Bella Bench!

By Jackie Garbarino
Museum Gift Shop and Volunteer Manager

This bench is so beautiful, we may have to put it in
an exhibit case.

Thank you, Seamus for this beautiful bench.  You are receiving praise from one and all.  And well deserved praise. They say we have many careers in our lives and I think you have found your best so far. I checked out the signature...very nice touch.  So in addition to looking wonderful it is keeping people alert to the change in the floor height and giving the folks somewhere to rest and contemplate history.

Rain, Rain . . : Botanical Garden Part 2

By Pat Saxton
Museum Administrator

So today was the first cruise ship tours to the Botanical Garden. The Museum was asked to be the tour guides for these first few tours, which was fantastic because Malcolm was interested in learning the tour. Also because I love giving this tour, I love the garden--wish I could do this for a living instead of crunching numbers.

Kitchen garden and remains of Bascome House chimney.

We were prepared for a busy day at the Museum and in the Garden, when we realized that the power plant had a fire, and the electricity was shut off to the whole island. This meant we could not open the Museum, and the Botanical Garden Tours would now increase and the first tour was on the way -- two hours early!  All the Museum staff pitched in to help me place the plant markers in the garden. We all had a good laugh as the team called out the name of a plant and someone ran with the marker.  I can’t tell you how great it was to see everyone pitch in to make the first tours possible…now that is team work!

Christmas Palm and Zinnias

Basket palm with new sign.

The ships that came in that day were small “boutique” ships with lots of folks from the UK.  English people love their gardens, and know their plants, so we had to be on top of our game. We had a great time, many visitors posed interesting questions. Everyone was intrigued with Malcolm, his hair, and the fruit off the tamarind tree which he picked for them.

It was all going great, and then the heavy rain came. Great for the garden, bad for the tours. So to add insult to injury, no museum tours, and no botanical garden tours could be conducted in the afternoon. Oh well, we did have fun in spite of the weather and no electricity!

The Early Bird ...

By Pat Saxton
Museum Administrator

On Sunday February 13^th some very lucky early birds got a chance to “walk with the pros” on a trial run of the bird trail. Dr. Mike Pienkowski, the leading ornithologist for the UK Overseas Territories and his lovely wife Ann, led a small group of “birders” at 6:30AM from the Osprey Beach Hotel around the Salinas.

Novices learning the techniques from Dr Mike Pienkowski.

The light at that time of the morning was truly spectacular to see and photograph some of Grand Turks wonderful birds. Dr. Mike pointed out Ruddy Turnstones (so called because they turn over stones to look for food), and different types of Plovers. Of course the flamingos were all out strutting their stuff for us to see! Ducks, and Herons and Gulls oh my!

Not only was this an informative morning, it was really a fun time.I learned so very much about this very fragile ecosystem we call "salinas". It seems in "developed" countries, they are trying to duplicate what we have naturally right here in Grand Turk. Wet lands.

Eyeing the Snowy Plover.

Unfortunately, all of us on the walk could see the damage being done to the Salinas because of dumping. Some Salinas had an incredible amount of birds feeding, while others were abandoned. Mike explained that due to filling in the Salinas, the silt gets too thick for the birds to hunt for food, so they leave. Luckily some of the Salinas have been protected.

After the tour, we came back to the Science Building for a question and answer session with Mike and Ann. I know I learned a lot, and although I continue to refer the Yellow Crowned Night Heron as Big Bird, I think Mike forgives me!