The Curious Mr Catesby – DVD available

SHNH members may know that the owl (Otus asio, Eastern Screech Owl) on our SHNH website and cover of our SHNH Newsletter is  Mark Catesby’s (1682-1749) etching of the "Little Owl" from Volume I of Mark Catesby’s 1754 publication The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. 

Fewer may know that it morphs back and forth with the living bird in the documentary movie "The Curious Mister Catesby" that covers Catesby’s life and works.  This show was enjoyed by our SHNH Patron Sir David Attenborough at its World Premiere at the Royal Society and has been remarkably successful on public television in the US, but has not been broadcast in the UK.  However, the DVD – which plays on UK machines – is available from www.catesbytrust.org for $14.95 plus $3.95 shipping worldwide (just about £12).  This site has much additional information about Catesby and how and why the show was produced.  You can watch the first five minutes of the show at http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Vuy9sNTEtbw."

Images: Coloured engraved plate entitled ‘Noctua aurita minor, The Little Owl’ from Volume I of Mark Catesby’s 1754 publication The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands; DVD cover of ‘The Curious Mr Catesby’.