POSTPONED: Birds & Books: Ornithology and Scientific Exploration from the 16th Century to the Present

Due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus this event has been postponed.

Natural History at the Clark Presents

A workshop co-hosted by the Clark Library, and Occidental College’s Special Collections and Moore Lab of Zoology

The Clark Library preserves and provides access to over 130,000 books, manuscripts, and artworks dating from the 15th century to the present, but there is also a library of living things in the Clark gardens. Last winter we became home to a Red-Flanked Bluetail, a rare avian visitor from Siberia, which drew nearly a thousand human visitors from all over the world. What other surprises do our five acres of urban green space hold?

Come and join us for the next installment in our series of interactive, multi-sensory, workshops designed to acknowledge the varied ways in which we acquire knowledge through both reading and doing.

This family-friendly event—in collaboration with Occidental College’s Special Collections and Moore Lab of Zoology—will focus on birds and scientific exploration as recorded in archive and rare book collections, as well as in the natural history collection and current research of the Moore Lab. Participants will have a chance to see early printed ornithological books, field notebooks and printed reports from scientists and explorers (including the first edition of Lewis and Clark’s famous report), bird specimens from the Moore Lab’s unparalleled collection of Mexican and Latin American birds, and (on guided walks around the Clark’s grounds) the living birds that surround us every day. The program will also feature demonstrations of some of the Moore Lab’s current work on re-surveying mid-20th century scientific expedition sites in Mexico.

The workshop will begin at 10:15 a.m. with a brief orientation to the site and an introduction to the three participating institutions. Guided bird walks will take place at 10:30 a.m., 11:45 a.m., and 1:00 p.m. Other all-ages activities taking place outside, including art projects, seed planting from the Clark Library heirloom Seed Catalogue, and our Clark Library scavenger hunt, are open-ended and offered on-demand throughout the day.

Reservations are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch and picnic on the Clark Library grounds. Beverages and treats will be provided.

Free parking is available on site.

To register for this free event, please visit the following link. Registration closes at the end of the day on Monday, March 9.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/natural-history-at-the-clark-birds-books-tickets-90071521345