Monday 15 October 2018

So, to get back to that bird....

So to get back to the little bird in my last post.  Many people guessed a bird of prey, some a kestrel, and Graham got into the whole puzzle, realising that the bird was very unusual. It's one of the rarest birds in the world, a Mauritius Kestrel.   It lives only in a few small areas of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, and catches its prey by darting through the forest at high speeds - rather like an English sparrowhawk. 

My project will involve the Mauritius kestrel, and as part of this I went to Wales last week and interviewed an eminent biologist. I loved the trip. I didn't just hear his views but he also showed me his remarkable home. Among other large birds, he owns two gigantic Andean Condors, with wingspans of around 9 feet.  He's built them a vast aviary outside, and I wish I could show you some photos that do them justice, but unfortunately it was almost sunset, and my photos are all terrible. They sort of reminded me of 19th century clerics, with the smooth,  matt black jackets, flowing white tailfeathers like robes, and pure white collars.  

His house was crammed with thousands of specimens and books, a wonderland for anyone fascinated by the natural world.  You must imagine my favourite specimens - the three stuffed giant tortoises who took up a large part of his office. They died of old age and since tortoises live for ages, they might have met Charles Darwin. What a pity they wouldn't have realised who he was.

The stuffed Mauritius kestrel in my photo is in the Tring Natural History museum, unexpectedly situated in a small town in Hertfordshire, outside London.  This view conveys the Victorian atmosphere of the place.


This was originally the private museum of Walter Rothschild (of the famous banking family), and his mum and dad gave him the museum as a birthday present. (I love that idea.  Birthday gift ideas for the billionaires in your life....) 

Walter was a passionate, and decidedly eccentric naturalist and collector of stuffed animals, and after his death he left his magnificent collection to the nation on condition that it became an offshoot of the main Natural History Museum in London.  It now houses their collection of stuffed birds, which includes some spectacular specimens. The iridiscent-feathered ocellated turkey looks as if it's in fancy dress, doesn't it? Or at least I can see it strutting around at one of those decadent  parties rich folk had in the 1930s.  

  
The aptly named ruffs, a type of sandpiper,  have an extraordinary mating display.


So, I have been thinking about birds a lot, and will tell you more about the project as it develops. Right now, I'm having a job just keeping on top of the paperwork.  And we've had houseguests for three days, which was a welcome diversion. 

 I know some of you read Jeanie's blog The Marmelade Gypsy - if not, do take a look.  I've followed and corresponded with Jeanie for years and, when she and her partner Rick were visiting London, we had them here for a few nights and took them to see places we thought they might like.  One was Gunnersbury Park. I visited a year ago and wrote about it here, but now the restorations are complete and the park's Large Mansion (which by coincidence, also belonged to the Rothschilds) was open for business - well, not business, since it is completely free.   It serves as the local museum and is hired out for private events. What a space to decorate for your own reception!


Chandeliers....


I was blown away by a fireplace which features glass columns; something I've never seen before in a fireplace. Have you? 

Here is a close up.  Imagine the firelight glittering in the glass.


The costume room of the museum contains some dressing up outfits. I'll spare you T., me and Rick in our hats, but Jeanie looked great in hers.


The only let down in the park was the restaurant, which looks nice but was disorganised and had run out of sandwiches!  But bring your own food and don't let it put you off visiting Gunnersbury.

We also went to the Musical Museum at Brentford, a collection of mechanical musical instruments from 1830s musical boxes to the modern day, all of which they will play for you.  It's fun to hear the juke boxes, orchestrions, pianolas, polyphons and even the splendid reproducing piano, which copied tempo and touch accurately but was "minded" by a human player who interpreted the recorded music.

Few people have heard of reproducing pianos, so I looked for one on Youtube. I found a video from at least 25 years ago, taken in the days when the museum's instruments were housed in an atmospheric abandoned church. (The collection is now in a new purpose built museum)



This video interested me, because I knew Frank Holland, the museum's founder, and visited him in this very church a couple of times. He lived in the vestry, in truly Gothic discomfort, but he was delighted to be surrounded by his instruments,  nearly all of which he had rescued from destruction, and cherished almost as if they were his own family.  I still remember him coaxing them into life as if they were shy kids.  You might be able to get an impression of what it was like there in those days from the video, with the instruments all grouped around as if part of the audience!

The museum runs lots of events, many of them featuring its Mighty Wurlitzer . The great Chris Barber explained the instrument and played for about fifteen minutes. I learned that the illuminated panels (which change colour) around the console are a particularly British thing- American Wurlitzers don't have them.

I am not a huge fan of the cinema organ or of its repertoire, but I really admired Chris's skill, and I think this would be an appropriate way to close this post - so here you are! 


33 comments:

  1. I'm glad my guess was going in the right direction.
    The people you have been meeting, both the biologist and the man who restored the musical instruments, sound like fascinating men - so full of enthusiasm for what they are or were doing.

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    1. People who love what they do are so often fascinating. So much nicer than sitting around watching television.:)

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  2. How fascinating, can't wait to hear more about the project.

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    1. I am still developing it so it might change but when it is settled I'll be posting.

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  3. This one really was a rare bird, wan't it!

    Even if you don't like a particular instrument, a great player can make you admire what s/he can do with it. A terrible player of your favorite instrument will make you feel like you are being strangled, too.

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    1. I did admire his skill. Not only three manuals of the organ, but also playing with the feet. I thought it must need fantastic coordination!

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  4. This post was most entertaining as well as educational. The organ is the most amazing instrument - I love it.

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    1. It certainly can produce an astonishing number of different sounds, and playing it looked really hard.

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  5. What a splendid chance to hear an old-time pianola on the video. We used to see them regularly when I was a child. The Musical Museum sounds like a gem, like the one I visited in Berlin. It is so important to preserve these wonderful old instruments, particularly in today's world of electronic everything!
    What a lucky child to receive a museum for his birthday - the turkey alone would be quite something to own. On reflection, my life has been filled with tiny personal museums - always collecting some curiosity or other. A sparkling fireplace would be a great addition to one's life - how dazzling it would be.

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    1. When I was tiny our neighbour used to have a pianola and I would spend hours, I thought i had somehow learned to play the piano (that's how young I was)> She must have been pretty patient to put up with me there for hours on end!!

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  6. Jenny, as always an interesting post! I'd like to visit the Musical museum, the sound of its Mighty Wurlitzer is overhelming, have never hear it and never seen these illuminated panels, wow. Large Rothschild's Maison is amazing and the fireplace with glass columns...it's something extraordinary, I have a small fireplace but it's a modest one :-)
    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I was so surprised at a glass fireplace. I thought maybe glass would shatter in the heat, but then I thought again.... and actually glass is MADE in heat. So maybe I am wrong.Still, it is the first time I have ever seen glass in a fireplace!

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  7. Hello Jenny, It is amazing that they kept the Tring museum just as it was. In the U.S., most places like this keep modernizing, so while they might add a little accuracy, they lose almost all of the charm. The Tring Museum echoes perfectly Victor Crawford's description of the South African Museum: "...they [the taxidermies] were placed inside massive wooden trophy cases, arranged in a frozen procession.... Because of the narrow corridors, one felt an immediate sense of the sheer girth of the animals in these displays."

    Thanks for this peek at an old-fashioned natural history display.
    --Jim

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    1. Yes, it is nice that it has been left old fashioned. It is an interesting museum - the building isn't beautiful but the specimens are fascinating.

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  8. Whenever I hear a Wurlitzer I think of baseball and stadiums no matter what they are playing--LOL!

    I liked the sound of the old pianola.

    The birds--wow! That is actually a beautiful vulture. The link didn't work for me but I searched out google images--dramatic!

    You always have such interesting posts and you are up to something interesting again with the kestrel! :)

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    1. Baseball and stadiums... I never knew they were associaed with Wurlitzers! Here, they are only known as theatre organs, in old fashioned ballrooms and cinemas also . They were imported and there aren't that many of them left so they have high nostalgia value here too. Just not for baseball LOL!!

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  9. Well I'm happy that the raptor was one that I had no chance whatsoever of identifying.

    I remember seeing an Andean Condor in captivity. The conditions, per se, were acceptable. However the place for a Condor is ranging the vast mountains and plains and the memory of the sad eyes (which were probably more in my mind than reality) of the Condor sitting there have haunted me ever since.

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    1. I didnt ask the biologist about how he got the condors, but all his other magnificent birds were rescues who would not be able to live in the wild. He is strongly against zoos etc. and thinks creatures should live in their own environments whenever possible and in fact much of his work is about releasing species successfully back into the wild so they can re-adapt and do well.

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  10. One of the many reasons I like your blog is because I always learn so many new things here. I never heard of a mauritius kestrel before - and I have no doubt that your new project will be an interesting one. It must have been amazing to see the biologist's home.

    Walter Rothschild was given a museum as a birthday gift?? Wow - I'd consider myself fortunate to visit a museum for my birthday.....

    That iridescent turkey is beautiful - - and I enjoyed the reproducing piano video (and, yes, I've previously heard of one).

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  11. Another interesting, lively fun post, Jenny...thank you. :)

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  12. The aviary must be some size to keep a couple of Condors happy. What a bird to choose!
    The turkey would be great to see if alive.
    Another fun post.

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  13. There's a theater here in town with a Wurlitzer.

    Natural history museums with preserved animals are both fascinating and sad to me.

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  14. So that’s why you’re going to Mauritius! Lucky you.
    Sadly, the link to the condors didn’t work, but I see live ones in Ecuador - lucky me!

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  15. Oh come on I want to see you in a hat! Actually I've never seen you at all!

    Wow that is some fireplace. Can you imagine having something like that in your own home?

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  16. How fascinating to go to Wales and meet such an eminent biologist. I'm never sure how I feel about stuffed animals. I understand those who have collected them do so with a love of the natural world, but I have to confess I am not comfortable with them. All the same, they represent important work, don't they? The aviary must have been huge for the condors! I shall follow the progress of your project with great interest, Jenny. I remember Gunnesbury Park from my childhood in London. It was one of my father's favourite places. He was an architect, so we were taken to many of these fine houses. It looks wonderful now!

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  17. Great post. The wood floors catch my eye right away. The fireplace is stunning. Love the hat. :)

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  18. That fireplace is magnificent, the fanciest fireplace I've ever seen. As you say, the glass columns are very unusual, as are the three cherubs and all the floral decoration.

    The stuffed animals are wonderful. I just hope none of them came to a nasty end in order to provide work for the taxidermist.

    It's odd that chandeliers are still so popular. They just seem absurdly over-the-top to me. And they must be a nightmare to maintain and keep clean.

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  19. Those glass columns on the fireplace are amazing!
    Really enjoyed the videos... that Wurlitzer is something else. Remember as a child hearing that. Thanks for your great posts Jenny :D)

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  20. You meet so many interesting people! Isn't it fun to meet up with a fellow blogger? And a wingspan of around nine feet? I can imagine that might be quite intimidating.

    Good luck with your project - looking forward to hearing about it!

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  21. Wow so many interesting things to share here dear Jenny!

    loved each bit of this post ,specially the private museum and wonderful private zoo

    either i never saw such glass column on fireplace before

    enjoyed the videos alot

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  22. And what a wonderful time it was! You two were the best hosts and we loved the musical museum, Gunnersby, Kenwood and the wonderful times we spent together. It was fun reading about your visit to the biologist and the birds! Oh, I wish your photos had turned out -- i'd love to see something that massive! But I really was geeked up by the iridescent turkey! Oh, so pretty, I wouldn't want to imagine him as Thanksgiving dinner!

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  23. I actually came here to thank you for your visit to my blog then read about spending time with Jeanie and Rick, as well as your interview with the biologist. Your photos were amazing, and I was SO impressed that you took these two "strangers" into your home and showed them such a good time. I'm SO glad to know there are still good people left in this world.

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  24. G’day from Australia, coming over from Jeanie’s. Very interesting, will follow.

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