“I cannot help thinking that if only Hitler had been an ornithologist he would have put off the war until the autumn migration was over.”
Manchester Guardian”Country Diaries” September 1939
I suppose most readers will already have a view on Hitler, and that it is unlikely to be based on the impact he had on European ornithology. However, as the quote shows, people are able to view major historic events and see them from a very different point of view. They may even find the energy to write to the papers about it.
It also shows that the consequences of major events can be far-reaching and quite significant, even if they don’t involve battles and the fall of governments.
In the case of the Second World War this included bombing my mother, training a new generation of naturalists, and flooding large parts of eastern England to defend against possible invasion.
Another, better known, example features the struggle with malaria. In the war this involved the wonder chemical DDT, which continued to be used in great quantities after the war as the answer to many problems. The inventor even got a Nobel Prize in 1948 “for his discovery of the high efficiency of DDT as a contact poison against several arthropods”. It was also highly effective at reducing the viability of birds’ eggs and nearly wiped several species out in the UK.
However, back to the flooded lands. As luck would have it, a party of Avocets drifted across the sea from Holland in 1947, and found conditions that suited them for breeding. At Havergate Island the army had accidentally breached the sea wall during training and at Minsmere the coastal area had been deliberately flooded as a defence against German landings.
Avocets
At that point they had been extinct as breeders in the UK since 1842 due to the pressure from hunting, egg collectors and taxidermists. It seems to be a factor in the decline of rare birds, such as the Passenger Pigeon and Great Auk, that the rarer they became the more desirable the few survivors became to egg and skin collectors.
Gradually the Avocets consolidated their position, becoming the symbol of the RSPB along the way. From four pairs in 1947 we now have 1,500 pairs according to the latest figures.
For another example of how WW2 is contributing to wildlife, see this link.
I found this whilst looking up DDT. The mind boggles.
Thanks to Rodney Read and the Chatburn Village website for the well researched story of the bombing.
Pingback: Reasons to be Cheerful | quercuscommunity
Pingback: More Spring Colour – Beating The Bounds
Thanks for the link. 🙂
One up for avocets!!
🙂
Oh, my! Your mother? And I had never heard of avocets.
Yes, she later picked up a piece of bomb casing in the playground and the headmaster kept it on his desk for years.
Phew!!!!
I went to the same school at one point, though the bomb splinter was no longer about.
Good to get rid of it.
Yes, would have been good if it had never been dropped.
You got that right!
Quite fascinating, Quercus
Thank you. 🙂
Avocets are such beautiful birds. The last century may go down as the Chemical Dark Ages due to lack of foresight as to what would happen to the environment from all these wonderful discoveries. Better Living Through Chemistry has been a sword that cuts both ways.
Yes, they are, very delicate. I hope we have learned our lessons about chemicals.
Fascinating research! Is that your photo of the Avocets?
Yes, we took them at Gibraltar Point – not great but I like to use my own photos when I can.
I think it’s a great photo. Nice and clear 🙂
I thought it could be better, but sometimes it’s my eyes that are blurred rather than the photos. 🙂
I know what you mean 😉
🙂
You are a mine of information.
Years of aimless reading are finally paying off. 🙂