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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In November 2024, Wessex Museums will launch a major touring exhibition Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex, celebrating the vibrant folkart and seasonal customs from across the region, past and present.
Opening at Museum & Art Swindon on 29 November, the exhibition will then tour to Wiltshire Museum, Poole Museum, and The Salisbury Museum throughout 2025-26.
Image Credit Top Row: Ooser at Cerne Abbas (Create Studio, 2024) | Summer Solstice at Stonehenge (Create Studios, 2024) | Poole Speedway fans (Poole Museum) Middle Row: Patchwork quilt, c.1830s, handstitched cotton (The Salisbury Museum) | Portrait by anonymous artist, c.2021 (Museum & Art Swindon) | Sweetheart pin cushion, 1914–1918, made by servicemen (Museum of British Folklore) Bottom Row: Wooden ocean liner, c.1930s, carved and painted (Museum of British Folklore) | Corn dolly (Museum of British Folklore) | Apple Wassailing at Richard Jefferies Museum, Swindon (Create Studios, 2024)
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!