So what’s with the name….. Well, Mrs Gould was - funnily enough - Mr Gould’s wife, who is considered by some as the father of Australian ornithology - but oh, no, it’s name was not for him.
Nicholas Vigors - also an avid zoologist, describing 110 new species in his career - was having a passionate affair with Mrs Gould, and so……woah, Robert, you are making this up….well, that last bit anyway (I think).
But actually Elizabeth Gould was a prolific illustrator, working in the early 1800s with peeps like Charles Darwin, and er, Mr. Gould (remember him?). You can find her birdy pics inThe Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle and The Birds of Australia.
(these were shot in the early light of the day....giving a lovely subdued feel and a richness of colour and tone. Even at 10,000 ISO I could get great detail on the back of the bird's head feathers, as the crop in the middle shows)
Strangely enough, no-one really knew of her, or her work until after her death…..and to cap that the gorgeous Gouldian finch, was also named for her three years after her death in 1844 by none other than……John Gould. Ya could have shown her a bit more appreciation when she was alive matey….huh.
the female below
Comments