Fantastic fact of the day!

For this, we have to thank Theresa Verney-Brookes of Thatcham Discovery Centre, who's hosting our Stargazing Live event tomorrow Wednesday evening.

The RSPB was started by a group of feisty females who were outraged that the Victorian/Edwardian fashion industry was actually causing the threatened extinction of certain birds - particularly exotic birds of paradise and the wonderful Great Crested Grebe (which, by the way is showing off its feathers as it does its mating dance at this very moment at Thatcham Discovery Centre!)

The RSPB was formed to counter the barbarous trade in plumes for women's hats, a fashion responsible for the destruction of many thousands of egrets, birds of paradise and other species whose plumes had become fashionable in the late Victorian era.

Well done ladies!