FROG BLOG MANCHESTER

Leap Day Talks

Andrew Gray — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:23:57 +0000

To coincide with Leap Day (February 29^th) 2012, Manchester Museum is participating in an international event being organised by the Amphibian Ark - Leaping Ahead of Extinction: A celebration of good news for amphibians in 2012.

As part of our activities planned, and in conjunction with our Museum Meets Programme, we have a series of amphibian conservation related talks specially organised for Leap day. These are amphibian talks aimed at Ages 15+ and are offered free of charge. However, there are limited places available, and these need to be booked in advance to avoid disappointment:

Leap Day talks at The Manchester Museum, and to book a place to attend these.

A super poster has also been created to promote Leap Day, with amphibian art being generously donated by a group of artists. Download the poster for your wall HERE.

Leap Frog 2012 Amphibian Ark Museum Meets Personal Presentations

In Memory

Andrew Gray — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 12:17:23 +0000

It was with great sadness that today I learned Nick Standen, a old friend of mine, had passed away. Nick was a herpetologist with more than 40 years’ experience of reptiles and amphibians, which he had been studying and captive breeding for over 30 years. He had an extreme passion for the scientific study of his animals and was meticulous in recording all aspects of their behaviour and reproduction.

Nick had a degree in Zoology from Southampton University and spent his formative herpetological years in Newbury, Berkshire. He had travelled extensively to see reptiles in the wild, including going to places such as Australia, South America, Mexico, and Indonesia. More recently he spent time travelling throughout Europe including Spain, Greece, Portugal and also Morocco, to study, film and photograph wildlife.

He was an expert on Spanish reptiles and amphibians, and had written articles and helped out with species identification for the local community after moving to Benamargosa, near Velez-Malaga. Here, Nick had dedicated his land as a wildlife oasis to help preserve local European reptiles. Nick’s Reptiles.

Nick will be missed by all who knew him for his quiet but unassuming manner, his sense of humour, and also his unbounded knowledge and enthusiasm for animals and plants.

Shore Green

Andrew Gray — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:24:11 +0000

With it being Half-term holidays, this week’s been extremely busy in The Museum and the Vivarium’s been absolutely packed full of families with children. Many of our engagement activities are for kids and we have a fantastic programme of events for them. Apart from supporting learning for children one of the many things we are working hard to develop is support for adult learning and also opportunities to involve and support older people from across the city.

Last week we had a visit from some residents of Shore Green, a specialist service that provides accommodation, support and care to older people with memory loss to enable them to live independent lives for as long as possible. One of my colleagues, Andrea Winn, has been developing our relationship with Shore Green and has been working with them since May 2011. This was initiated through the valuing older people network, a city wide initiative that connects older residents in the city with cultural venues.

Andrea has visited the group in their centre on several occasions, taking different objects from the museums collections out to the group. These have ranged from objects relating to Manchester’s history, China, allotments, and more recently with me and some of the live animal collection. This essential groundwork has been key to developing the relationship with Shore Green, and led to the their first visit to us. It was such a pleasure to welcome the residents and also Sally and Sophie (pictured), who helped organise and manage the visit last week.

A Friday Afternoon Trip Engagement Shore Green Rain forest Rebel

+Culture Shots

Andrew Gray — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:10:45 +0000

I’d like to say a big thanks to all the Salford University students who gave their talk today, well done guys, it was great! The next talk in the series is all about volunteer opportunities in the Ecuadorian rainforest – so if you’re interested in this be sure to keep an eye on the blog for more details coming soon.

One blog I have been keeping an eye on myself this week has been one that’s focused on ‘Culture Shots; Museum & Galleries Week’, a superb initiative that’s involved a wide variety of Museum and Gallery events taking place within 5 hospitals in Manchester. The week-long packed programme for health professionals and patients has been aimed at improving peoples health and well-being.

Well, when I was over at the Children’s Hospital yesterday I certainly saw lots of smiles – which have got to be good for your health! It was a real pleasure to support the initiative and to let the staff and the kids experience some of our animals first-hand. I hope everyone who attended enjoyed it as much as I did being there.

The whole initiative appears to be a huge success – many congratulations to all involved and those who have worked so hard in putting it together! Read more

Wendy Gallagher Modern Designers University Hospitals

Next Talk Details..

Andrew Gray — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:30 +0000

The next presentation in the new animal-based talk series will be given by a group of Salford University wildlife students and hosted in Manchester Museum on Thursday 9th February at 1pm. The students will be sharing their exciting first-hand experiences of a special time spent in Costa Rica last summer, and this will provide a fascinating insight into the flora and fauna they came across whilst working at a unique biological research station in the tropical rainforest on the Pacific Coast.

Everyone is welcome to attend the talk, which will be held in the Kanaris Theatre at The Manchester Museum between 1 – 2 pm. If you are a Salford or Manchester University staff member or student you might want to let your friends and colleagues know about this event and arrive early to avoid disappointment. If you are not associated with either University you are also extremely welcome to attend, there is no charge whatsoever to the public.

‘Sloth’ Talk in the Series ‘Frog’ Talk in the series University of Salford Costa Rica

Many Thanks to our Vivarium Volunteer Xaali for producing the fab poster above!

YOU CAN NOW WATCH THE PREVIOUS TALK HERE!

Workshop Wows!

Andrew Gray — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:47:53 +0000

I would like to say a big thanks to everyone who came to the Wildlife photographic workshop last weekend, it was a fantastic couple of days and we had such a super bunch of people attend. I would also like to thank Adam and Gretchen for their valued support and our Anna Bunney for helping arrange the workshop as part of our new ’Museum Meets’ Programme.

It was real pleasure for me to be apart of the workshop and I would sincerely like to thanks Chris Mattison for making the weekend a huge success by sharing his professional expertise and doing such a fantastic job in making sure there was always something new for everyone to learn.

Apart from learning new techniques from Chris, everyone also got to photograph an amazing array of rare species from our Vivarium – which when viewed through the lens certainly provided the Wow factor! Many of our participants have kindly been in touch this week to express their thanks and to also share some of the great photos they took. Here is a selection of just a few of them:

Click to view slideshow.

Chris Mattison Museum Meets Frogface Presentations

Bat, Man, & Robbin

Andrew Gray — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:58:38 +0000

This week I saw something on Ebay that got me thinking, and the more I found out about it, the more it bothered me. With my interest in animals, somehow I had come across a dead bat for sale.. and then another, and then another.

Bat work in Ecuador - not sure of this species' Latin name, but Common name: 'Boxer-short Bat'

It turns out that in places like Malaysia and Indonesia there is a growing trade in capturing live rainforest bats ‘en masse’ for killing and selling. You might think, what has this to do with frogs?, nothing I guess, but I also like bats, and have always been interested in these wonderful creatures.

In fact, if I had not specialised in frogs, bats would have been my subject. In the past I have worked with several bat researchers in the Neotropics and seen as well as photographed many fantastic rainforest species up close. When in Australia I actually stayed at a fruit bat sanctuary and helped release some of the orphans, which was so cool. I also remember on my first visit to Trinidad visiting the famous Tamana bat caves and going deep inside to discover some incredible species, before watching them all emerge in a blur of batwings into the warm tropical night – fantastic!

It turns out that literally thousands and thousands of these amazing flying mammals are being robbed from their natural habitats, including National Parks, to be sold world-wide for one reason or another. Fruit bats in particular are being sought after for selling, and some of the ways they are treated and killed really is atrocious: Bat torture. The bats are not pests, but play an extremely important role in the future of rainforests: Bats are crucial to them for many reasons

Apart from being food delicacies and aphrodisiacs, some species of bats are currently being killed especially to be sold internationally – framed or stapled-up in plastic bags and sold on the internet to buyers who really just don’t care how they got there. I emailed some sellers this week to say they should be ashamed of themselves for making money this way after knowing full well that the bat species in question were being killed especially. On one occasion I actually got a reply back saying: ‘you are right, I am sorry‘ – just goes to show..

Perhaps if more people do this we could at least put a stop to some of these creatures being killed simply to be sold on the internet. What do you think? Please let me know. or maybe them…

Here

& Here

Bat Conservation international Kalimantan Project Bat Conservation UK

Precious Pictures

Andrew Gray — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:49:09 +0000

Atelopus varius, (c) Andrew Gray

Fifteen years ago, Chris Mattison, the world renowned photographer and author, photographed a wide selection of frogs in the Vivarium. Many of the wonderful images he produced were used in our first frog exhibition ‘A World of Frogs’ and have also featured in a wealth of herpetological books and international features over the years. Unfortunately, also over the past fifteen years many amphibian populations have drastically declined and species have disappeared from areas where they once thrived in the wild. Areas of South and Central America have been particularly hard hit, with a changing climate and Chytrid fungus affecting many highland species, including Harlequin Toads of the Genus Atelopus.

Atelopus ignescens, (c) Chris Mattison

Both Chris and I have visited many places to see and photograph frogs during our careers and have experienced first-hand the effects of such drastic declines. For instance, in 1985 on his first trip to Ecuador, Chris found and photographed some black Atelopus ignescens toads on the Paramo of Ecuador, just north of Guaranda. He had been looking specifically for these toads, which are jet black above and orange below (pictured). He found them very easily – he tells me that upon getting out of his car he saw several, in broad daylight. Apparently they were everywhere. But within a few years they had disappeared completely; none have been seen since 1989.

Photographs taken when capturing such unique moments become more precious with age, and looking back over them can bring memories flooding back of the first time you saw such an amazing creature in the flesh. I remember when Chris first saw and photographed the Costa Rican Lemur Leaf Frogs in the Museum, he was blown away with them. Then, they were still quite plentiful in the wild, but nowadays they are Critically Endangered and only known only from just 1 or 2 small breeding sites.

In a couple of weeks Chris will be returning to the Manchester Museum especially for our Wildlife Photography Course, which will provide others with a unique opportunity to see first hand and photograph for themselves some of the world’s rarest amphibians, including the Lemur Leaf Frog.

The course is now fully booked.

Here are just some of the species our participants will see and photograph:

VISIT CHRIS MATTISON’S NEW WEBSITE MORE ABOUT ATELOPUS TOADS

Merry Christmas!

Andrew Gray — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:41:50 +0000

This has been an amazing year and I would like thank everyone for their continued support, which I really appreciate: I would especially like to thank my assistants, colleagues, and volunteers, without whom our successes would not have been realised, and I would also like to thank everyone who has supported our work this year through their actions and kind words of encouragement.

Who could wish for more than seeing a child’s face light up when they suddenly realise they are holding a beautiful living creature, and that it kindles a unique spark of inspiration in that child’s mind.

The blog has now received over 87,000 hits, which is incredible. I so hope you have enjoyed the entries, and if you fancy a recap on the year, why not check out just some of the herpetological highlights covered in the links below. I also hope that we have made a real difference in the conservation work being done, and especially with the little ones, upon which the future of nature conservation really depends.

My wishes appear to have come true many times over this past year so I hope this one does too - a special wish to you and yours for a great Christmas time and New Year ahead!

Andrew

P.S. Why not brighten up your Christmas or New Year wishes by naming a colour and sending it as a Gift attachment for just £1

P.P.S. Many thanks for the gift Naomi – The Splendid leaf frog colour is now taken!

January: BBC Human Planet

February: Supporting local groups

March: Hybrid Leaf Frog described/Conservation requirement of Costa Rican Lemur Leaf Frogs highlighted.

April: Vivarium Tours intiated

May: The Snakes of Corfu

June: Froglife Big Saturday

July: Gothic Gargoyles Geckos hatch

August: Poem Pleasure

September: Adam in Madagascar

October: Costa Rica placement Student Rebecca Cliffe’s talk

November: A Friday Afternoon Trip

December: Leap in the right direction (Watch this talk here)

December 2011 Amphibian Ark newsletter here

Wildlife Photography Course

Andrew Gray — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:55:11 +0000

Spurrell's Leaf Frog, photographed by Chris Mattison at The Manchester Museum

If you are really interested in Wildlife and Photography, live in the UK, and are perhaps struggling to find that ultimate treat or special Christmas present, then maybe we have the answer ….. a very special weekend spent with two Professional Herpetologists and the opportunity to really develop your photographic skills through personal one to one tuition. If this sounds good to you, then you might be interested to hear that The Manchester Museum has teamed up with one of the World’s Premier Herpetologists, Wildlife Writers, and Professional Photographers, Chris Mattison, to bring you an indulgent weekend of amazing amphibians and creative camerawork. Places are extremely limited as we aim to provide a personal learning experience and special weekend to remember for all. To find out more information and reserve an exclusive place please follow these links:

Book online for the Event at the Manchester Museum

Chris Mattison & the Photographic Workshop

Chris Mattison, Wildlife Photographer, Writer, & Herpetologist

Photographs of Frogs by Chris Mattison (Many photographed at Manchester Museum)

You might also be interested in Chris’s latest Book “Frogs and Toads of the World” which was published in April 2011 by the Natural History Museum in London, and Princeton University Press in New Jersey. With nearly 200 pages and over 200 photographs, there are ten chapters: Origins and classification; Size and shape, colour and markings; Interactions with the physical environment; Enemies and defence; Food and feeding; Reproduction; Life-cycles; Habitat and distribution; Frogs and man; and an account of the 49 families of frogs, describing their physical characteristics, where they live, and their natural history.

There are photographs of representative species of almost every family, as well as photographs showing behaviour, camouflage, life-cycles and so on. Some of the specimens featured are from the Vivarium at The Manchester Museum, including the beautiful Red-eyed Leaf Frog featured on the front cover!

FIND OUT MORE ABOT THE PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE HERE