Ann Marie Wilson
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annmariewilson.bsky.social
Ann Marie Wilson
@annmariewilson.bsky.social
1.3K followers 610 following 52 posts
Historian at Leiden University College. Environmental history, Dutch history, gardens, birds, city parks. Oh and lots of dusty old nature guides.
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annmariewilson.bsky.social
Absolute unit sighting at hollandmuseum.org in Holland, Michigan -- across the pond from @themerl.bsky.social and worth a visit. 🐑
Early twentieth-century, black-and-white photo of two boys, one seated in a wooden chair, the other standing, both wearing bowler hats, and standing before a magnificent fuzzy sheep who is looking directly into the camera.
August 7, 2025 at 2:24 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
First baby is out of the nest. 🪶
June 29, 2025 at 10:14 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
I could, and shall, spend the whole day listening to these baby birds sing. #Birds #Koolmeesjes 🪶
June 29, 2025 at 8:04 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Nogal intens, dit. Uit de Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, 1926. 😷📚❤️ @ubleiden.bsky.social
Inner label in an old library book, reading (in Dutch): “Readers are invited to cooperate to the best of their ability protect the books from unnecessary wear and tear. Books should be collected, read and returned in their covers; do not make notes inside and avoid reading during meals; damage to books should be reported immediately. If an infectious disease has broken out at home, books borrowed will be removed and disinfected free of charge by the Municipal Decontamination Service.”
June 27, 2025 at 11:38 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
My students and I are organising this event at @unileiden.bsky.social on May 17. Open to current students, prospective students, staff and alumni. For more info and to register, visit: www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/ex...
Brightly coloured poster advertising a May 17 event on Nature & Politics at Leiden University. Full info via the link in the post.
April 29, 2025 at 1:33 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Alsjeblieft.
Two protesters carrying signs: “Stop kidnapping students” and (a young person holding this one) “I want to vote in 2032.” Alsjeblieft means PLEASE in Dutch.
April 5, 2025 at 9:38 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Nests.
View of bare winter trees from below. Dark, spindly silhouettes against a mottled blue-grey sky, a clearing in the middle. And at the edges, four dark smudges of birds’ nests. (I should rewrite my alt texts as haikus, I’m thinking now.)
January 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
I will never tired of photographs of people walking around carrying bird hides on their head. From the book, In de ban van vogels (a history of Dutch ornithology), by Karel Voous.
Black-and-white photograph of someone walking along a beach with lots of birds flying up above. Of the person you can only see who legs, peeking out from under a cube with small windows cut out of it, which have the effect of making a smiley face. I get a smiley face looking at this image.
January 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
A card featuring 9 black-and-white stamps of a wading oystercatcher, and (also stamped) letters spelling out: “happy new year.”
January 1, 2025 at 1:11 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Contribution to the staff holiday party. #WOinActie #DoeHetNiet
Red-square cakes lined up on a white dish, with an ingredient list posted: "SOLIDARITY FOREVER (also gluten, dairy, & too much sugar)"
December 11, 2024 at 5:48 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Me: "Check out these cool sheep I saw on my bike to work today. Do you think they were there seeking warmth? Or maybe because it was dry compared to the grass?"
Wife: "They were probably just charging."
Sheep sitting on the four concrete bases of an electrical power line tower. Green grass, grey sky, cold day. Sheep sitting on the four concrete bases of an electrical power line tower. Green grass, grey sky, cold day. (Close-up.)
December 11, 2024 at 2:21 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Lock of hair belonging to William IV, Prince of Orange (1711-1751), currently on show at the Mauritshuis as part of their 'Lost Museum' exhibit. Arresting to encounter- it stopped me in my tracks! Though it also looks suspiciously like a cat coughed up a hairball. www.mauritshuis.nl/nu-te-doen/t...
A rough, curly, faded orange lock of hair sitting in a glass case upon a dark wood-grained table.
December 4, 2024 at 2:31 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
How does a bee see a landscape? On December 16, come hear artists Dirk-Jan Visser and Gus Drake talk about their project on analyzing and visualizing the different interests of more-than-human life in (decision-making about) the natural world. researchplatform.art/events/new-h...
Environmental Humanities LU presents: Dirk-Jan Visser & Gus Drake — New Horizons — How does a bee see a landscape? What is the perspective of a tree? The New Horizons Initiative explores different interests in a landscape by visualizing perspectives of non-human life. Through predictive modelling the project aims to provide insights into the consequences of political decisions on the environment and to give a voice to non-human perspectives. 16 December @ 15:00
December 4, 2024 at 12:08 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
20,000+ today on the Malieveld, protesting cuts to Dutch higher education. #WOinActie
November 25, 2024 at 7:19 PM
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Tot straks ☔️
Poster: Kom naar het nationale protest - stop bezuinigingen hoger onderwijs - Malieveld Fen Haag 25 November 13.00
November 25, 2024 at 7:28 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
🥲🦉
Extremely sad finding aid entry from the Leiden Municipal Archives: “Files relating to the fact that it’s no longer necessary to buy birdseed, since there are no longer any birds.” 1945
November 24, 2024 at 9:35 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Vorige week, te midden van allerlei slecht nieuws in de wereld, nam ik een groep studenten mee naar de Leidse Hortus voor een pauze, wat geschiedenis en wat planten. Ik zorgde er natuurlijk voor dat ze de belangrijkste historische hoogtepunten leerden. resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=...
Krantenkop: "Kassen dicht na diefstallen van 'drug-planten," 1975. (Newspaper headline: "Glasshouses closed after theft of drug-plants'") Leiden Hortus, 1975. The thieves stole cactuses for making mescaline.
November 23, 2024 at 7:48 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Amitav Ghosh speaking to university students in the Netherlands about the climate crisis. In response to the perennial “hope vs. despair” question, he pivoted out of that (Modernist, progress-bound) binary and spoke instead about: “What is my duty?”
Geert Buelens and Amitav Ghosh seated on a red, backlit stage at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht.
November 22, 2024 at 1:09 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Me: a quiet, infrequent Bluesky poster, sneaking into your feed via a Starter Pack.
A cheeky orange cat peeking out of bright red suitcase with a black interior and black handles.
November 20, 2024 at 11:34 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
"This is a woman! An American, afflicted according to the latest fashion." Limbursch Dagblad, 1925. resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=...
Black-and-white newspaper photo, side-view of a woman wearing a short-cropped haircut and smoking a cigarette.
March 17, 2024 at 6:27 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
"Floral clock," from Gilbert Anscieau's _Le Familier de la Nature_, 1946. 🌼🕰️🧡
February 15, 2024 at 2:57 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
A northern lapwing (kievit) chilling under a nest-protector in Friesland in the Netherlands. From Het Vogeljaar, April 1974. 🪶
Black-and-white photo of a northern lapwing nesting in a grassfield under a small wire gazebo: four pillars meeting at the top and laced with barbed wire. The bird looks pretty jaunty.
November 22, 2023 at 10:52 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
And speaking of moving-animals.nl, I saw this today and thought of the presentation you gave in Leiden about high-flying rhinos, @rafdebont.bsky.social 🦏 www.naturetoday.com/intl/nl/natu...
a black rhinoceros suspended from a helicopter against a blue sky and green hills.
November 18, 2023 at 11:10 AM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
Thank you, @ark-rewildingnl.bsky.social, for treating my students to a lovely excursion on the rewilded island of Brienenoord in Rotterdam. Tidal channels, highland cattle, beavers, and even some sunshine in an otherwise rainy week. Incredible to see so much wild nature in an urban area.
November 17, 2023 at 12:13 PM
annmariewilson.bsky.social
November 8, 2023 at 7:50 AM