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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.
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WARD_050531_079.JPG: The wildlife bronzes of William and David Turner are the traveling exhibit at the museum.
WARD_050531_090.JPG: This live pigeon carrying basket, perch (or stool) and net were used to capture wild pigeons. The word "stool pigeon" became synonymous with "decoy," and in later years, hunters often referred to their decoys as stools.
The passenger pigeon was hunted heavily for the market until its numbers decreased in the 1890's; and by 1914, the species was extinct.
This painting by Arthur F. Tait shows two men hunting pigeons from a bush blind. Live pigeons, tethered to movable sticks on the distant tree served as decoys.
As the wild flocks approached, one of the hunters pulled the strings attached to the decoys' perches causing the birds to flap their wings and attract the flying pigeons.
WARD_050531_174.JPG: Gun Clubs:
Gunning clubs were an important part of the American sporting scene from the late 1850's until the late 1950's. The role of these clubs in sustaining waterfowl populations, preserving critical areas of coastal breach and marshland, and continuing the traditions of decoy making and waterfowl hunting deserves recognition.
As market hunting of waterfowl declined in the early 1900's, gunning clubs provided a place of employment for many of the bay men whose winter livelihood had depended on harvesting ducks and geese for the market. These skilled hunters passed their knowledge of waterfowling and decoy making to other generations of glides and hunters.
The patrons of the more prominent gunning clubs were unusually men of means, and often hunted at several clubs along the Atlantic coast. This aspect of the history of gunning clubs is especially interesting to the student of bird carvings, because many of these hunters brought their favorite decoys with them, thus introducing new and sometimes superior decoy craftsmanship to another area.
The economic and environmental influence of gunning clubs was perhaps most significant in coastal North Carolina. These large, well-maintained clubs provided work for cooks, guides, boat builders, and others in the immediate area. Several clubs raised and released more ducks than they shot each season. Sanctuary ponds for resting and feeding were designated on club property, and even the controversial practice of baiting is credited with sustaining the waterfowl during freeze-ups.
Hunters and Waterfowl Habitat Conservation:
A Federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition, requested by hunters and provided by the Pittman-Robertson Act, allocates money to the States to purchase waterfowl habitat. Since 1937, Maryland has acquired over 60,000 acres of important wetlands and other habitat.
Gunning club members and other sport hunters have also contributed to the acquisition of waterfowl habitat by buying an annual Federal Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp. Sales of these Duck Stamps, which began in 1934, have funded the purchase of over two and one half million acres of critical wildlife habitat.
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art is located at 909 South Schumaker Drive, Salisbury, Maryland, United States. The museum contains an extensive collection of wildfowl carvings ranging from art sculptures to working decoys used by hunters. The museum was named after Lem and Steve Ward from Crisfield, Maryland, two pioneers that moved decoy carvings into the realm of fine art.
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2005 photos: Equipment this year: I used four cameras -- two Fujifilm S7000 cameras (which were plagued by dust inside the lens), a new Fujifilm S5200 (nice but not great and I hated the proprietary xD memory chips), and a Canon PowerShot S1 IS (returned because it felt flimsy to me). I gave my Epson camera to my catsitter. Both of the S7000s were in for repairs over Christmas.
Trips this year: Florida (for Lotusphere), a driving trip down south (seeing sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia), Williamsburg, and Chicago.
Number of photos taken this year: 147,000.
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