大象传媒

is a wildlife cameraman, photographer, writer and broadcaster. He has worked on many television series including Frozen Planet, Hebrides, Life, Big Cat Diary, Springwatch and Yellowstone听

is a Museum Specialist at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC where Martha is kept. He is responsible for collection management activities, including specimen preparation, cataloguing, curation, loans, information requests, and assisting visitors. Interests are in field work, specimen preparation, bird song recording and archiving, and South American birds.

Mark Avery describes himself as a scientist by training and a naturalist by inclination. He writes about and comments on environmental issues. Mark worked for the RSPB for 25 years until he decided to go freelance. 听He was the RSPB鈥檚 Conservation Director of nearly 13 years.听 Mark lives in Northamptonshire and is a member of the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts the National Trust, Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Plantlife, Pond Conservation, the BTO and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

He is also author of .

is Collections Manager in the Division of Vertebrate Zoology - Ornithology听at the American Museum of Natural History. His interests outside of the museum include birding and gardening.

Ben Novak is Lead Researcher, The Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback.

Ben graduated from听Montana听State听University听studying Ecology and Evolution (2005). Novak specialized in paleontology, genetics, ecology and ornithology. Novak was trained in paleogenomics laboratory protocols at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre under Dr. Hendrik Poinar, exploring DNA extraction and sequencing of Mastodon fossils (2010-2012). It was at this laboratory that Ben began his first studies of passenger pigeon genomics. With this experience he has taken on the challenge of leading The Great Passenger Pigeon Comeback which began in 2012. In 2013 he joined the UCSC Paleogenomics Laboratory, under Dr. Beth Shapiro, to initiate genome studies for passenger pigeon de-extinction.

Most recently on tour in A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream and The Comedy of Errors with the all male Shakespeare company Propeller.

Previously with Propeller: Henry V and Twelfth Night. Other theatre includes: The Woman in Black (Fortune Theatre); Anjin: The Shogun and the Samurai (Tokyo and Sadler鈥檚 Wells); The League of Youth, Vertigo, Burial at Thebes and I Have Been Here Before (Nottingham Playhouse); Relatively Speaking and Copenhagen (Newbury Watermill); The Dark Things (Edinburgh Traverse); Richard II (Old Vic Company); Much Ado About Nothing (Peter Hall Company); for the RSC: Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, The Constant Couple, The Man of Mode, The Love of the Nightingale, King Lear, As You Like It, Henry V, Edward III, Eastward Ho!, The Roman Actor.

TV includes: Diaries of the Great War (to be broadcast in August 2014), Doctors, EastEnders, Silent Witness, Passage, Hollyoaks, Tchaikovsky, The Bill, Blair on Trial, Class of 鈥�76, Casanova鈥檚 Love Letters, Fooling Hitler, The Wyvern Mystery, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Film includes: After Death, Volume, Persuasion

Michael鈥檚 childhood was split between Lancashire and Yorkshire and he was educated at a minor public school in Cambridge from the ages of 13 to 18. He studied English and Fine Art at the University of Leeds then Lectured in General Studies, English and Art at a College of Further Education in Portsmouth until the winning of two consecutive New Writer competitions for 大象传媒 (one Radio and one TV) somehow turned him towards acting at around the age of thirty.

He entered RADA on a scholarship and left as Ronson Award Winner (Most Promising Actor of听 The Year) in 1977. He spent three years with the听RSC and since then has worked consistently in theatre, film and TV. For reasons he doesn鈥檛 quite understand he has apparently appeared in more productions at The Theatre Royal Stratford East than any other actor EVER (involving about 19 pantos as Villain, Dame or Wolf along with appearances in a multitude of straight plays). His other main stamping ground of recent years has been at Shakespeare鈥檚 Globe and the past five years have been spent very happily summering at Shakespeare鈥檚 Globe and wintering at Stratford East with the odd TV and regional theatre job slotted in.

Apart from a busy career in theatre, television and radio, including long seasons at the National Theatre, Elaine previously taught sight-reading and radio technique at RADA for five years and is proud to have taught quite a number of previous Carleton Hobbs Winners during that time. She has recently completed a very successful sell-out run of Carthage, a new play by Chris Thompson at the Finborough Theatre.

Born in 1953 in Sheffield where he attended Rowlinson School and Stannington College, Watson was a founding member of the influential Sheffield based experimental music group Cabaret Voltaire during the 1970鈥檚 and early 1980鈥檚. His sound recording career began in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television. Since then he has developed a particular and passionate interest in recording the wildlife sounds of animals, habitats and atmospheres from around the world. As a freelance composer and recordist for Film, TV & Radio, Watson specialises in natural history and documentary location sound together with sound design in post-production.

His television work includes many programmes in the David Attenborough 鈥楲ife鈥� series including 鈥楾he Life of Birds鈥� which won a BAFTA Award for 鈥楤est Factual Sound鈥� in 1996. More recently Watson was the location sound recordist with David Attenborough on the 大象传媒鈥檚 series 鈥楩rozen Planet鈥� which also won a BAFTA Award for 鈥楤est Factual Sound鈥� (2012).

Watson has recorded and featured in many 大象传媒 Radio productions including; 鈥� The Listeners鈥� and 鈥楾he Wire鈥� which won him the Broadcasting Press Guild鈥檚 Broadcaster of The Year Award (2012), NATURE, , and . His music is regularly featured on the 大象传媒 Radio 3 programme 鈥楲ate Junction鈥�.

Columbus Ohio 1855 鈥� witness account

As the watchers stared, the hum increased to a mighty throbbing. 鈥�.The thunder of wings made shouting necessary for human communication鈥�

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Several extracts including the description of the bird being hunted were taken from the writings of John James Audubon (1785-1851)听听 Birds of America 鈥� a collection听听 (1827鈥�1839). Eg.

The pigeons arriving by thousands, alighted everywhere, one above another, 鈥�..It was a scene of uproar and confusion.

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John Muir 1838 鈥� 1914 from The Story of my Boyhood and Youth听 Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913.

The breast of the male is a fine rosy red, the lower part of the neck and behind 鈥�.. The females are scarcely less beautiful!

John Wheaton听 1841- 1887

In the fall of 1859鈥� I had an opportunity of observing a large flock while feeding. 鈥�.The noise was deafening and the sight confusing to the mind.

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Simon Pokagon听 1830-99) was a native Potawatomi from southwest Michigan who campaigned for Native American rights and wrote many books articles. 听Of the passenger pigeon he wrote

.. I have seen them move in one unbroken column for hours 鈥�.sounding as though a听 whirlwind was abroad in the land.

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Commonwealth 鈥� a newspaper on Fond du lac, Wisconsin

"Imagine a thousand threshing machines running under full headway, 鈥�..听 and you possibly have a faint conception of the terrific roar of a passenger pigeon flock ,"

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Charles Bendire 1836-1897 in the Life of American Birds published in a series Washington, Smithsonian Institution 1892-1895.