaller, the female Nene is similar to the male in colouration. The adult's bill, legs and feet are black. It has soft feathers under its chin. Goslings resemble adults, but are a duller brown and with less demarcation between the colors of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced.
Habitat and range
The nene is an inhabitant of shrubland, grassland, coastal dunes, and lava plains, and related anthropogenic habitats such as pasture and golf courses from sea level to as much as 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Some populations migrated between lowland breeding grounds and montane foraging areas.
The nene could at one time be found on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Today, its range is restricted to Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Kauaʻi. A pair arrived at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oʻahu in January 2014; two of their offspring survived and are seen regularly on the nearby golf courses at Turtle Bay Resort.
Ecology and behavior
The breeding season of the nene, from August to April, is longer than that of any other goose; most eggs are laid between November and January. Unlike most other waterfowl, the nene mates on land. Nests are built by females on a site of her choosing, in which one to five eggs are laid (average is three on Maui and Hawaiʻi, four on Kauaʻi). Females incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 days, while the male acts as a sentry. Goslings are precocial, able to feed on their own; they remain with their parents until the following breeding season.
Diet
The nene is a herbivore that will either graze or browse, depending on the availability of vegetation. Food items include the leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers of grasses and shrubs.
Conservation
The nene population stands at 3,862 birds, making it the world's rarest goose. It is believed that it was once common, with approximately 25,000 Hawaiian geese living in Hawaiʻi when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. Hunting and introduced predators, such as small Indian mongooses, pigs, and feral cats, reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. The species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 800 birds in the wild, as well as 1,000 in wildfowl collections and zoos. There is concern about inbreeding due to the small initial population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge, in England, was instrumental in the successful breeding of Hawaiian geese in captivity. Under the direction of conservationist Peter Scott, it was bred back from the brink of extinction during the 1950s for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaiʻi. There are still Hawaiian geese at Slimbridge today. They can now be found in captivity in multiple WWT centres. Successful introductions include Haleakala and Piʻiholo ranches on Maui. NatureServe considers the species Imperiled.
45231 'Sherwood Forester' hammers towards Eyton L.C. Baschurch with Crewe - Chester - Coton Hill training run.
Homersfield bridge is of considerable historic interest as a forerunner of modern reinforced concrete structures
In 1869 Sir Robert Alexander Shafto Adair, 1st. Barron Waveney of Flixton Hall commissioned Ipswich architect Henry Eyton to build a road bridge to replace the existing one spanning the River Waveney. The wrought iron framework of the arch is encased in concrete. The span is 48 ft. (14.65 m) and the bridge could carry a safe distributed load of 200 ton. It has an ornate open cast iron parapet and above the supporting arch a cast iron shield bearing the coat of arms of the Adair family. The bridge was completed by Messrs W. & T. Phillips of London in the early 1870's at a cost of £344.
In 1907 the bridge was surveyed by H. Miller, who noted that a chain and padlock were fitted in the centre of the bridge for one day a year, generally when the river was in full flood. A toll of 2d was charge although foot pedestrians crossed for free. Since that time the ownership and liability for the bridge fell into dispute, this confusing could well have saved the bridge from being demolished once it fell into disrepair.
In 1970 a new road bridge was constructed to carry A143 traffic across the River Waveney and since then the old bridge was neglected. An inspection in the late 1980's showed the concrete badly deteriorated, the ironwork corroded and ugly concrete post and rail fencing erected for safety measures.
in 1990 it was agreed that the bridge would be restored. After a lengthy process to determine ownership the bridge was compulsorily purchased by Norfolk County Council. Then £85,000 of funding was secured for the renovation by Norfolk Historic Building Trust and Suffolk Preservation Society.
A plaque on the bridge, erected by the Institution of Civil Engineers, describes it as 'The oldest concrete bridge in Great Britain'.
Homersfied bridge, which stands partly in the parishes of Homersfield in Suffolk and Alburgh and Wortwell in Norfolk, is now a foot and cycle bridge.
The bridge received Grade II* listed building status on 3rd. June 1981. (English Heritage Legacy ID: 282269).
.
St Mary, Walpole, Suffolk
Walpole is a fairly large village on the outskirts of Halesworth. I've been cycling through it long enough to remember when it still had a shop and a pub, and what felt like a life of its own, but these are gone now. However, St Mary survives, set back from the road in a large graveyard up the hill on the way to Halesworth. At first sight, it appears to be a fairly run-of-the-mill Victorian village church, but a Norman doorway has been preserved within the south porch. Otherwise, what you see today is largely the work of the 19th century architect HM Eyton.
To be honest, It is easy to moan about churches like this. But here it is, at the heart of its village, open to visitors, reasonably friendly inside - honestly, it is hard to criticize. From the outside, it puts me in mind of Catholic churches in northern France, rebuilt in this style after the destruction of the First World War. This design is also familiar from a thousand municipal cemetery chapels, with its funny little spire and restrained mock-decorated windows.
There are some medieval survivals here. But not many. The base of the tower was retained, and footings of the nave walls suggest it was originally Saxon. The Norman doorway is remarkably well-preserved, suggesting the previous porch had survived for many centuries. It has had an electric light fitting driven through it, presumably by someone who thought it was a good idea.
Even on a sunny day the church seems dark inside, but as your eyes become accustomed to the gloom your first surprise is the rather odd medieval font. It is not originally from this church but from St Andrew, in the centre of Norwich, which may explain its urban solidity. It must be said that it is much more attractive than the vulgar 19th century one that replaced it in Norwich.
The parish have been busy here over the last few years, and one of the most striking aspects of the interior is that the long chancel has been cleared of all its furnishings, exposing a fine Victorian tiled floor. It does perhaps accentuate the gloom of the nave, and modern chairs would look much better in that space than clumpy old Victorian pews.
The village of Walpole is a mecca for church explorers, but they are on their way to visit Walpole Old Chapel up the hill, rather than the homely charms of St Mary. I was headed there next, as I understood it was open on Saturday afternoons, and I hadn't seen inside since recording a programme about it for BBC Radio Suffolk a year or so previously. I came out of St Mary into the rain. It was that horrible seeping drizzle, and so I sped as fast as I could up to the Old Chapel. I got there to find that it didn't open until 2pm. There was no shelter, and waiting an hour in the rain wasn't really an option, so I hurried back to Halesworth and took shelter in the Angel Hotel instead.
American postcard in the Selig Players series. Photo: Selig Polyscope Co.
American child actress Baby Lillian Wade (1907-1990) was one of the stars of the Selig Polyscope Company between 1911 and 1918. She starred in such films as When Lillian Was Little Red Riding Hood (1913) and Little Orphant Annie (1918). Wade appeared in around 60 films for Selig.
Baby Lillian Wade was born as Mary Lillian Wade in 1907 in Denver, Colorado. Ar the age of 4, she started to appear in shorts for the Selig Polyscope Company. One of her first films was One of Nature's Noblemen (Francis Boggs, 1911) starring Hobart Bosworth and Tom Santschi. She played the young Jack in The Lipton Cup: Introducing Sir Thomas Lipton (Lem B. Parker, 1913), a drama of a sailboat race, and the ship-builder, Jack (Harold Lockwood), who builds the yacht that wins the Lipton Cup. That year, she also appeared as Wamba's child in Wamba, a Child of the Jungle (Colin Campbell, 1913) with Bessie Eyton as Wamba. The film was a two-part special offering with live lions playing an important part at the climax. Baby Lilian had the lead role in the short fantasy When Lillian Was Little Red Riding Hood (Colin Campbell, 1913). Other films with her name in the title followed such as Little Lillian Turns the Tide (Edward LeSaint, 1914) and The Baby Spy ( Edward LeSaint, 1914).
Baby Lillian Wade played the little baby girl of Stella Razeto and Guy Oliver in the drama The Spirit of the Violin (Edward LeSaint, 1915). The popularity of the little actress and her face was often used in the publicity for the Selig films. Later films were The Far Country (Frank Beal, 1916), the Western The Golden Thought (Tom Mix, 1916) starring Tom Mix, and the comedy No Place Like Home (Norval MacGregor, 1917). Her final film was Little Orphant Annie (Colin Campbell, 1918) with Colleen Moore as Annie and Lilian as another orphan. Little Orphant Annie was one of the last films produced by Selig Polyscope Company. By the end of 1918, shortly before the film's December 1918 release, the company became insolvent and was absorbed by Fox Film Corporation. Lillian Wade died in 1990 in Los Angeles. She was 82.
Sources: Wikipedia (Italian) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
(BEST READ LARGE !!)
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MARCH 8TH- WELL STACKED OTHER WOMEN
I generally don’t categorise female writers as a gender but for International Women’s Day I thought I might put together a small representative compilation of some of the books written by learned ladies whose fiction I’ve found inspirational over the years. If there’s a consistent theme it’s that these writers create female characters that are strong, capable, determined and, more frequently than not, more than able to hold their own against and alongside the larger than life blokes that characterise the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction genres that most (but not all!) of these adept writers grace.
That or the feisty novelists themselves could be classified as “Arse Booting Sheilas”, as we say Downunder.
Along with the never to be underestimated ladies intersecting my life (including my formidable Flickr chums!) , it’s writers like these who’ve formed my ideal of what women are and can be. This is not, incidentally, a complete list. I just didn’t have regular paperback sized editions of the works of some equally fine favourites that would fit into the stack!
From the top down:
JANE AUSTEN- It is a truth universally acknowledged that centuries later Jane’s still one of the wittiest! PERSUASION was her last published novel, which was released posthumously.
MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY- It’s her Arthurian themed MISTS OF AVALON that I like the most of all her books, but the copy I’ve got is a hardcover and wouldn’t fit into this little compilation. HUNTERS OF THE RED MOON is one of her Science Fiction books.
SUSAN COOPER- THE GREY KING is one of Cooper’s THE DARK IS RISING Arthurian themed sequence. Okay, I tend to encounter a lot of female genre writer’s first in their Arthurian writings...which will become increasingly obvious.
LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD- A master of slick but amusing heroic space opera, in particular her famous tales of the adventures of the resourceful if somewhat physically fragile Miles Vorkosigan. This book, KOMARR, belongs to that series.
DIANE CAREY- One of my all time favourite writers of Star Trek spin-off fiction. She has an excellent feel for the character ensembles matched only by her ability to instil in her stories a strong nautical flavour that perfectly suits the idea of Star Fleet being a continuation of planetary surface naval traditions. BATTLESTATIONS ! was the sequel to her equally worthy DREADNOUGHT !
C.J.CHERRYH- Second only to Larry Niven when it comes to cat aliens. THE PRIDE OF CHANUR is the cat’s meow of feline E.Ts.
LINDSEY DAVIS- I’m a fan of historical themed detective fiction and naturally admire this writer’s Marcus Didius Falco/ Helena Justina novels, set in Vespasian’s Roman Empire. THE COURSE OF HONOUR isn’t about Falco, it’s Vespasian’s story, which Davis wrote first, but didn’t see published until well after the Falco series had otherwise made her name.
BARBARA HAMBLY- One of my absolute favourite writers. Adeptly crosses genres from Science Fiction to Fantasy to Historical Detective fiction. TRAVELLING WITH THE DEAD is one of her superb genre defining vampire novels, but I equally love her Benjamin January (If they ever did a television series Avery Brooks would be perfect to play the role!) New Orleans detective stories as well as her Star Trek, Star Wars and sword and sorcery books.
ZENNA HENDERSON- Henderson’s generally gentle stories of The People, alien refugees who quietly became colonists on Earth without all that spectacular mucking around with invasions, had a big influence on me. THE PEOPLE: NO DIFFERENT FLESH, is a collected anthology of those tales.
ROBIN HOBB- Robin’s fantasy stories are wonderfully detailed and peopled with fascinating characters. SHIP OF MAGIC is book one of her Liveship Traders series. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview her twice now, and thoroughly enjoyed the privilege to gain an insight into her marvellous imagination and writing process.
PHYLISS ANN KARR- Another writer whose Arthurian work I treasure, starting with THE IDYLLS OF THE QUEEN, which features the much neglected Sir Kay, to her authoritative reference work THE KING ARTHUR COMPANION. I got to meet Phyliss at an S.F convention, where we were on a panel about, what else, King Arthur.
GABRIEL KING- Her Wild Road books, co-written with M. John Harrison, are masterpieces of anthropomorphic ‘talking animal’ fiction. Up there with Kenneth Grahame, Wiliam Horwood and Richard Adams. Her real name is Jane Johnson and she’s also a powerhouse editor....
TANITH LEE- Tanith Lee’s work is wickedly lyrical, reminding me of Ray Bradbury’s considerable output. Lee is almost equally prolific. NIGHT’S MASTER is one of her unique fantasy novels.
URSULA K. LE GUIN- One of the world’s best Science Fiction writers. THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS is of course one of her most famous and influential novels.
ANN MCCAFFREY- Although I’m not a big fan of her dragon novels some of her other books have made me sit up and take notice, like TO RIDE PEGASUS, an enthusiastic exploration of what implications psionic powers might have.
VONDA N. MCINTYRE- Another great Star Trek spin-off fiction writer whose work beyond that field is equally acclaimed. THE ENTROPY EFFECT was the first of her Trek novels, she also wrote particularly expansive novelisations of three of the movies that went well beyond the confines of the scripts.
ELIZABETH MOON- Her Deed Of Paksenarrion Fantasy books are where I first encountered this former U.S Marine’s work, but I’ve learnt to appreciate her Science Fiction as well, particularly the singleton novel, Remnant Population. OATH OF GOLD is the third Paks book.
ANDRE NORTON- One of the Grand Masters of Science Fiction and Fantasy, she was also incredibly prolific, especially in the Young Adult category. MERLIN’S MIRROR happens to be one of her Arthurian themed novels. Most genre fans I encounter seem to have read one of Norton’s books somewhere along the way.
NAOMI NOVIK- Instantly became one of my favourite writers with the release of her remarkably clever Temeraire series, set in an alternate universe Regency where the Napoleonic Wars are fought with the addition of dragons! Dead clever, and her stories read like a happy cross between the works of Bernard Cornwell and C.S Forester. THRONE OF JADE is the second book in the series. The Peter Jackson movie adaptations are going to be something to see and then some!
ELLIS PETERS- Peters elegant Brother Cadfael stories, set in the 12th Century, were key elements in me becoming keen on the Historical Detective genre. THE HERMIT OF EYTON FOREST is the 14th chronicle in the cunning monk’s adventures. I would have loved to have interviewed Ellis Peters, but never got the chance. I did, however, revel in the opportunity that I got to interview Cadfael, that is to say, Sir Derek Jacobi, who played the character in the television series based on the books.
LAURA JOH ROWLAND- Her Sano Ichiro/ Reiko samurai detective stories take place in 17th century Japan and are evocative, richly textured masterworks of the Historical Detective genre.
BLACK LOTUS is one of the series.
JESSICA AMANDA SALMONSON- Her TOMOE GOZEN female samurai series is a fantasy spin on the adventures of the real life warrior woman of 12th Century Japan.
ELIZABETH ANN SCARBOROUGH- THE HEALER’S WAR is her Fantasy novel set in Vietnam but this writer is an all rounder and can handle any genre, usually with a dash of whimsy.
MARY SHELLEY- Need I say Shelley was one of the earliest modern Science Fiction writers? Her writing style may have dated but it’s a challenge that’s worth accepting in order to experience her seminal classics in the genre, including, of course, FRANKENSTEIN.
MARY STEWART- Another Arthurian writer whose Merlin series, of which THE HOLLOW HILLS was book three, had a lot of influence upon the genre. She has written a lot more historical novels but those are my favourites.
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF- Growing up, Sutcliff was one of my favourite Historical Fiction writers. THE EAGLE OF THE NINTH and THE LANTERN BEARERS are still great reads. SWORD AT SUNSET is one of her many Arthurian novels.
LIZ WILLIAMS- A Techno Gothic British Science Fiction writer whose eccentric work could go toe to toe with William Gibsons or China Mievilles. THE POISON MASTER is one of her baroque convoluted alchemical novels.
61306 'Maylower' at Eyton Crossing, Baschurch with the Crewe - Chester - Shrewsbury - Telford - Stafford - Crewe circular test run. 10-1-23.
The nene (Branta sandvicensis), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokai, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiian name nēnē comes from its soft call. The specific name sandvicensis refers to the Sandwich Islands, a former name for the Hawaiian Islands.
Taxonomy
The holotype specimen of Anser sandvicensis Vigors (List Anim. Garden Zool. Soc., ed.3, June 1833, p.4.) is held in the vertebrate zoology collection at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T12706. The specimen was collected from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and came to the Liverpool national collection via the Museum of the Zoological Society of London collection, Thomas Campbell Eyton’s collection, and Henry Baker Tristram’s collection.
It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. This ancestor is the progenitor of the nene as well as the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax) and nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes). The nēnē-nui was larger than the nene, varied from flightless to flighted depending on the individual, and inhabited the island of Maui. Similar fossil geese found on Oʻahu and Kauaʻi may be of the same species. The giant Hawaiʻi goose was restricted to the island of Hawaiʻi and measured 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length with a mass of 8.6 kg (19 lb), making it more than four times larger than the nene. It is believed that the herbivorous giant Hawaiʻi goose occupied the same ecological niche as the goose-like ducks known as moa-nalo, which were not present on the Big Island. Based on mitochondrial DNA found in fossils, all Hawaiian geese, living and extinct, are closely related to the giant Canada goose (B. c. maxima) and dusky Canada goose (B. c. occidentalis).
Description
The nene is a large-sized goose at 41 cm (16 in) tall. Although they spend most of their time on the ground, they are capable of flight, with some individuals flying daily between nesting and feeding areas. Females have a mass of 1.525–2.56 kg (3.36–5.64 lb), while males average 1.695–3.05 kg (3.74–6.72 lb), 11% larger than females. Adult males have a black head and hindneck, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. The neck has black and white diagonal stripes. Aside from being smaller, the female Nene is similar to the male in colouration. The adult's bill, legs and feet are black. It has soft feathers under its chin. Goslings resemble adults, but are a duller brown and with less demarcation between the colors of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced.
Habitat and range
The nene is an inhabitant of shrubland, grassland, coastal dunes, and lava plains, and related anthropogenic habitats such as pasture and golf courses from sea level to as much as 2,400 m (7,900 ft). Some populations migrated between lowland breeding grounds and montane foraging areas.
The nene could at one time be found on the islands of Hawaiʻi, Maui, Kahoʻolawe, Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi. Today, its range is restricted to Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, and Kauaʻi. A pair arrived at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oʻahu in January 2014; two of their offspring survived and are seen regularly on the nearby golf courses at Turtle Bay Resort.
Ecology and behavior
The breeding season of the nene, from August to April, is longer than that of any other goose; most eggs are laid between November and January. Unlike most other waterfowl, the nene mates on land. Nests are built by females on a site of her choosing, in which one to five eggs are laid (average is three on Maui and Hawaiʻi, four on Kauaʻi). Females incubate the eggs for 29 to 32 days, while the male acts as a sentry. Goslings are precocial, able to feed on their own; they remain with their parents until the following breeding season.
Diet
The nene is a herbivore that will either graze or browse, depending on the availability of vegetation. Food items include the leaves, seeds, fruit, and flowers of grasses and shrubs.
Conservation
The nene population stands at 3,862 birds, making it the world's rarest goose. It is believed that it was once common, with approximately 25,000 Hawaiian geese living in Hawaiʻi when Captain James Cook arrived in 1778. Hunting and introduced predators, such as small Indian mongooses, pigs, and feral cats, reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. The species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced. In 2004, it was estimated that there were 800 birds in the wild, as well as 1,000 in wildfowl collections and zoos. There is concern about inbreeding due to the small initial population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge, in England, was instrumental in the successful breeding of Hawaiian geese in captivity. Under the direction of conservationist Peter Scott, it was bred back from the brink of extinction during the 1950s for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaiʻi. There are still Hawaiian geese at Slimbridge today. They can now be found in captivity in multiple WWT centres. Successful introductions include Haleakala and Piʻiholo ranches on Maui. NatureServe considers the species Imperiled.
Had an unexpectedly sunny day out yesterday! Was a bit hazy which made for not so clear photos though.
Hottentot Duck ~ London Wetland Centre ~ Barnes ~ London ~ Wednesday February 4th 2015.
Sheryl Crow ~ www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIYiGA_rIls
Click here to see My most interesting images
Purchase some of my images here ~ www.saatchionline.com/art/view/artist/24360/art/1259239 ~ Should you so desire...go on, make me rich..lol...Oh...and if you see any of the images in my stream that you would like and are not there, then let me know and I'll add them to the site for you..:))
You can also buy my WWT cards here (The Otter and the Sunset images) or in the shop at the Wetland Centre in Barnes ~ London ~ www.wwt.org.uk/shop/shop/wwt-greeting-cards/sunset-at-the...
Well, I went to the London Wetland Centre on Wednesday.........1st time in a while, not the greatest of days weather wise!...twas cold, overcast and damp...:(
It's also the middle of winter so there wasn't much in the way of action...However, I did manage to sign my very first autograph in the shop...as from the links above, they are selling cards in the shop that have my photographs on them..:) So when one woman brought one of mine I offered to sign it for her..lol...perhaps I should set up a signing table there...Bwhahaha..:)
Anyhoo....I did manage to capture a Hottentot Teal.:)
I hope everybody has a great day...:)
Hottentot teal ~ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~ Hottentot teal ~ Conservation status ~ Least Concern
Scientific classification ~ Kingdom:Animalia ~ Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Anseriformes
Family:Anatidae
Subfamily:Anatinae
Genus:Anas
Species:A. hottentota
Binomial name
Anas hottentota
(Eyton, 1838)
The Hottentot teal (Anas hottentota) ~ <is a species of dabbling duck of the genus Anas. It is migratory resident in eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan and Ethiopia west to Niger and Nigeria and south to South Africa and Namibia. In west Africa and Madagascar it is sedentary.
The Hottentot teal breed year round, depending on rainfall, and stay in small groups or pairs. They build nests above water in tree stumps and use vegetation. Ducklings leave the nest soon after hatching, and the mother's parenting is limited to providing protection from predators and leading young to feeding areas This species is omnivorous and prefers smaller shallow bodies of water.
The Hottentot teal is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
45231 'Sherwood Forester' hammers through Eyton L.C. Baschurch with Crewe - Chester - Coton Hill training run.
St Mary's at Walpole was mostly rebuilt in the Victorian period and its present appearance with a dainty little tower and spire at the west end is the work of architect H.M.Eyton. Some ancient features were retained such as the Norman south doorway and the font too is medieval though not original to the church.
Of the many churches I visited this day this one probably required the shortest visit, though it is a building of some charm and is kept open and welcoming to visitors.
He was the eldest son of Richard Herbert of Montgomery Castle (a member of a collateral branch of the family of the Earls of Pembroke) and of Magdalen, daughter of Sir Richard Newport, and brother of the poet George Herbert. He was born at Eyton-on-Severn near Wroxeter. After private tuition he matriculated at University College, Oxford, as a gentleman commoner, in May 1596. On 28 February 1599 he married his cousin Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir William Herbert (d. 1593). He returned to Oxford with his wife and mother, continued his studies, and learned modern languages as well as music, riding and fencing.
On the accession of King James I he presented himself at court and was created a Knight of the Bath on 24 July 1603. He was Member of Parliament for Merioneth.[1] From 1605 he was magistrate and sheriff in Montgomery.
In 1608 he went to Paris, with Aurelian Townshend, enjoying the friendship and hospitality of the old Constable de Montmorency at Merlou and meeting King Henry IV; he toured Europe with Inigo Jones, and lodged for many months with Isaac Casaubon.[3][4] On his return, as he says himself, he was "in great esteem both in court and city, many of the greatest desiring my company." At this period he was close to both Ben Jonson and John Donne, and in Jonson's Epicoene, or the Silent Woman Herbert is probably alluded to.[5] Both Donne and Jonson honoured him in poetry.[6]
In 1610 he served as a volunteer in the Low Countries under the Prince of Orange, whose intimate friend he became, and distinguished himself at the capture of Juliers from the emperor. He offered to decide the war by engaging in single combat with a champion chosen from among the enemy, but his challenge was declined. During an interval in the fighting he paid a visit to Spinola, in the Spanish camp near Wezel, and afterwards to the elector palatine at Heidelberg, subsequently travelling in Italy. At the instance of the Duke of Savoy he led an expedition of 4,000 Huguenots from Languedoc into Piedmont to help the Savoyards against Spain, but after nearly losing his life in the journey to Lyon he was imprisoned on his arrival there, and the enterprise came to nothing. Thence he returned to the Netherlands and the Prince of Orange, arriving in England in 1617.
In 1619, Herbert was made ambassador to Paris, taking in his entourage Thomas Carew.[7] A quarrel with de Luynes and a challenge sent by him to the latter occasioned his recall in 1621. After the death of de Luynes, Herbert resumed his post in February 1622.
He was very popular at the French court and showed considerable diplomatic ability. His chief objects were to accomplish the marriage between Charles, Prince of Wales and Henrietta Maria, and to secure the assistance of Louis XIII for Frederick V, Elector Palatine. He failed in the latter, and was dismissed in April 1624.
He returned home greatly in debt and received little reward for his services beyond the Irish peerage of Castle Island on 31 May 1624 and the English barony of Cherbury, or Chirbury, on 7 May 1629.
In 1632 he was appointed a member of the council of war. He attended the king at York in 1639, and in May 1642 was imprisoned by the parliament for urging the addition of the words "without cause" to the resolution that the king violated his oath by making war on parliament. He determined after this to take no further part in the struggle, retired to Montgomery Castle, and declined the king's summons.
On 5 September 1644 he surrendered the castle, by negotiation, to the Parliamentary forces led by Sir Thomas Myddelton.[8] He returned to London, submitted, and was granted a pension of £20 a week. In 1647. he paid a visit to Pierre Gassendi at Paris, and died in London the following summer, being buried in the church of St Giles's in the Fields.
Lord Herbert left two sons, Richard (c. 1600-1655), who succeeded him as 2nd Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and Edward, the title becoming extinct in the person of Henry Herbert, the 4th baron, grandson of the 1st Lord Herbert, in 1691. In 1694, however, it was revived in favour of another Henry Herbert (1654-1709), son of Sir Henry Herbert (1595-1673), brother of the 1st Lord Herbert of Cherbury. Lord Herbert's cousin and namesake, Sir Edward Herbert, was also a prominent figure in the English Civil War.