Posts on Exploring have been short and sweet lately. That is because like this Black-billed Cuckoo, Exploring project staff are hanging in there. We are clamoring down and racing to the finish. Another collection was added to the UMedia Archives…
On page xv in Annals of the Museum of Natural History 1872-1839, Thomas Sadler Roberts, museum director and author of the publication, printed the following entry in the Log of the Museum for the year 1915: May 6 – Thomas…
– Barn swallows on a fence, Heron Lake, June 12, 1899 (From the negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records)…
The Golden Gate Parks Conservancy has written a quiz, “What Bird Personality Fits Your Bill?” to help you determine what kind of bird you would be based on “distinct avian phenotypes.” I got Wrentit. What’s your bird personality?…
In theme with an upcoming holiday, here is an array of eggs: – Red-eyed Vireo nest and eggs, July 1902, Itasca State Park – Junco nest and eggs, June 1902, Itasca State Park – Ruffed Grouse nest and eggs, May…
Back in November I shared the only then known image of turkeys from the ~6,900 glass plate and film negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records. A good portion of the negatives were produced by Thomas Sadler Roberts…
Last month, University Libraries’ Communications Director Mark Engebretson visited University Archives to interview Exploring project staff and capture the process of digitization. He produced a video about our project that is now featured on the Libraries’ continuum website. After months…
With over 6,900 black and white negatives in the Bell Museum of Natural History records, we know of at least one that is true in coloration: – Albino Grackle, circa 1940 To learn more about color abnormalities in birds, read…
Hunting and fishing were important to the daily lives of Minnesota’s early residents as a source of food and income. For the most part, pioneers could hunt and fish all they wanted as very little regulation existed that addressed “taking”…
In his autobiography, My Life in Natural History, former Bell Museum preparator and director Walter Breckenridge provided a description of the Peregrine Falcon and an introduction to the sport of falconry: “One of my favorite birds is the peregrine falcon….