Gerald Durrell – A Zoo In My Luggage

Colour photograph of a sword-billed hummingbird specimen. It is green with a very long beak and has a museum label attached to its feet.

Museum volunteer Simon Tonge spent December and January working on RAMM’s hummingbird collection. RAMM has almost 500 tiny specimens, some of which are very special. He has checked every specimen against our records as well as checking their current scientific identification. Simon shares his findings in this blog.

In preparation for two exciting upcoming shows (A Language of Seeds and Seedscapes: Future-Proofing Nature) I have spent time with RAMM’s botany collections. Some plant specimens are local – collected within a few miles of RAMM. Others originate thousands of miles away.