What the heck is a lek?
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
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These days you might see balls of glass like these elaborately tied up in rope and hung in cafes, shops, and arcades along Poole Quay. Although now serve a decorative purpose, they were originally a vital tool for fishermen to keep their nets and lines afloat.
Fishers have always needed weights or floats to keep their lines of nets in position, and in the 1840s, Norwegian merchants and glassmakers created the first glass fishing floats. Relatively simple to make; originally, a bubble of glass was blown and sealed with a button of molten glass. Hard-wearing, they lasted much longer in harsh marine environments than wooden floats. Indeed, many floats remain adrift at sea for decades before washing up on beaches around the world where they are much prized by beachcombers, apparently red is the colour most in demand!
The floats in the Poole Museum’s collection would have been used off Poole, where fishing has always been a vital part of the local economy. In the early 20th century the shore east of Poole Quay would have been bustling with fishermen making, mending, and repairing nets and stacked high with crates of glass fishing floats ready to be used. There are still many active fishing vessels working out of Poole today, although any still using floats have long since changed to metal, plastic, or Styrofoam versions.
Glass fishing floats have endured as a popular decoration, particularly if you live on the coast! They are still in production today, and if you visit a harbourfront café in Poole you’ll likely spot a few hanging around.
Males great bustards perform spectacular courtship displays, gathering at a ‘lek’ or small display ground to try to impress the females.
The great bustard has a dignified slow walk but tends to run when disturbed, rather than fly.
The hen-bird on display at The Salisbury Museum was one of the last great bustards to be eaten in the town!