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Marshes: The Disappearing Edens
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It’s a beautiful exhibition, packed full of treasure and surprise,
just like the marsh itself, providing glimpses of a world we seldom
wander, and elusive creatures most of us will never see. Bird
lovers, flower lovers, picture lovers – indeed art and nature lovers
of all kinds – will explore it with wide eyes. The exhibition comprises 40 large archival pigment prints of stunning quality, framed and glazed with Cyro museum acrylic. Text and title panels, wall labels, catalog and press package, and specially designed shipping crates − all are provided.
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Rare & Elusive Birds Of North America
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During his 16-year pursuit Burt spent weeks in the field at a time,
employing specialized equipment of his own design and visiting sites
repeatedly − year a after year in certain cases, and sometimes in
the middle of the night − to get the pictures he was after.
The exhibition features 20 museum-quality prints of extraordinary detail, framed and glazed with Cyro “OP3 AR” museum acrylic, ready to hang. Included are text and title panels, wall labels, catalog, and press materials. Crates for shipping are provided.
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Shadowbirds (Retired) After its long travel history (26 museums) Shadowbirds is now “retired,” and superseded by Rare & Elusive Birds of North America (above), now available.
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SLIDE LECTURES by William Burt In his slide presentations − as in his books, and museum exhibitions − William Burt explores worlds little known: the marshlands that few people visit, and the birds few ever see. He draws on 30 years of adventures in the field, and a deep appreciation for his subjects’ mystery and beauty. Mr. Burt has presented scores of lectures to a wide variety of audiences, large and small, including: The Nature Conservancy (2008 Annual Convention, Norfolk VA); the Harvard Museum of Natural History; the Yale Peabody Museum (O. C. Marsh Program Lecture); the Buffalo Museum of Science (Vaughn Memorial Lecture); the Roger Tory Peterson Institute; the Nuttall Club (Cambridge MA); the Linnaean Society (New York); and the Wilson Ornithological Club. MORE Past Lectures (Selected) >> He presently offers two slide-illustrated lecture programs, both based on his recent books and exhibitions:
To inquire, please contact William Burt phone (860-434-8173) or e-mail Past Lecture Venues Include: “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens.” The Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania. January 9, 2009. “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens” and “Notes on Photography.” The Nature Conservancy, 2008 Annual Convention, Eastern Region, Norfolk, Virginia. May 29, 2008. “Rare & Elusive Birds Of North America.” The Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, New York. December 4, 2007. “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens” and “Notes on Photography.” The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Maryland. July 15 & 16, 2007. “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens.” University of Connecticut, American Experience Lecture Series at Avery Point. November 27, 2007. “Marshes: The Disappearing Edens.” The Wilson Ornithological Club & Massachusetts Audubon Society’s 2007 New England Birders’ Conference, Reading, Massachusetts. March 20, 2007. “Rare & Elusive Birds of North America.” Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. April 2, 2004. “Rare & Elusive Birds of North America.” O. C. Marsh Program Lecture, Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven. January 8, 2003. “Rare & Elusive Birds of North America.” Connecticut River Museum, Essex, Connecticut. April 20, 2004. “Shadowbirds.” Vaughn Memorial Lecture, Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, New York. April 24, 1996. “Shadowbirds.” Harvard Museum of Natural History (formerly MCZ), Cambridge, Massachusetts. October 20, 1994. “Shadowbirds.” Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge, Massachusetts. April 4, 1994. “Shadowbirds.” Feature Presentation, Massachusetts Audubon Society’s 1994 New England Birders’ Conference, Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts. November 19, 1994. “Shadowbirds.” Linnaean Society, at American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York. September 28, 1993. "Rails: the Shadowbirds of Marshlands." Connecticut Ornithological Association Annual Meeting, Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut. March 27, 1993. (also numerous other museum, school & university, Audubon, nature center, & other audiences) < Back to SLIDE LECTURES
Marshes: The Disappearing Edens A Slide Lecture by William Burt Based on the recent book (Yale University Press, 2007), this presentation explores some of the best and least known North American marshlands, with an eye to their lyric beauty and their lurking birds. One such marsh, a shallow prairie lake in western Canada, was visited 100 years ago by old-time ornithologist A. C. Bent, who hailed it as a great bird paradise: the region’s “crowning glory,” he called it. What remains of it today? Its birds? The audience will journey to see marshes all over the continent: from New England and New Jersey south to Maryland and Florida, along the Gulf and up through the interior Midwest, west across the plains of Canada, and south to Oregon and California.
“Bill Burt knows his subject − the marshes of North America, and the rarely seen birds that inhabit them − better than any other living person. And when you hear him speak about the rails, the sedge wrens and the pied-billed grebes, and his wonderful adventures with these skulkiest of birds, you know you are listening to a man who loves the richness and mystery of these wildest of environments. Burt’s photographs and eloquence are equally incomparable.” Brian Cassie Past President, Nuttall Ornithological Club. “Perhaps no other living person has spent more time in marshes than William Burt. …Without question, Burt knows the marshes unlike any other.” Noble S. Proctor Ornithologist, Author, Educator (from book Peer Review)
“Naturalist Burt uses his considerable literary and photographic skills to describe the mysterious beauty of rapidly disappearing wetlands. … Capturing on film elusive spoonbills, bitterns, and herons sheltered by elegantly shaped plants with delightful names like sea pink, sweet flag, swamp rose mallow, silverweed, and blue flag, Burt delights in and educates readers about the fragility and importance of wetlands.” Pamela Crossland Booklist (March 2007). “Burt melds the eye of an artist, the soul of a poet, the dedication of a religious acolyte, and the wizardry of seldom-seen nature photography to create a stunning evocation of the edenic marshlands of North America. This is simply a marvelous production.” Bernd Heinrich Author, Artist, Biologist “William Burt has an enviable gift: the power, with prose and camera lens, to persuade a reader of MARSHES (Yale, $35) that these “disappearing Edens” are among the most remarkable places on earth. Believe him.” Katrine Ames House & Garden (April 2007). To inquire, please contact William Burt phone (860-434-8173) or e-mail Rare & Elusive Birds of North America A Slide Lecture by William Burt For 16 years, William Burt pursued a stubborn mission: to find and photograph all 20 of the continent’s least known and least seen birds. He spent weeks in the field at a time, employing his own hand-built equipment and often visiting sites repeatedly, year after year in certain cases – sometimes in the middle of the night – to get the picture he was after. The result: his 2001 book (Rizzoli/Universe), and museum exhibition, Rare & Elusive Birds of North America. Through this presentation the audience will journey to the marshes, plains and prairies, swamps and woodlands, in search of the rails and bitterns, nightjars, and other “mystery birds” that birders long to see.
“William Burt is a perfectionist whose photographs of rails and other shy and elusive birds of our wetlands are unquestionably the finest ever taken. He has set a new standard.” Roger Tory Peterson “Through his stunning visual presentation and his informed narrative, Burt takes us into the mysterious world of America’s most elusive bird species − including those that few people have ever observed in the wild. His words and pictures, based on years of field work with these “mystery birds,” inspire his audience to come away with newfound desire to protect and conserve the natural environment.” Jim Berry President, Roger Tory Peterson Institute (Jamestown, New York). “William Burt is one of the truly great naturalist-poets, and one of Roger Tory Peterson’s finest past friends and protégés. His photographs are nothing short of magical, and when he writes and speaks he orchestrates the two, words and pictures, with great charm and delight.” Julio de la Torre Past President, Linnaean Society (of New York City). “More than a remarkable and beautiful collection of photographs, this book by Bill Burt provides an intimate look at some of the most little-known birds in North America. His detailed accounts of the lives of these birds, and the special challenges and successes he experienced on his quest to photograph them all, make fascinating reading. What really comes through, in the writing and the photographs, is his deep and sensitive appreciation on the uniqueness of each of these most intriguing birds.”
David Allen Sibley Author, Artist (quoted on book jacket) “Burt … collects 16 years of work into a celebration of species that most bird-watchers have only glimpsed. His book is familiar to readers of Smithsonian or Audubon magazines, in which his photographs have whetted the appetites of many… Burt’s photographs reveal the subtle beauty of birds that most birders have seen only for a split second. The accompanying essays make light of the author’s difficulties in finding and photographing the birds. The result is a quietly wonderful book…” Nancy Bent Booklist (November 15, 2001) “Some of the 50 photographs included in the book show birds that have rarely, if ever, been captured before on film…. After reading what the author went through to get each image, it's hard not to admire his perseverance. It's also hard not to appreciate the birds themselves. I can understand why Burt concludes: "It's reassuring just knowing they are out there." Mark Wexler Editor, National Wildlife magazine (winter 2002 ) To inquire, please contact William Burt phone (860-434-8173) or e-mail FEES for William Burt’s slide lecture programs are negotiable and vary to accommodate such factors as travel distance (from Old Lyme, Connecticut), audience size, nature of occasion, institution, and number of programs presented. As a general guide, fees for single presentations to local groups (Connecticut) have ranged from $300. to $600., while fees for out-of-state presentations have averaged $1,000. (one day) to $1800. (2 days), not including travel. To inquire, please contact William Burt phone (860-434-8173) or e-mail
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