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| A Great Crested Grebe. MAE©2012 |
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the RSPB, was formed to counter the barbarous trade in plumes for women's hats, a fashion responsible for the destruction of many thousands of egrets, birds of paradise and other species whose plumes had become fashionable in the late Victorian era.
There had already been concern earlier in the century about the wholesale destruction of such native birds as great crested grebes and kittiwakes for their plumage, leading to such early legislation as the Sea Birds Preservation Act of 1869 and the Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880, but the trigger which led to the foundation of the Society for the Protection of Birds in 1889 was the continued wearing of ever more exotic plumes. Indeed the young Society was so successful that it was granted its Royal Charter in 1904, just 15 years after being founded.
As a tribute, I took a picture of this Great crested Grebe in the Park. In Dutch this bird is known as a fuut. The Latin name is: Podiceps Cristatus.
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| Northern Pintails. MAE©2012 |
But there were much more ducks to be seen today. A group of Northern Pintails was having a meeting near one of the bridges. I had seen two pintails a couple of weeks earlier in the park, but today there were much more swimming around. Very proud and distinguished ducks with their funny tail feathers pointing in the air. The Dutch name is the same: Pijlstaart. In Latin these duck are called: Anas Acuta.
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| Two releaxed Wigeons. MAE©2012 |
And finally a small surprise: There was a Wigeon couple amongst the ducks. they normally keep a low profile, but these two apparently were happy with the audience. All in all a nice day for a nice walk.
