Nightingales to be heard in
Wakefield once more….
May 2nd 1865. On this
night at 11 o’clock two nightingales were singing melodiously in the Park at
Walton Hall.
This is the last entry in the notebook of Charles Waterton,
the Wakefield naturalist, explorer and pioneering conservationist. He died 150
years ago in 1865.
From May 2015 Wakefield Museums and Countryside will mark
this anniversary to celebrate Waterton’s incredible life and commemorate his
legacy.
As part of the Nightingale Festival Wakefield Museums have
taken inspiration from Nightingales singing melodiously and have created a
chorus of Nightingales across the city.
Venues across the city will be playing snippets of beautiful and
entrancing Nightingale song on 2 May, 27 May and throughout June.
There is also an exciting programme of events and activities
planned as part of the festival including a spectacular exhibition at Wakefield
Museum, a Waterton comic, artist commissions, workshops, talks and much more.
For more
information about the Nightingale Festival
@WFMuseums #Waterton150
Further information about Nightingales:
Latin name:
Luscinia megarhynchos
Nightingales
are a bit bigger than a robin, with plain brown feathers. They are difficult to
spot, and like to hide in thick bushes. The nightingale is on the amber list
for conservation in the UK. Numbers fell by over 50% between 1995 and 2008, due
to a decline in its preferred habitat You
are now extremely unlikely to see a nightingale in Wakefield. They are found in the south east – Essex,
Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent & Sussex. Despite the name, nightingales also sing
throughout the day. It is the males that
sing. The collective noun for nightingales is a watch.
