Editor: This is the first of a two-part history of birdwatching in the county. In part 2 Steve will consider the impact of various technologies over the last twenty years and speculate on its likely impact on birdwatching in the future.
to Spoonbills nesting upon the tops of high trees at Trimley, in about 1668, belies an early interest. Parish accounts also yield clues to the status of the county’s avifauna, especially for species classified as vermin, when bounties were placed on their heads.
Steve Piotrowski
The history of birdwatching and its relevance to Suffolk Introduction Some of Suffolk’s place names reveal our forebears’ early connections to birds, but for the most part their interest was of a utilitarian nature (mainly food) rather than any general fascination with ornithology. Observing birds for their aesthetic value can be traced to the late-18th Century, especially through the works of Gilbert White, Thomas Bewick, George Montagu and John Clare.
However, locally there is little written work about birds and authors from this period and researchers of the time gleaned information from general ornithologies and references from journals and books whose subjects ranged from country sports to travel, zoology and even cookery. Norwichbased ornithologist Sir Thomas Browne’s reference
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THE HARRIER – M arch 2013
An early ‘birdwatcher’?
The first ornithological account, based specifically on Norfolk and Suffolk, was written by Rev. Revett Sheppard and Rev. William Whitear in 1824-25. Unfortunately, Whitear did not live to see the publication of his work as he was accidentally shot whilst tracking poachers in 1826. A total of 217 species was listed and the work basically consisted of birds killed in the two counties. Although the study of birds and natural history became fashionable in Britain during the Victorian era, it was mainly collection-oriented with eggs and, later, skins being the artefacts of interest. Suffolk had some of the most obsessive collectors. A number of authors, such as T. M. Spalding (1846) and Tuck (1891), included bird lists in their writings. One of the most fascinating accounts of the carnage meted out to the local bird life was provided by
Rev. Julian George Tuck, President of the SNS and author of the ‘Ornithology of Suffolk’ (1891)
